Ellen Faye Lyon-Neagle

In a small log cabin, on land her grandfather owned, Ellen Raney Lyon was born

in Strawberry, Arkansas the 6th of September 1923, to Charley Raney and Lydia

Ann Casteel. Her and her twin brother Allen were playful toddlers, whose playpen

was a large wooden crate. Their father brought the crate home one day to corral

them, so their mother could be free to do housework, and he could work the

cotton fields. In her early life she survived a flood that engulfed the family

home. A few years later, the death of her little sister Lillie Ann, and the near loss of her brother Junior to a childhood illness showed her how fragile life

could be. Somehow the family endured the Great Depression without the help of

her father, who was hospitalized throughout most of those years. Despite all of

the turmoil of her early life, she excelled in school and received a good

education in public school. Her Grandfather Raney was a Baptist minister and her

Great-Grandfather Casteel a Methodist minister. Her and her sister Mary Jo

attended the Methodist Church in Tuckerman, Arkansas for many years.

In the years of World War II, Ellen heard of family members who had gone to

California, and found work there. She moved to the Los Angeles area and worked

at defense plants making ammunition and self-sealing aviation fuel tanks. While

taking a weekend break from work, Ellen met a young Marine at Westlake Park, and

he determined Ellen was the girl he was going to marry. After a short courtship

Bill Lyon and Ellen Raney married in Dallas, Texas on June, 27, 1946. In the 52

years of their marriage Bill did his best to give Ellen a comfortable life. She

occupied her time as a housewife, managing a kennel business, growing green

house plants, and buying and selling collectables. She lived in Balch Springs,

Texas most of her married years. She lived in Wilmer, Texas from 1999 to 2006 at

which time she was diagnosed with throat cancer. Over the course of the next

five years she made her home with her son Derrel and his wife Vickie who

attended to her needs during the treatment and recovery. In these last years,

she was able to enjoy family visits, traveling, looking for collectables,

playing her card games, enjoying nature, and everything in life that made her

smile.

She is survived by her sister Mary Jo Raney Toms of Princeton,

Texas, son Dwain Lyon of Balch Springs, son Derrel Lyon and wife Vickie of

Mesquite, grandson Jeremy Lyon of Mesquite, grand daughter Carrie Lyon of Plano,

and numerous nieces and nephews.