Kay Wall

Kay Wall, beloved daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, teacher, and
servant of the Lord, passed away on May 26, 2026 in Vernon, Texas. She was born on February
4, 1941, in Wichita Falls, Texas, to Richard Menefee Williams and Oualline Juanita Gri൶ th
Williams, and she was known from her earliest days as “Kay Baby” to the family who loved
her.
The daughter of a Churches of Christ minister, Kay grew up moving from town to town as
her father followed his calling – McAlister, Oklahoma; Fort Worth; Smith¿ eld; Olney; Iowa
Park; LeFors; Abilene; Dill City; and Silverton, Texas – learning early to carry home within
herself. When her family moved during her senior year of high school, she stayed behind with
family friends and ¿ nished what she had started, graduating with honors from Silverton High
School in 1959, where she excelled as a student, a leader, and a basketball player.
Kay attended Abilene Christian College from 1959 to 1963, earning a degree in Elementary
Education with a minor in Bible. After graduation she moved to Lubbock, Texas, to teach, and
at the Broadway Church of Christ Young Professionals Class, she met the love of her life, Derrel E. Wall. They were
engaged on April 17, 1964, and married on August 14, 1964, at the Eastside Church of Christ in Snyder, Texas, in a
ceremony conducted by her father. Their marriage of almost sixty-two years was a partnership in every sense of the
word.
Kay devoted her life to teaching. She taught at an elementary school in Lubbock, then moved to Andrews where she
taught kindergarten for several years. Many years later, she joined the faculty at Central Elementary in Vernon, Texas,
where she taught third grade for twenty-three years. She was known for her creativity, her patience, her excellence, and
her particular gift for children others might have given up on. Long after she retired, former students stopped her to say
what she had meant to them.
For forty years, Kay and Derrel also taught the Big Class – a Wednesday Bible class for children ages four through
fourth grade – at their church, following a curriculum called Journey Through the Bible. They designed handmade visual
aids, bulletin boards, song charts and puppets, and created and built an entire wooden Bible town to bring Scripture to
life for the children they loved. They taught Bible teacher workshops across six states. Kay could tell a Bible story like
no other – expressive, invested, and full of genuine love for the children in front of her. Countless adults carry the seeds
of faith she planted.
Kay’s service extended in every direction. She and Derrel served for six years as houseparents at the Cornhusker
Christian Children’s Home in Culbertson, Nebraska, raising their three daughters and eight sons in their care. Those
years of raising a big family and meeting so many needs was challenging and rewarding. In Vernon, she served nine
years on the Vernon Independent School District School Board, including a tenure as Secretary. She volunteered in the
schools, at the Church of Christ Benevolence building, and with the Friends of the Library. She was a member of the
Pease River Quilt Guild and the Retired Teachers Association. She and Derrel were entrepreneurs. They operated the
Framing Gallery, hosted many guests at the Pecan Grove Bed and Breakfast, and brought fun to children through the
Putter In Miniature Golf Course in downtown Vernon, as well as collected antiques and treasures along the way. She
traveled to California, Montana, Idaho, New York, and Brazil on mission trips.
Derrel served their church as both a deacon and an elder, and Kay stood faithfully beside him in those roles – carrying
the privilege and the weight of congregational leadership with the same quiet strength she brought to everything else.
She was a devoted member of the Wilbarger Street Church of Christ, where she continued teaching the Big Class for
almost 40 years.
Kay Wall was a woman of deep and practical faith. She wrote cards and notes to everyone who was sick, su൵ ering, or
absent from church. She was a natural listener and a trusted source of calm, wise counsel. She made others feel welcome
and seen. She practiced the gift of hospitality.
She was not bothered by the clutter of life. She made a daily decision not to be stressed by what she could not control,
but to calmly tackle the next thing. She was even-tempered, honest, optimistic, and content. She said thank you. She
said “I’m blessed” – even in her ¿ nal years, when she had every reason to say otherwise. She practiced the discipline of
gratitude. She kept her faith and her sense of humor to the end.
Perhaps the most quietly extraordinary testimony to her inÀ uence is this: because of the mark she left on their lives,
several people chose to give their child the name Kay. It is the kind of legacy that cannot be manufactured or sought –
only earned, one faithful day at a time.
She loved her husband, who was her best friend, her siblings and in-laws, her daughters and their husbands, her
grandchildren and great-grandchildren, being a teacher, telling Bible stories to children, being with her Tuesday night
Bible study group and all of her friends, who she gathered along the way like a beautiful bouquet, all desserts (but
especially chocolate, ice cream, and pie), a good book, quilting and her quilting community, the Golden State Warriors,
and every holiday. She was practically perfect in every way, we liked to say, and we knew we won the lottery with she
and our dad as our parents. She devoted her life in service to others, and she served from a heart that was devoted to
Jesus. She made her home a place of peace, warmth, and welcome. She was the heart of it.
Visitation and Services
Wilbarger Street Church of Christ, 2515 Wilbarger Street, Vernon, Tx. 76384
Visitation: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Friday, May 29, 2026 at the Wilbarger Street Church of Christ
Funeral: 2 p.m., Friday, May 29, 2026 at the Wilbarger Street Church of Christ
Gravesite service to follow at the Wilbarger Memorial Park on the Crowell Highway
Survivors
Kay is survived by her husband of almost sixty-two years, Derrel E. Wall; her sister, Julia Lynda Cartwright (Russell)
of Montgomery, Tx.; her brother, Richard Perry Williams (Jo) of Kodak, Tennessee.; her sister-in-law, Judy Wall of Fort
Worth, Tx.
Her three daughters and sons-in-law: Kalynda Wall Beebe (Sid) of Vernon, Texas, Jana Wall Anderson (Robert) of
Lubbock, Texas, and Sally Wall Curtis (Cory) of Vernon, Texas.
Her nine grandchildren: Mikayla Beebe Orr (Benton), Todd Beebe, Luke Anderson, Grace Anderson, Caitlin Curtis
Mannon (Jordan), Ethan Curtis (Macey), Wade Curtis, Brandon Curtis, and Sean Curtis.
Her ¿ ve great-grandsons: William, Sam, and John Orr; Crew Mannon; Colt Curtis.
Her many beloved nieces and their families.
A beautiful family of friends.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Oualline Gri൶ th Williams and Richard Menefee Williams, by her brother-inlaw, Gerald Davis Wall, and by her niece, Natalie McGavock Watson.
Memorials can be made to the Wilbarger Street Church of Christ in memory of Kay Wall to purchase Bibles and
books that will be given to children. Please send to Wilbarger Street Church of Christ, with a notation for the Kay Wall
Memorial, to 2515 Wilbarger Street, Vernon, Tx. 76384.
The family would like to thank Dr. Randall Scha൵ ner and sta൵ ; Wilbarger General Hospital sta൵ ; Advanced Rehab
sta൵ ; Angels Home Health Care sta൵ ; Eagle Flats Assisted Living Village sta൵ ; Beyond Faith Hospice.
“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.”
Proverbs 31:28
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands . . . so that your
daily life may win the respect of outsiders.”
1 Thessalonians 4:11–12