Obituary of Wanda Horsford

Services for Wanda Horsford, 91, of Cotton Center, TX, will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, January 27, 2024 at First Baptist Church, Cotton Center, TX with Rev. Terry Simmons and Hospice Chaplain Chris Craig officiating. Burial will follow at the Center Plains Cemetery, Cotton Center, TX. Viewing will be held from 12:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. January 26, 2024, at Abell Funeral Home. The family will gather to receive friends Friday January 26, 2024 at the home of Stanley and LaDon Horsford, 1615 Ave J, Abernathy, TX, in lieu of a visitation. Services are under the direction of Abell Funeral Home & Flower Shop, Abernathy, TX. Wanda Mae (Barrett) Horsford was born November 17, 1932, to John Wesley and Fanny Elizabeth (McCalip) Barrett in Earth, Texas. In her childhood, the family moved to Cotton Center, where she went to school, met and married her husband, raised her family, and made her life. In high school, Wanda was an all-state basketball player for the Cotton Center Elks, an early girls’ team that won state and international accolades. She graduated from Cotton Center High School in 1950, the same year she met Edgar Horsford, who she married on August 26, 1951. They were married for over sixty years, had four sons, six grandsons, and thirteen great grandchildren. To their great credit, many of their kids’ and grandkids’ friends happily claimed “Granny and Grumps” as their own, too. The feeling was mutual. Wanda attended Draughn’s Business College and worked several jobs, including Allen and Beach Butane, and the Co-Op Gins in both Abernathy and Cotton Center. She was a long time and well-loved member of the First Baptist Church of Cotton Center, where she served the Lord and her fellow members in many ways. Service was natural to Wanda, and she used her gifts advocating for agriculture as a member and officer of Women Involved in Farm Economics (W.I.F.E.) for several years. Despite her busyness, she always made time for family. She never missed a holiday, a meal, or a sporting event where her kids or grandkids were involved. You could always find her cheering their team – and jeering the referees, who often knew her by name before long. She always anticipated the family vacations to the mountains in Colorado where she could revel in God’s creation and cherish time with family. Wanda went to be with her Lord on January 24, 2024, after a short illness. All of those who spent time with her in her final hours talked about how happy, joyful, and at peace she was. Wanda is preceded in death by her husband, Edgar Horsford on July 8, 2020; son, Gregory Lane Horsford on October 17, 1962, daughter-in-law, Melinda (Huffaker) Horsford on August 14, 2021, four brothers, and six sisters. She is survived by three sons: Tommy Horsford of Hale Center, TX, Stanley Horsford and wife LaDon of Abernathy, TX, and Lance Horsford and wife Dinah of Stratford, TX; six grandsons: Wesley Horsford and wife Laura of Smyrna, GA, Jared Horsford of Lubbock, TX, Tyson Horsford and wife Elizabeth of Abernathy, TX, Tate Horsford and wife Bridget of Lubbock, TX, Kaleb Horsford and wife Renae of Stratford, TX, and Kyle Horsford and wife Shayla of Stratford, TX; and thirteen great grandchildren, Kyle, Will, Lane, Hayes, Parker, Heston, Greg, Barrett, Brighton, Holt, Berkley, Hutch, and Hadlee. The family suggests memorials be sent to Cotton Center First Baptist Church PO Box 287, Cotton Center, TX 79021.