Thurman Leon Loveless' Obituary
Thurman Leon Loveless died on January 11, 2018, in Arlington, Texas. He was born on August 18, 1927 in Dallas to Homer and Jewel Loveless, and he married Nell Stephens on December 30, 1949.Leon was a lifelong Christian and a faithful member of the New York Avenue Church of Christ in Arlington and the Big Sandy Church of Christ in years prior. He was an accomplished Bible teacher and lay preacher, and he served as a deacon or elder at most of the churches he attended. He and Nell also helped start several churches in Garland. He was a role-model and leader for his entire family.Leon grew up in Vickery and attended Vickery Hillcrest High School. He attended SMU on a football scholarship but suffered a career-ending injury before his first game. He graduated from SMU with an electrical engineering degree. He started working for Texas Power & Light Company while he was in college as a co-op student and spent his entire career with that company and its successors, working in Garland, Sherman, Waco, and Dallas. He retired in 1987 after almost 40 years on the job. He and Nell then retired to Holly Lake Ranch in East Texas, where they lived happily until she died in 2015.Leon and Nell had a lifelong romance. They both grew up in Vickery, two grades apart, but he first asked her out in high school. They eloped and kept their marriage a secret for several weeks because Nell was still in college. They loved each other passionately, and he treated her like a queen. When she died, someone said, “At least you had 65 years together,” and Leon replied, “Not enough.”Leon loved to play golf, which he did five days a week for many years. And he avidly followed SMU football and other sports. He and Nell loved to travel to other countries and on long driving trips in the U.S. He was a true gentleman, beloved by everyone he met. He was an entertaining story-teller and a fine folk-music performer. That was surprising because he could not actually sing. In college, he took an aptitude test and received the lowest music score ever recorded. But he was an outstanding talk-singer who enjoyed performing for his family.Leon was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, his brother J. W. Loveless, and his sister-in-law Dorothy Loveless. Leon is survived by his children and their spouses, Jeb Loveless and Martha Kinard, Brooks and Mary Ann Loveless, and Jan and Tom Knox; by his grandchildren Liz Price (Ken), Rev. Kate McGee (Lee), Will Loveless, Erin Loveless, Patrick Loveless (Holly), Melanie Larson (Matt), and Justin Knox (Abby); by his great-grandchildren Julia and Bennett Larson, three McGee boys; and by his nieces Reba Carney (Ollin) and Nancy Derryberry and their families.The family will receive friends on January 14, 2018 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Restland Funeral Home in Dallas.The service will be January 15, 2018 at 2:30 PM at the Memorial Chapel at Restland Funeral Home.In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Children’s Home of Lubbock, PO Box 2824, Lubbock TX 79408, www.childshome.org/giving.aspx.
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