Dolores Ovon Terrell
Dolores Ovon Terrell, of Edna, Texas, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at the age of 84. She was born in LaWard, Texas on August 9, 1938, to the late Charles Eugene Fox and Ruth Fitzpatrick Fox.
Dolores was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother who will be dearly missed.
Dolores grew up in Lolita and LaWard on various ranches her dad worked on. She met her high school sweetheart, Bobby Joe Terrell, her freshman year at Industrial High. When she wasn’t busy playing basketball or volleyball, she was running around with her lifelong friends of Delores Jean, Sister, and Betty.
On March 17, 1956, she married Bobby Joe and began a 20-year career as a Navy wife. She was very proud to be a Navy wife and loved the travelling and comradery the military offered. Bobby Joe went on to his new station in the Philippines while Dolores stayed behind to finish high school.
In August of 1956, she got on a train to travel to San Francisco to catch a boat that would take three weeks to reach her new husband in the Philippines. They would be stationed there for 3 years before returning back to the United States with their marriage on solid ground. They travelled all over the United States: Washington state to Florida. They made lifelong friends in the navy that she still kept up with until her passing.
When they finally made their way back to Texas, they welcomed their first child, Lisa Gay, in 1964. In 1968, they made their way to Adak, Alaska. Their “Little Eskimo,” Tina Gale, was born there in 1968. When they returned to the lower 48, they prepped for their next adventure in Naples, Italy.
Dolores travelled alone to Naples with their five-year-old and baby, and Bobby Joe met her there. The three-year assignment turned out to be only nine months. The Vietnam War was in full force. They came back to Virginia for Bobby to finish out his Navy career. Bobby Joe ran a shop for the base and after hours, he and his team worked on POW/MIA wives’ cars for free. Dolores would fix the wives tea/coffee and visit with families while the guys worked.
In 1973 they retired from the navy and returned to their roots in Texas, living first in Victoria and then moving to Edna. Dolores filled her days taking care of her family, being a homeroom mom, sewing, and reading. Dolores loved to read and went to the library weekly getting 10-15 books at a time. Bobby Joe had promised Dolores she could get her hair done weekly once he was out of the navy. She got her hair done every Thursday at Mac’s Beauty Salon by Janie until 2017. She went there for her hair as much as for the gossip. NOTHING got in the way of her hair appointment.
In 1977, Dolores and Bobby Joe started preparing some family land off of the Navidad to move permanently there. Dolores decided that since her kids were growing up and didn’t need her as much, to go to work outside the home. She began a 20-year career with Dr. Joseph Bitter at the Edna Veterinary Clinic working part-time. Dr. Bitter said when Dolores retired, he would too. She retired in 1998. In their retirement, they loved on their 5 grandchildren, visited the Grand Canyon, and pursued hobbies.
Dolores faced off breast cancer, macular degeneration, and open-heart surgery. In December 2012, she faced one of her biggest challenges when Bobby Joe passed away after 56 years of marriage. As her health and eyesight continued to fail, she moved to Victoria in 2014 to be closer to her daughters. Dolores loved living at Morada Independent Living. She loved socializing, playing cards, and running around town with her girls.
In the last three years of her life, she lost most of her vision and was on oxygen. She stayed in her apartment, still loving to read, but now listening to books on tape and getting her hair done on Thursdays in a little shop in Victoria and eating Twix or Oreos. Dolores had a life full of adventure and love. She loved to laugh, long and hard.
Dolores is survived by her daughters, Lisa Alpeter (Mark) and Tina Terrell; sister Shirley Melvin (Maurice) and brother James Fox (Lydia); grandchildren: Sara Alpeter, Morgan Garcia, Meghan Garcia, Ryan Alpeter, and Matthew Garcia; great-grandchildren: Addison Benitez, Mason Benitez, and Rylee Garcia and various nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Ruth Fox; and her husband, Bobby Joe Terrell. Pallbearers were Matthew Garcia, Ryan Alpeter, Mark Alpeter, Henry (Buzzy) Whitley, Dennis Whitley, and Trevor Kirgan.
Visitation was held on Friday, June 16, 2023, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Oaklawn Funeral Home Chapel in Edna, Texas.
Funeral services were held on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at 10 a.m. also in the Oaklawn Funeral Home Chapel. Interment followed in Terrell Cemetery in Edna. Brother Joe McClanahan officiated.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Dolores’ name to The Vine School, 603 E. Mesquite Ln, Victoria, TX 77901 (autism school her grandson, Ryan, attends) or to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Arrangements are under the direction of Oaklawn Funeral Home in Edna. 361-782-2221.