Ector County Texas Obituaries

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Martin

Goldie Marie Martin, 84, of Odessa, died Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004, at Hospice House.
Services are pending with Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors.

Martin

Irvin Woodrow Martin Jr., 71, of Odessa, a truck driver, died Sunday, July 10, 2005, at his residence.
Graveside services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Sunset Memorial Gardens with Chaplain Jeff Cleere officiating. Arrangements are by Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home.
Martin was born in San Antonio and he served in the U.S. Army.
Survivors Wife, Loretta Martin of Odessa; daughters, Lori Denise Wright of Odessa; brothers, Nolan Martin of San Antonio and Roland Martin of Clinton, Miss.; sisters, Virginia Swenson of Devine, Joyce Martin of Houston and Carol McCarthy of Lytle; and three grandchildren.
Jiles McCullough
Odessa Jiles McCullough, 64, of Odessa, a Holiday Inn employee, died on Friday July 8, 2005, at Medical Center Hospital.
Visitation will be held Tuesday at Odessa Funeral Home at 9 a.m. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Greater St. Johns Baptist Church with the Rev. R.T.J. Millar officiating. Burial will follow at RoseHill Cemetery. Arrangements are by Odessa Funeral Home.
He was born in Odessa. He was Christian Baptist.
survivors Wife, Cardelia McCullough of Odessa; son, Derl Justice of Odessa; daughter, Edna Thomas Odessa; brothers, Walter McCullough of Houston and James Weldon McCullough of Seattle; sisters, Joyce Mayes of Houston and Andrew Mae Mackey of Houston; 23 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and 5 great-great-grandchildren.

Martinez

ODESSA -- Ernest Martinez, 74, died at his home Thursday, January 23, 2003.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Odessa, Texas, with the Rev. Serafin Avenido officiating. Arrangements are entrusted to Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors.
Ernest was born on April 10, 1928, in Marfa, Texas, to Ernesto & Longina Martinez, who preceded him in death. He was an active member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, in Odessa. Also preceding him in death was son, Ernest Martinez Jr.
Determined to serve his country during WWII, he lied about his age and enlisted in the US Navy on Dec. 2, 1944 at the age of 16 years and 7 months. He received an honorable discharge in 1947 and made Odessa home in 1948 where he worked for Pioneer Natural Gas Company and Glacier Distributing Company.
n 1958, he became full partner with Ben Mancha at Ben's Little Mexico located on South Dixie -- a partnership that continued until 1983, then El Meson Restaurant was sold. In 1958, when the need for a Hispanic service organization became evident, together, with business partner Ben Mancha and other Odessans, the decision was made to organize a Lions Club. In 1959, the Basin Lions Club was chartered. The club remains active to date.
In 1968, Ernest became the first American of Mexican descent to be elected to the Odessa City Council -- a position he held until 1972. Though initially reluctant to seek the position due to his lack of formal education, he recognized the importance of becoming the Hispanic that would "break the ice" in city politics and thus open opportunities for other Hispanics to follow. It was during his tenure that the need for paved streets in South Odessa was first stressed and acknowledged as needed by the city council.
His position on the Council added to the credibility he had already earned as an Hispanic businessman. So much so, that it can be said that he played a large part in laying the foundation for what is now called "affirmative action" in the workplace. Representatives from companies such as Shell Oil came to talk to Ernest & Ben about finding "qualified" Mexican Americans to work for them. This was a feat easily accomplished. One of the first persons that Ernest recommended to Shell will soon be retiring -- from Shell. He was also instrumental in the hiring of Mexican Americans in the electronic media.
In 1970, in a joint venture with several friends, the Pan American Ballroom was built in South Odessa. When it was built it was hailed as the nicest Hispanic ballroom between El Paso and Dallas.
Though the brainchild of Odessa businessman Raymond Chavez, Ernest spent many hours encouraging Raymond to make the dream of starting a golf association a reality. In 1970, the Pan American Golf Association was formed, with Ernest as one of the charter members. That organization also remains active.
The city of Odessa's Housing Authority honored Ernest by naming a new housing development in Odessa'a southside, the Ernest Martinez Addition.
Ernest was a loving father and grandfather, and devoted and loving husband. He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife of 27 years, Lorina Martinez, daughters, Shirley Martinez, San Jose, California; Julie Grace and Norma Martinez, Phoenix, Arizona; Peggy Baldazok and husband, Frank, Lubbock, Texas; and, stepdaughter, Stacey Huerta, Odessa. Sons: Leo Martinez and wife Carolyn, Odessa; Rene Martinez, Dallas; stepsons, Sisto Huerta and wife Melva, Austin; Rick Huerta and wife Annette, Katy; and daughter-in-law, Terry Martinez, Odessa. Also surviving him are his sisters, Gloria Nichols and Lydia Gutierrez, Phoenix, Arizona, 20 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. He also leaves many treasured friends who both loved and respected him. It can truly be said that he did not leave the community of Odessa as he found it, rather he saw the need to change it and left it better than he found it.

Mendoza

Jesus Salvador Mendoza, infant, of Odessa, died Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006, at Medical Center Hospital.
Graveside service will be at 10 a.m. today at Sunset Memorial Gardens with the Rev. Joseph Uecker officiating. Arrangements are by Odessa Funeral Home.
He was born in Odessa.
Survivors Parents, Noel Mendoza and Brenda Munoz, both of Odessa; bother, Noel Mendoza Jr. of Odessa; sister, Joana Mendoza of Odessa; and grandparents, Salvador and Catalina Mendoza and Raul and Juana Munoz, all of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Morris

June 19, 2001
A student inspired a teacher who inspired a community to build an uncommon theater. The grand opening was held in 1968, a decade after the construction began.
On Sunday, the dreamer inspired by her student's words, longtime Odessan Marjorie Rogers Morris, 93, died.
But the dream survives and has reached around the world. In 2001, those visiting the new Globe Theatre in London will find listed in the museum there the Globe of the Great Southwest -- in Odessa, Texas.
"They have a mock-up of Shakespearean theaters around the world, and there is the Globe Theatre of Odessa," said Midlander Marilyn Allen, a member of the Globe of the Great Southwest of Odessa board of trustees, who recently attended a production at the London theater. "I was surprised and delighted. I think that the whole area is indebted to Marjorie for her foresightedness in instigating the establishment of a Shakespearean facility in this area."
Born Aug. 23, 1907, in Pilot Point, Mrs. Morris died Sunday at an Odessa hospital. She was the youngest of nine children born to the Rev. and Mrs. W.L. Rogers. Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. today in a church where she taught Sunday School for more than 30 years -- the First Baptist Church, Odessa, with the Rev. Melvin Warren officiating. Internment will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens.
Mrs. Morris, whose husband preceded her in death some years ago, had no children. Relatives have asked that memorial contributions be made, not surprisingly, to the Globe of the Great Southwest.
"She was ahead of her time in wanting achievement for women not only in education but in business and economics and in all directions," said Globe Theatre board of trustees member Priscilla Hyson, who has known Mrs. Morris since the early 1960s. "I thought she was a very strong individual, very persevering, very responsible. I liked her very much."
Mrs. Morris, who taught English literature at Odessa High School, was a tireless worker for her cause -- building the Globe Theatre and keeping it going. The relationship between Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Hyson first formed over the telephone when Mrs. Morris would call the English, drama and music teachers in the Ector County Independent School District to encourage them to bring their classes to productions, recalled Mrs. Hyson. In 1985, Ms. Hyson, became a member of the Juliet Society, an auxiliary organization that raises money for the Globe Theatre and in 1990, joined the board of trustees.
"She was undauntable, not dissuaded well from anything that she was doing," Mrs. Hyson said. "She was one of these people that was a survivor. She kept on at whatever her goal was. If people didn't want to contribute, that was fine. She went on to the next person.
"It took her 10 years to raise the funds for the Globe Theatre with the help of the community. It took her a year to raise the funds for the Anne Hathaway Cottage (which opened in 1986) after people had seen what had been achieved through the erection of the Globe."
Another friend of Mrs. Morris, Frances Dunn, remembered how the architect, the late J. Ellsworth Powell of Midland, worked with Mrs. Morris on the construction of the theater.
"She told him, 'I cannot get all of the money that you will need to build this theater at one time. I can get it in pieces,'" recalled Mrs. Dunn, who also serves on the Globe's board of trustees and is a member of the Juliet Society. "He would tell her how much he needed for the first section. He built it so it was protected and didn't weather. He worked with her this way, and I thought that was very fortunate that she could find someone who would do that."
The site of the Globe on the Odessa College campus also represented a tradeoff. Both Mrs. Hyson and Mrs. Dunn recalled how the then-superintendent of schools in Odessa wanted Mrs. Morris to teach English at the college, which had been newly built and was, in the beginning, a part of ECISD.
"He knew that she was looking for land to build the Globe," Mrs. Hyson said. "He told her one day -- 'If I can get the board of directors to give this piece of property on the center edge of Odessa College to you to build the Globe Theatre, will you come and teach English literature at Odessa College?' And she said, 'Yes.'"
The Globe Theatre was not the only non-profit that Mrs. Morris, who was a graduate of North Texas State University, founded in the Permian Basin.
"She was the founder of our chapter of the poetry society," said Pat Peek of the Permian Basin Chapter of the Poetry Society of Texas, originally the Odessa chapter. "On June 5, 1967, she held the first meeting in her classroom at Odessa College. ...
"She wasn't active that much in the society after I joined. She would come, and we had a 90th birthday party for her. So I knew her in her later years, but she was still quite a dynamic person."
"She was very strong physically," Mrs. Hyson said of Mrs. Morris. "She had run track at North Texas State University and she also played basketball."
"She was a very astute business woman," said Mrs. Dunn, noting that Mrs. Morris made several trips to England to research building the Globe Theatre. "This was her favorite thing in life, to get the Globe built and get it going and have Shakespearean plays produced there."
Mrs. Morris wanted young people to see Shakespeare and other master playwrights produced locally. And she wanted the material to be clean.
"She felt very strong about that," Mrs. Dunn said. "She wanted to feel free to bring children or young adults in to the theater to see Shakespeare and not have profanity and various things that you get to see on TV quite frequently. That was very important to her."
The lack of profanity was part of a contract she had made with God, one she describes in her own words.
"From the first day that I received the inspiration for a Globe Theatre, I promised our maker there would be no sex-oriented speeches or actions on its stage, no cursing or foul language and God's name would not be taken in vain -- this applies also to those who rent the theater," Mrs. Morris wrote some years ago. "We produce literature that teaches and that will lift the spirits to the 'good, the true, the beautiful.'"
"She was certainly a highly religious person," said Anthony Ridley, the director of the Globe Theatre. "I know that the phrase 'the good, the true and the beautiful' was something that she coined and was very much a believer in.
"She was so concerned about getting students in to see the shows that she did not want anything to be produced that would offend those students or teach them a set of values that was inappropriate.
"She says in this handwritten note, she promised if God would help, she would build it as a shrine and not allow anything obscene to be presented here. I don't think the spirit of it will ever change."