She graduated from Mexia High School in 1948 then moved to Dallas to live with a girlfriend from Mexia, Lawana Roberts. Lawana informed her of a job opening at National Linen Service in Dallas, and it was there that Mom went to work in the summer of 1948 and met Delmer Samuel Dennis from Celina, TX. They had their first date on July 5, and married five weeks later on August 8, 1948. Mom was 17.
In early marriage the young couple lived in an apartment in the Highland Park area of Dallas, near Knox Street, then bought their first home in Garland, Texas in 1950. Son Delmer Samuel (Sammy) Dennis II in 1950, and daughters Pamela Jan and Annis Kim followed respectively in 1952 and 1956. In 1962, David Van was born as the family moved into successively larger homes between East Dallas and Garland throughout the 50’s and early 60’s.
Determined to give their children the standard of life she and Dad did not have growing up in rural Texas during the Depression, Mom loved to work outside the home. She worked as a bookkeeper in Dallas, holding jobs between pregnancies – often in film distribution offices – for firms such as Buena Vista and Fox.
In the summer of 1964, Dad’s company, National Linen Service, transferred Dad to Wichita, Kansas. Pam and Sam spent their teen years there – graduating from Wichita North High School. Through college, Sam remained in Wichita, graduating from Wichita State University and Pam attended Ottawa University in Ottawa, KS. Mom and Dad returned to Garland in 1972 and Mom began working at Kraft Foods of Garland in 1975, where she retired in 1992. She loved her job at Kraft, and made many life-long friends there.
Dad passed away with cardiovascular disease in 1989 and Mother married Al Stallman in 1990. The next several years were filled with grandchildren, travels and new houses, including a move to a retirement community in Chandler, AZ for five years. Mother and Al returned to Garland in 2003 and became active in the Sunnyvale Baptist Church, a source of great joy and spiritual nurture for Mom. Mother and Al separated in 2008 and eventually divorced, but to their credit they remained the best of friends and shared countless happy times until Al’s passing in 2019.
Mother’s health began to fail in 2014 and Pam, along with her husband Bart, returned to Texas after years of overseas ministry to help care for Mother. The last five years she lived with Pam and Bart in The Colony, Texas. She was active at The Colony Senior Center and enjoyed her friends and fun times there.
She is preceded in death by her father, David Alvie Sellers and her mother Eliza May Thornton Sellers, her sister Judy May Sellers, her husband Delmer S. Dennis, and her grandson Matthew Norris. She is survived by her two brothers, David Sellers and Jimmy Sellers. She is also survived by her children Delmer S. (Sam) Dennis II and his wife Belinda Dennis; daughter Pamela Dennis Cowser and husband Bart Cowser; daughter Kim Kramer; and son David Dennis and wife Donna Dennis. She has six living grandchildren, Taylor Dennis Butler and husband Matt; Delmer Samuel (Trey) Dennis III, Jonathan Norris, Michael Paul Norris, Amber Ann Norris, and Allison Nicole Dennis. She has six great-grandchildren: Zachary Norris, Alyssa Sue Beth Norris, Cannon Kenneth Butler, Colt Macon Butler, Samantha Sue Butler, and Carter Howard Butler.
Ted Dickey West Funeral Home in Dallas, Texas has charge of arrangements.
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