Jackie Ozelle "Babe" Price

Jackie Ozelle “Babe” Price, formerly of Oletha, passed away Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at the Regent Care Center in The Woodlands, at age 84. Visitation will be from 1:00 -3:00 P.M. on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at the Groesbeck Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 1:00 P.M. on Monday, April 15, 2013 in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in the Old Union Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Austin Reeves, Jerry Jernigan, Dwayne Jernigan, Bobby Jernigan, Bobby Mock, and Tim Jernigan. Jackie was born on January 8, 1929 to Louis Jackson Bell and Hazel Ozelle (Hughes) Bell at Oletha. She grew up on a farm, and attended Groesbeck schools, although being a child of the depression, she dropped out of school to help the family in picking cotton. When she was 18, Jackie married Finis Reeves from Oletha, and they had four children. After a few years in Oletha, the family moved to Monahans. Jackie was a housewife raising her family, until after she was divorced, when she went to work full time to support the three children still at home. On April 19, 1968, Jackie married the love of her life, Loyal Grant Price, at his brother’s home in Houston. After a few years in Houston, the family spent one very enjoyable year in California where they did a lot of sight-seeing; they then made their home in Whitney for many years. Jackie had always regretted not being able to graduate from high school, so at age 48, she earned her GED, and then became an LVN. She loved nursing, and worked in the lab at the Whitney Hospital. Jackie loved to celebrate her birthday by remembering she shared the same birthday with Elvis. Jackie was always a go-getter and hard worker. She loved family gatherings and attending the Old Union Memorial, even being there last year. She was a member of the Baptist Church, and she regularly visited nursing homes with her church group to sing and entertain the residents. After her husband died in 1993, she moved from Whitney to Hempstead to be near her daughter, living in her own trailer, and growing a huge garden of flowers and vegetables. She always raised more than she could use because she loved to share with her neighbors. Her gardening skills were above the level of ordinary “green-thumbs”. Jackie lived on her own until her health took a sudden turn for the worse two years ago and she moved into the Regent Care Center. While she could hardly walk herself, she made it her duty to see about the other residents and being helpful to the nurses. She was loved by the other residents and the nursing staff, and will be lovingly missed by her family and all who knew her. Jackie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Loyal G. Price (4-8-93); a grandson, Zachariah Reeves (2006) ; and a son, Jackie Ray Reeves (2009.) She is survived by her daughter, Brenda Jernigan and husband Bob of Cypress; son, Steve Reeves and his wife of Thailand; daughter, Debbie Mock and husband Bobby of Spring; sons, Dwayne Price, Robert Price, and Wayne Price; thirteen grandchildren; eight great grandchildren; and her brother, Joe Bell and his wife Mary of Old Union.