Wanda Jean Mabry

There is an old stone building on the IBM campus in northwest Austin that was once a railroad station but became a residence. Wanda Jean Crumley was born in that house on the 20th of November 1925 to Joseph Benjamin and Dovie Lea Crumley. Later her family moved up on the Colorado River so that Wanda’s mother could take care of her mother. There Wanda went to school in a two-room schoolhouse. As the only girl with four brothers and living in the country, she had to compete with the boys daily. She became skilled at mumblety-peg and shooting marbles. Later still, the family had to move back to Austin because of the filling of the new Lake Travis. Wanda’s father set the dynamite charges to build Mansfield Dam. In Austin Wanda attended University Junior High and graduated from Austin High School in the top five of her class. After high school Wanda met and married Roy Mabry during World War II. After the war the young couple lived in Austin, Pilot Knob and Corpus Christi. Roy passed away in 1953 leaving Wanda as a young widow with four children ages nine to one. Roy’s older brother George Mabry helped Wanda to settle Roy’s affairs and get Wanda established with her family. In time Wanda and George fell in love and were married from 1955 until George’s death in 2001. George adopted the four children and was “Daddy” to them and eventually “Gran” to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Over the years George was a leading salesman for Austin’s first billion-dollar business, National Western Life Insurance Company. Thanks to his success Wanda and George and the kids took many trips around the US and abroad. George and Wanda also bought houses and formed Mabry Rentals as a secondary enterprise which is still in business today.

George called Wanda by her middle name “Jean”. They had a home in Austin, a place on Lake Travis and a country home near Smithville. George called them “Jeanie’s Houses of Pleasure One, Two and Three” because any place she was, it was a pleasure to be there. Her children called her “Mom” and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren called her “Grandmommy”. Wanda considered all her in-laws as her own brothers and sisters. Her kids and spouses, grand and great-grandchildren and large families from both sides also loved to be any place Wanda was. Her advice and comfort were sought often because she was a wonderful counselor and peacemaker. She was a fabulous cook and insisted that no one leave her home hungry. She always made time for all of her family members from the youngest to the oldest. At one time she was noted having lunch with a grandson in a treehouse. In their later years Wanda was devoted to caring for her widowed mother Dovie and mother-in-law Cora Mabry.

Wanda was saved at the age of ten at a tent revival. She was a long-time member of Hyde Park Baptist Church. She was a woman of faith and of prayer with a complete trust in God’s promises no matter what life brought her way. She loved the Bible and read it through in many translations. At bedtime before she settled down to read her mystery novels, she would pray for all of us with her Bible open over her heart. If you peeked through the door at that time, you could feel the presence of The Holy Spirit filling the room.

Over the years Wanda suffered a number of serious illnesses but she always pulled through. Her son-in-law often said if you want to know what a Texas Woman is, look in the dictionary and you’ll see a picture of Wanda Jean Mabry with the definition, “Sweet as Honey and Tough as Nails.” Another place to find a definition of Wanda is in the Bible in Proverbs 31:10-31,The Wife of Noble Character, which describes this beloved wife, mother, grandmother and aunt completely.

Wanda was pre-deceased by her parents and parents-in-law, her husbands Roy and George Mabry, her brothers Elwah, Winfred, Devero and Bill. She is survived by her four children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren: daughter Donna Mabry Shelton and husband Captain Leonard Shelton, US Navy, Ret. of Austin, their son Lane, his wife Rabecca and their children Donna Gayle, Liam and Aila of Bow, New Hampshire; son George Mabry and his partner Randy Sumner of Orlando, Florida; daughter Judy Mabry MacDonald, MD, of Royal, Arkansas, her son Spencer Land,MD, his wife Angela and their children Jake and Nicole of Naples, Florida, son Morgan MacDonald, DN, his wife Lauren, DN, and their children Kinsley and Kade of Little Rock, Arkansas, daughter Brittany Macdonald of Nashville, Tennessee, and son Owen Macdonald of Little Rock, Arkansas; son Roy Mabry, his wife Marky and their children Julianna Mabry Azar and her husband Bryan, and Andrew Mabry all of Austin; also by two sisters-in-law Judy White of Abilene and Rene Mabry of Temple and many loved and loving nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar, on Thursday December 12th with visitation at one PM and the service at two PM. Graveside service will follow at Austin Memorial Park on Hancock Drive.