Twila Cloninger Gauntt

   Twila Cloninger Gauntt passed away on Oct. 30, 2014.  She was born May 18, 1925, in Vernon, the eldest daughter of Barney Cloninger and Ann Freudiger Cloninger. She was raised in Vernon and attended college for one year at West Texas State in Canyon, Texas where she was a varsity cheerleader. She moved to Austin to be near her childhood sweetheart, Maxie Bell, who was attending the University of Texas and was in the Naval ROTC.  They were married in Vernon on Oct. 31, 1945.
They lived in Vernon, where Maxie was with the Herring Bank.  In 1967, they moved to Duncanville, Texas where Maxie was president of the First National Bank of Duncanville.
   After her divorce from Maxie, Twila became a highly successful realtor in Duncanville. She loved her career and her home on Green Valley Lane in Duncanville.  She was the Organizing Regent of the Duncanville chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and was a regional representative of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League for 20 years.
   She had recently resided at Champions Cove in Duncanville. She had many friends in Duncanville who will miss her.
She is survived by her daughter, Malinda Allison of Honey Grove; her grandson, Robert Allison of New York City, and her sister, Francis Johnson and her nephew Rory Ray of Granbury. She was preceded in death by Maxie Bell and by her second husband, James Gauntt.
   Graveside services were held Friday, Nov. 7 at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
The family suggests memorials to the First Presbyterian Church in Vernon and the Duncanville Daughters of the American Revolution Scholarship Fund.