Flora Maggard of Hale Center, Texas, made a triumphant entrance into heaven on Tuesday, June 19, after celebrating 101 birthdays, or “miracles,” as she referred to them the last few years. Family and friends will gather to celebrate her life at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 22, 2018 at Hale Center Cemetery. Reverend Jimmy Cameron will officiate, under the care of Lake Ridge Chapel.Flora was born to Silas and Sue Mag Maggard on January 7, 1917, in Hale Center, Texas. She graduated from Hale Center High School in 1934, attended Wayland Baptist University, and earned a degree from West Texas College in 1938. As a school teacher, she taught for 38 years in Hale Center, Phillips and Plainview school districts. As an aunt, she opened her heart and home to her many nieces and nephews and shared with them her love for history, literature, and crafting.Flora traveled to Hawaii, Europe, and the Holy Lands, and in the states with her sister Suzanne and brother-in-law Wesley to many Seabee meetings and reunions. She loved to recall the details of her trips but was happiest when serving her family and friends. Flora anticipated family celebrations keeping homemade cookies and candy ready to share. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star and Pioneer Study Club and enjoyed time spent at Senior Citizens, substituting in the public library, and playing Friday afternoon table games. Flora worshipped at First United Methodist Church and dearly loved her church family, and many friends in and around Hale Center. In a memoir of her own life, Flora concluded by writing, “Yes, life is sweet.”Flora spent the last few years of her life at Wilshire Place in Lubbock, where she felt “blessed by loving care and pleasant surroundings.” The family is grateful for the kind hearts of these caregivers.Flora is preceded in death by her parents and three sisters: Mabel Richardson, Lelah Mac Beyer, and Suzanne Davis. Survivors include her seven nieces and nephews: Daphne and Jackson Ashburn, Donna and Richard Burch, Arden and Sandra Davis, Alan and Kathy Davis, Sharon & Phil Featherston, Teresa and Frank Spencer, and Cindy Tooley, and many great- and great-great-nieces and nephews, who lovingly called her “FoFo.”
