Mary Jo Wood

Mary Jo Welborn Wood; born November 15, 1919, died November 12, 2019. Ninety-nine years, 11 months and 12 days…3 days short of her 100th birthday…a life extraordinaire.

Mary Jo was in Healdton, OK to James Franklin & Lula Frances (Hannah) Welborn, the fifth of six children. She had 2 older brothers, 2 older and 1 younger sister. The family moved to Longview, TX when she was 11 years old during the East Texas Oil Boom where her father worked on some of the earliest wooden oil derricks. Mary Jo went all through school and graduated from Longview High school where she lettered on the girls basketball team – THE LADY LOBOS. While attending high school Mary Jo worked at a liquor distributor stamping the bottles and met a young delivery driver named James William (Woody) Wood – she didn’t like him because he was a “bad boy” but unbeknownst to her, her oldest sister was encouraging him. It seems he grew on her because she married Woody on July 3, 1937. They had 2 sons (October of 1938 & 1941) and then there was WWII. After he returned from the war, Woody went to work for the post office and later Gifford Hill Pipe Company. They added 2 daughters to their family in September 1952 & December 1954. Woody’s job moved the family moved to Grand Prairie around 1956 and then to Abilene where they lived until moving to Hurst in 1964, at that time their street was a dead-end into a cow pasture.

Mary Jo was the matriarch of neighborhood – all the young wives would call her for advice, or to take care of that “snake in the garage.” In the early 70’s, Mary Jo went to work in the daycare center at the former Bellevue Baptist church and worked there for a number of years until Woody retired. Mary Jo & Woody enjoyed a many wonderful retirement years until she was widowed in 2001. She continued to live independently driving herself everywhere – the grocery, doctor’s appointments and Whataburger until she voluntarily gave up driving at age 97. She lived alone until spending the last few weeks preceding her death with her daughter and son-in-law, Daphene & Randy, where she was treated like a queen.

Some of her pleasures were football, hamburgers, Judge Judy, and watching professional bull riding (her favorite was Chris Shivers – “my little boy” she called him) but Mary Jo’s greatest joy was making a home for her family. She could cook, keep a house, can and preserve food, hand-piece & hand quilt, and sew; all skills learned by watching her mother. She fiercely loved and is survived by her children, James (Karene), Mansel (Jo), Deborah, and Daphene (Randy), her grandchildren Allison, Patrick, Mansel and Drady (Peter) and great-grandchildren Ashley, Karlene, Peter, Sander, Michaela, and Sawyer; and her beloved “babies” (cats), Sammy and Sophie.

Mary Jo…Mama. Her children know they were blessed to have her in their lives for so many years – pure of heart and sound of mind until she fell asleep; and we love her beyond measure and time. On the night she died there was an amazingly beautiful and bright full moon, that was Daddy leaving the light on for her.