Vicie Yeager

Vicie Ophelia Yeager died Saturday November 9, 2019 at the age of 98. A visitation will be held from 6:00 - 8:00 pm on Friday, November 15, at Beaty Funeral Home in Winnsboro, Texas. The funeral will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 16, at Faith Baptist Church in Quitman, Texas.Ophelia was born August 28, 1921, in Cullman County Alabama to Samuel Henry Thomas and Clema Hart Thomas. During the Great Depression, a family of seven children moved next door to the Thomas family in Cullman. The children’s parents, Harvey Lee Yeager and Myrtie Ada Burch Yeager, had died at young ages and were being raised by two of the older brothers. Harvey Lee Yeager was a boyhood friend of Samuel Henry Thomas years earlier in the same community.Ophelia married one of the older Yeager brothers, Larkin Johnson Yeager (“Jay”), on October 4, 1941. Not only did Ophelia get Jay as a husband, she also gained his three younger brothers to raise. She loved and nurtured each of the young boys to adulthood. Jay and Ophelia had their first child in 1943, the first of 2 boys, Stanley C. Yeager. Hard times were nothing new to the Thomas or Yeager family. Eighteen months after Stanley was born, Jay joined the Navy during World War II and served on the USS Trenton off Alaska and the Aleutian Islands as part of a fleet commanded by Admiral Chester Nimitz. After World War II ended, Jay and Ophelia continued their life in rural Alabama, farming and later moved to Birmingham, where Jay worked for the Birmingham Transit Authority. Jay and Ophelia’s second son, Timothy Lee Yeager, was born in 1954. Church was always an important part of life for both Jay and Ophelia. In 1959, Jay was called to the ministry and moved his family from Alabama to Fort Worth, where he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jay went on to pastor churches in Kansas, Alabama and Texas.Ophelia was as much a part of the pastorates as Jay. Quiet and behind the scenes, she was supportive and at Jay’s side in welcoming new people to the community and making hospital visits. Ophelia provided hope and friendship to those that were lacking in each. Ophelia is survived by two sons Stanley C. Yeager (Patricia) and Timothy Lee Yeager (Twyla)); 4 grandsons (Stephen Brian Yeager (Amy), Douglas Alan Yeager (Joy), Landon Keith Yeager (Heather), Christopher Jarrod Yeager (Lindsey); and 8 great-grandchildren (Carson Banks Yeager, Alexandra Hyde Yeager, Melanie Kate Yeager, Holly Stevens Yeager, Evelyn Leona Yeager, Isaac Larkin Yeager, Luke McCrae Yeager, Jake McCall Yeager). Ophelia is survived by one brother Joseph Milton Thomas.Ophelia is preceded in death by her husband of 78 years, Jay Yeager; five brothers (Euless Thomas, Donavan Thomas, Willard Thomas, R.L. Thomas, Benny Thomas); and three sisters (Corine Neely, Mae Watts, Dorothy Sorell).