Tinnie Lou Wilson

Tinnie Lou Wilson, of Groesbeck, passed away at Providence Hospital in Waco on Sunday, January 13, 2019, at age 88.

Visitation will be Tuesday, January 15, 2019 from 1:00 until 2:00 P.M. in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel, prior to the funeral service.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, January 15 in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel, with Brother Richard Williams of the Church of Christ of Groesbeck officiating.   Burial will follow in the Pippin Cemetery in the Red Hill Community.

Pallbearers will be Brian Gibson, Greg Tate, Ryan Dodd, Kent Wilson, Todd Swick, Robbie Swick, and Dustin Davison.

Tinnie Lou was born May 7, 1930 to George Washington O’Neal and Ruby Mae Vinzant Hall O’Neal in Groesbeck and was one of 16 children.   She graduated from Groesbeck High School in 1948.

Tinnie Lou was united in marriage with her high school sweetheart, Charles Wilson in Groesbeck on January 27, 1952.     They lived in Huntsville while he was attending Sam Houston State Teachers College and she worked at the College.   As Charles began his coaching career, they moved to Mexia, where the oldest two sons Mike and Matt were born.    From Mexia they moved to Kerrville where he coached at Kerrville Tivy and later to Huntsville where he coached at Huntsville High School and Tinnie Lou was a busy homemaker and mother.

In Huntsville, Charles changed careers to work for Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  They moved to Angleton in 1963 where he was the Assistant Warden at TDCJ.  Spencer was born in Angleton and once he was old enough to go to school, Tinnie Lou worked in the Principal’s office of Angleton High School.     

The family moved back to Limestone County, at Box Church, in 1971.   Tinnie Lou worked keeping books for both Gene Long at Long’s Farm and Ranch and for Franklin Jackson.   She was a very good bookkeeper.     She later became director of the Groesbeck Housing Authority where she worked for many years, providing affordable housing for many in Groesbeck while also overseeing the many government rules and managing the detailed record keeping, until she retired.     The beginning of the public library in Groesbeck was housed in her office, which also provided a meeting space for the public.

After her retirement, she enjoyed coming to town to have coffee with friends at the Dairy Queen and later at Mary’s.   Through the years, Tinnie Lou had always held the O’Neal family reunions in her home, and this consisted of a very large number of family visiting with each other.   She also liked to cook and host holiday meals with her immediate family.   She was very involved with the grandchildren who called her Granny Lou, which became her official name to family and friends.    She and Charles had a lake lot, and Granny Lou had a rule that each child must wear a life jacket, and not swim beyond a limited area, even as the kids were getting older and good swimmers.    They liked to say there were Granny Lou’s lake rules and there were “other” lake rules.

Her boys and later the grandchildren grew up with lots of teasing and laughing, from her and back to her.   The boys knew, however, when she was not teasing, when she called the roll with their full name, and sounding like the names were in capital letters.  When they teased her too much, she would tell them “I’m going to throw you in the creek and tell God you died.”   The grandchildren teased her by pointing a finger at her, just as she did them, with “tut-tut-tut, Granny Lou.”    The grandchildren remember her firm teaching of: “You’d better wrap your tongue around the word Ma’am.”

She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Groesbeck.  She was an avid reader and her addiction to crossword puzzles has passed to others in the family.   While she enjoyed people and family and her independence, Tinnie Lou decided for herself when she did not need to live on her own any longer and moved herself into the Groesbeck LTC.  Tinnie Lou was a serious fan of the Dallas Cowboys, and if she could not see the game on the TV at LTC, she called one of the boys to pick her up so she could watch the game on their TV.   During her final two weeks under the care of Providence Hospice, her loving family sat with her through all the days and the nights.  

Tinnie Lou was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Charles Wilson in 1988; and fourteen of the siblings and their spouses.   Deceased brothers are:   Connie O’Neal, Dick O’Neal, Billy George O’Neal, G. W. O’Neal, and Alvie L. O’Neal.     The deceased sisters are:  Myrtle Rogers, Ruby Jon Smith, Geneva Barnes, Alma Morton, Maurveen Moon, Mozelle Moore, Barbara Strength, Oras Jones, and Margie Rodgers.

She is survived by three sons and daughters-in-law, Michael Allen and Becky Wilson of Groesbeck,  Matt Wayne and Sharon Wilson of Groesbeck, and Spencer Lee Wilson and Cristie Owen of Groesbeck; five grandchildren:  Brooke Alyson Dodd and husband Ryan Dodd of Groesbeck, Kent Matthew Wilson and fiancée Jessica Funderburk of Groesbeck, Blair Elizabeth Davison and husband Dustin Davison of Dallas, Taylor Wilson of Waco, and Madison Wilson of Waco; three great grandchildren:  Emmersyn Dodd and Brittyn Dodd of Groesbeck and Cameron Nino of Waco; and one sister, Nelda Mae Oliver of Houston; sister-in-law, Ann O’Neal of Houston; and a large number of nieces and nephews and other extended family.

The family wishes to express their appreciation to the nurses and staff at Groesbeck LTC for the love and care given to Tinnie Lou, and to the nurses at Providence Hospital and the Providence Hospice nurses.