Sheila Marmon Gregg's Obituary
Sheila Denise Marmon Gregg, of Dallas, passed away in her Turtle Creek home on Saturday, Dec. 23, just a few days before her sixty-fifth birthday. Her death, unexpected by many, came at the end of a lifelong battle with chronic pain from various illnesses. Her family is grateful that her struggle is finally over and that her spirit can rest in peace.Sheila was born in Dallas on the day after Christmas, 1952, to Lucy and Ernest Marmon. Her notoriously charming father, who worked his way from the delivery truck to the executive VP office of Dr Pepper, died in a plane crash in Colorado in 1964; his tragic death weighed heavily on Sheila’s heart for the rest of her life. She graduated from Hillcrest High in 1971, and was proud to have reconnected with the members of “the old gang” in her final years. Sheila earned her B.S. in Education at the University of Houston; while in Houston, she met Frank Gregg, to whom she was married from 1974-2004 and with whom she raised two children, Jeremy (born 1978, now the Managing Director of Gregg Partners) and Andrew (born 1982, now Fr. Stephen, a priest and teacher at the Cistercian Abbey in Irving). After college, Sheila served as an elementary teacher in the Dallas ISD. She stopped working full-time shortly after her children were born, but continued to work in real estate and cosmetics. In her late thirties, she courageously launched a new career as an actress, successfully landing roles in various local commercials, movies, and television shows while also volunteering as cheerleader coach and theater sponsor at the Cistercian Preparatory School. In her final years, Sheila’s greatest joy was spending time with her two granddaughters, Madeleine (born 2006) and Harper (born 2008), including several sleepovers that involved far more laughing than actual sleeping.Sheila was, in a word, irrepressible. Even in her weakest moments, she could captivate a room with her larger-than-life personality. She loved bold costumes, big hair, and bright jewelry. Driven by her mantra “to thine own self be true,” she often confounded those who cared for her, but the ferocity of her love, the authenticity of her joy, and the sincerity of her compassion for even the most cantankerous among us were undeniable. Sheila never met a stranger, and her happiest days were those spent in service to others.Sheila was always religious, but she began a very personal walk with God in July 1988. Surrounded by friends on a similar journey, she gained a set of spiritual tools that gave her and her family the best years of their lives. While she continued to struggle, she never abandoned her fight for serenity in the face of daunting challenges. In the last decade of her life, as her physical difficulties limited her mobility, she began to turn her home into a sort of microcosm for her vision for the world: a peaceful and loving environment decorated with proverbs, meditations, prayers, religious icons, bibles, and angels. Sheila is preceded in death by her father and mother, her step-father Charles Atkins, beloved aunt Monty Chitsey, and brother Ernest. She is survived by her two sons, her two granddaughters, her nephew Cameron Marmon, and her uncle J.D. Chitsey. She will be buried in a private family ceremony next to her father in Restland Cemetery. The funeral mass will be celebrated at the Cistercian Abbey in Irving, on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at 10:30 in the morning.In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Journey Of Hope Grief Support Center, which provides free counseling to children who, like Sheila, lost a parent. Donations can be made at www.johgriefsupport.org
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