Evelyn C. Priest

   Bridgeport  — Evelyn C Priest, 91, a retired nurses aid, went to be with our Lord Wednesday, May 6, 2015 in Decatur.
   Funeral is 10  a.m. Saturday, May 9, 2015 at Hawkins Funeral Home Chapel with a graveside service at 2:30 p.m. at Crestview Cemetery in Wichita Falls. Family will receive friends 6-7:30 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
   Rev. Sam Caldwell will officiate. Pallbearers include Mike Simpson, Ross Simpson, Alan Powers, Derrick Boyd, Allen Williamson, and Keith McComis.
   Evelyn was born on Aug. 7, 1923 to Richard and Fannie (Schultz) Johnson in Thalia, Texas. She was united in marriage to Thomas “Fred” Priest on Nov. 9, 1944 in Frederick, Okla. Evelyn was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Bridgeport.  She served on the board at the Wichita Falls State Hospital, where she also volunteered.
   Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Thomas “Fred” Priest; her son, Tommy Priest; her great-grandchild, Mason Charles Laxson; her brother, Joe Van Johnson, her sisters, Mary Thompson and Linda Boyett.
   Those left behind to cherish her memory are her daughter, Carole Laxson and husband Butch of Bridgeport; her grandchildren, Brad Laxson and wife Mellissa of Vernon, Melissa Nawrock and husband Dwayne of Lake Orion, Michigan; her great-grandchildren, Tyler Laxson, Steton Gilley, Ryan Hildebrand; her brother, Paul Johnson of Waxahachie; her sisters, Martha Gann of Fort Worth, Nell Jones and husband Gordon of Wichita, Kansas; numerous other family members and a host of friends.
   The family request memorial contributions be made to Wichita Falls State Hospital Volunteer Services Council, P.O. Box 300, Wichita Falls, Texas, 76307or ntshvolunteers.org.
   Hawkins Funeral Home, Bridgeport, Texas, 940-683-2211
   www.hawkinsfuneralhome.com.