Obituary of Audry Maurice Garrett Parham

Audry Maurice Garrett Parham, A Great Lady of the State of Texas, entered life eternal on January 16, 2019.Born on September 17, 1922 in Delta County, Texas, she lived to be 96 years of age. If you ever encountered her, then you most definitely came to love her. Regardless of how you knew her, you could not escape the sense that she loved you and believed in you. Amongst friends and business associates, she was known as Audry, she was Aunt Maurice to her extended family, Mother to her children and went by Granny or Gran Gran to her descendants. But regardless of the name, to a person a void has been left in the lives of those who knew her.She was born into hard work, picking cotton and hoeing rows in East Texas. As a little girl in depression era America, she developed a strong work ethic allowing her to labor with energy through the hottest and hardest days, like they were a summer breeze. But her greatest capacity was not the ability to work, it was her capacity to love. She took on life with a heart bigger than the state from which she hailed. When she was 18 she married her childhood sweetheart Roy Alexander Parham in 1940. They moved to Paris and then to Fort Worth producing two lovely children along the way. Soon her mother and all her siblings arrived in the Metroplex to join her family. From there she and her husband built with their own hands the two houses in which she lived.She got a job when she arrived in 1946 at Frisbie Electric Company where she worked for 61 years. As life went on she was blessed with six grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. She loved to believe in people and let them know that they could and would accomplish anything. In her mind no problem was too tough, no obstacle too great. And when you were around her you knew that was true.All of her life she was a strong Christian as a member of the Church of Christ. From 1946 until 1980, she was a member of Midtown Church of Christ. From 1980 until her death she was a member of Altamesa Church of Christ. Faith, hope and love were her essence and she brought that same spirit into the lives of so many others.She is preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Roy Alexander Parham, her siblings, Modell Miller, Aaron Garrett, Arnold Whatley, and her grandson, Michael Clark.She is survived by her children, Diann Clark and Leon Parham, as well as her loving daughter-in-law, Gabriele Parham, and so many more including, five grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.