Adell was preceded in death by her husband, William John Walin, her son William Russell Walin, her parents Lee and Letha Roberts, her brother Grady Roberts and her two sisters Laverne Saunders and Marie Steed.
She is survived by her son Ron (Gwen) Walin of Havre, MT; her daughter Marilyn (Gary) Smith of Round Rock, TX; her grandchildren Christopher (Tina) Walin of Havre, MT, Zachary Smith and Josh Smith of Round Rock, TX and Alicia (Chris) Cork and Shelby of MT. She is also survived by her great-grandchildren Morgan, Madison, Melinda and Ryan Smith. Also surviving is Peggy Maguire of Lubbock, TX; sister and brother-in-law Leola and Ross Bracey of Carrollton, TX and sister-in-law Ann Ruffolo of Newport, MI, as well as, many nieces and nephews.
Adell married Bill Walin on August 9, 1955. Bill graduated from flight training school from Ellington Air Base in Houston, Texas that morning and the couple was married that evening. From Houston, the couple made their way to Honolulu, Hawaii for Bill’s first assignment in the United States Air Force. Their two sons were born in Hawaii while it was still a territory- not a state.
After this assignment ended, the family moved to Harlingen, TX where their daughter was born.
Due to Adell’s husband being in the military, they moved multiple times. The family resided in Waco, TX, Great Falls, Prattville, AL and Clark Air Base in the Philippines. (Two short summer stays were in TN and CA) Bill retired after 22.5 years and the family finally settled down in Austin, TX. These many moves were usually made by the wife and children as the father always had to go ahead of the family.
After Bill retired, Adell began a new career. She was a registered nurse and had not worked after her marriage. In Austin, she retired after 20 years with Allergy Associates in Austin – as the nursing supervisor. During this time, she also helped her husband with his job as a tax consultant.
This couple liked to travel when they had time. Many of their trips were made by Amtrak and a few times by car. Adell had traveled to all 50 states and 15 countries.
As if she did not have a lot to do, for many years Adell taught a Ladies Bible Class for her church. She really enjoyed this work.
Adell was the middle of five children. She had an older sister Laverne, and brother Grady – the three arriving within a five year period. Being the youngest of these three, she had to do what her two siblings told her to do, like get an egg from the henhouse for their mud pies. Otherwise she could not play with them.
There was a span of five years before the two youngest siblings arrived. To Leola and Marie, she was their mentor and a good friend. She even made play furniture from wooden crates for us to have in our playhouse. When we got in school, Adell offered her advice for doing our homework and stressed that we strive to make good grades. We were always glad to have her advice.
When she was a senior in high school, she knew she wanted to be a nurse. She started writing to schools to see what she had to do and if she would be accepted. She had not said anything to those at home about her plan – until she received her acceptance at Harding University in the School of Nursing. After that, she told our parents and her siblings.
That same year, 1948, a holiday was coming up. At the end of the war years, gas was long rationed. We never did much traveling during the war years. So, Adell told our parents that we were going to have a picnic in Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle about an hour’s drive from Pampa. Mother and Daddy didn’t make any objection. Mother cooked the food for our picnic and Daddy got the car ready. We had a very good day.
Adell was always ready to try anything new. Her nephew, Kirk, called her in 2015 to come up to Carrollton and he would take her to a Texas Rangers Ball Game. She came and Kirk took her to one. According to the two of them, they had a BALL!
A visitation will be held at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home on Friday, August 17, 2018 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, August 18, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ, 11908 North Lamar Blvd in Austin, Texas. Adell will be laid to rest next to her husband at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.
