Edna Yvonne O'Neal

Edna Yvonne “Bon” O’Neal, of Thornton, passed away peacefully in the arms of her family at Providence Hospital in Waco on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at age 77.

Visitation will be held on Friday, October 20, 2023, from 5:00 – 7:00 P.M. in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, October 21, 2023, in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Ben Huebner of the First Methodist Church of Thornton officiating.  Burial will follow in the Thornton Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be John Wayland Sims, Clinton Tyler Scruggs, Jason Rhodes, Kenneth Rhodes, Keith Tumlinson and James Michael O’Neal.  Honorary pallbearers will be Willie Neal, Mark Smith, Sr., John Banks Campbell, Bill Neason and Charlie King.

Yvonne was born June 18, 1946, to Charles Edwin Rhodes and Edna Earle (Carpenter) Rhodes in Groesbeck.    She grew up at Davis Prairie, and attended school in Thornton until it closed in 1961 when she was a freshman.   She graduated from Groesbeck High School in the Class of 1964.

Yvonne was united in marriage with her high school sweetheart, Robert Henry O’Neal (from Kosse) on June 30, 1969, at her family home at Davis Prairie.   After they married, they lived briefly in Mexia, Waco and Kosse but then made their home in Thornton, where they have lived ever since.

Yvonne worked in the grocery business all her life, from working at the Thornton Grocery while she was in high school, to Safeway in Mexia for 22 years.   Safeway was a very busy store in its day, but when it closed, she went to work for HEB in Mexia, where she was a receiving clerk.  She retired after another 22 years at HEB, having driven many miles travelling to work in Mexia for 44 years.

Yvonne loved dancing since she was a young girl.   She and Robert attended dances at Elk weekly, taking the kids and teaching them to dance.  They always were at the local Thornton and Kosse homecoming street dances, and if her favorite band, Cherokee Rose was playing anywhere, it was a “must” to be there.   At home, she would always be listening to Classic “real” Country music.

Yvonne loved to hang out with her family and friends, and especially enjoyed playing Canasta, and sometime other games.  She was a very good cook and prepared huge Sunday dinners, enough to feed an army, and wanted all the family to gather in her home.  

Yvonne was a spunky lady.  She loved all her kids and grandchildren, spoiling them rotten, and was an extremely good loving wife.  Her family included her “fur” babies, who were lap dogs and sleeping pals, and she especially loved her Chihuahuas. Yvonne was a member of the First Methodist Church of Thornton.

Yvonne was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Charles Rhodes and Jimmy Rhodes.

She is survived by her husband, Robert O’Neal of Thornton; daughter and son-in-law, Stacey and Jimmy Grissett of Thornton; and son, Richard Kevin O’Neal of Thornton.  Her grandchildren are: Aaron Martin and his wife, Jessica Martin of Mount Calm; Justin Grissett and Lacie Grissett of Mt. Enterprise; and great grandchildren, Sabrina Grissett and Sienna Grissett. She is also survived by her nephews, Jason Rhodes of Thornton and Kenneth Rhodes of Wortham; and nieces, Genia Biediger of Sanger, Melissa Smith of Thornton and Sheila Rhodes of Rockwall.