Mavis Borders Dinning's Obituary
Mavis Borders Dinning
Graveside services for Mavis Borders Dinning, 97, of Longview will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, April 23, 2015 in the Chapel of Rosewood Park Mausoleum with Dr. Tim Watson officiating. Interment will follow in Rosewood Park under the direction of Rader Funeral Home of Longview.
Visitation will be from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Mrs. Dinning passed away Sunday, April 19, 2015 in Longview. Mavis was born November 2, 1917, in Kilgore, Texas to John V. and Essie Goyne Borders. She was a child that literally grew up right in the middle of the Kilgore Oil Boom. Their home was downtown Kilgore where the old Post Office was, across from the Texan Theater. She married Thomas J. Dinning on June 23, 1934, he was the love of her life. They were married for 47 years.
While they lived in Kilgore, she was a member of the First Baptist Church and a charter member of the Evergreen Garden Club. They raised their three daughter there and she was the manager of The Toy World in Kilgore before they moved to Longview.
In June of 1963, they moved from Kilgore to Longview and opened Furniture Discount Center. She worked for Kleeb’s Toy Ranch for 15 years, then she worked with her husband in their furniture store, Furniture Discount Center until her husband died. She was a member of the First Baptist Church, Longview and was a charter member of the Radiant Sunday School class.
Mavis loved to play bridge. She was a member of the South Green Senior Citizens Club on Green Street where she played every Thursday for years. Her other love was reading. She often told her family how she traveled the world and saw so many things by reading her books. Most of all, she loved her family. She was always there for anyone who needed her with a smile on her face. She will be truly missed.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, Thomas; and daughter, Sandra Dinning Starr; her sisters, Eloise Bean and Opal Glenn, both of Kilgore and Cell Marie Dinning of Houston.
Those left to cherish her memory are her daughters and their spouses; Trudy Hester and husband James, and Cathy Whatley Hensley and husband Roy, all of Longview. Grandchildren are Todd Hester, Karen Hester Miller and husband Mark, David Starr, Brian Starr, Brent Whatley and wife Tara, Bryan Hensley and wife Kristen. Great grandchildren are Colin Groce, Macy, Madison, Micah and Elizabeth Miller, Fletcher Hester and Evan Mattox, Skylar and Teryn Whatley; nephews Walter King and wife Margaret of South Padre Island, TX, and Pete King of Valparaiso, FL; and cousins, A. V. Goyne of Dallas, TX, Bob Dinning and wife Alpha of Harleton, and Damon Dinning of Kilgore; numerous other cousins and extended family.
Memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, 209 E. South St., Longview, TX 75601 or to the Green Street Senior Citizens Center, c/o City of Longview, 300 W. Cotton St., Longview, TX 75601.
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