Morgan Dewinn Gilbreath

A funeral will be held Thursday for Morgan Dewinn Gilbreath, age 77, of Holly Lake Ranch, died May 21, 2012 after a year's illness. The service will be at Beaty Funeral Home in Hawkins at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at Rock Hill cemetery at Coke. Visitation will be Wednesday at the Beaty Funeral Home in Hawkins from 6 to 8 p.m.

Mr. Gilbreath was the only child of the late Ottie C. Gilbreath and Gretchen Liner Gilbreath and a descendant of the pioneering Gilbreath family, who settled in Wood County in 1850. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Louise Gilbreath; daughter, Kelli Strickland, Holly Lake Ranch; son, Chris Gilbreath, and Chris's companion, Lisa Sabon of Austin; grandson, Olton Strickland, Holly Lake Ranch; and mother-in-law, Genevieve Irby, Holly Lake Ranch. He is preceded in death by his son-in-law, Tracy Strickland.

Mr. Gilbreath was born February 9, 1935, in a farmhouse in Floydada, Texas. The family returned to East Texas, then moved to Dallas and then Irving. He was a long-time member of First Baptist Church in Irving and more recently of First Baptist Church, Grand Prairie. He graduated from Irving High School in 1953 and almost completed his business degree in the 1960s at what is now the University of Texas at Arlington. He was a materials expediter for LTV Aerospace Corporation in Dallas for 6 years and for 24 years was an outside salesman for Wilson Plywood & Door Co. in Garland. He was Wilson's Salesman of the Year in the 1980s. He retired in 1998, and he and the family moved to Holly Lake Ranch in 1999.

Pallbearers are Tony Bailey, Chris Gilbreath, Gerald "Bo" Harrell, Bob Irby, Melvin Rutherford and Glendon Turbeville. Honorary pallbearers are Rick Doyle, Jerry Evans and John Loven.