Gary Morris Vaughn

April 5, 1938 - April 3, 2022

Gary Morris Vaughn

Abilene - Gary Morris Vaughn, 83, of Abilene, Texas, passed away Sunday, April 3, 2022. Gary's final day was spent with his children and cherished wife by his side.

The family will have visitation for friends and family on Friday, April 8, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, April 9, at 10:00 a.m., at The Hamil Family Funeral Home Chapel, officiated by Chris McCurley with song service by Luke Burnam. Burial will follow at Buffalo Gap Cemetery.

Gary Morris Vaughn was born in Fort Worth, Texas to Thomas (Tom) Horne Vaughn and Lorena Mildred Ahlstrand Vaughn on April 5, 1938. They moved back to Tom's hometown of Tuscola, Texas where Gary grew up on the streets of his "Mayberry."

He learned the value of hard work at an early age, first at the grocery store started in the early 1900s by his grandparents, Bud and Ora Vaughn, and later owned by his parents. Customers remember Gary smiling while he was sacking groceries, working at the register, delivering goods, sweeping, mopping, stocking shelves, or swapping stories of the latest community news.

Gary attended school in South Taylor County. He stayed busy raising sheep and pigs for FFA, participating in stock shows, and playing sports. His teen years were full of sports: basketball (making the near full-court buzzer-beater shot) and baseball (the southpaw pitching multiple no-hitters). He graduated from South Taylor High School, now Jim Ned, in 1956. He was drafted to the minor leagues in the Kansas City A's organization but passed on this opportunity to pursue his college education. Gary attended Abilene Christian College, now ACU, and graduated from Texas Tech University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.

He found his bride while she was in high school. She was hard to find since she lived in a "gated" community (a barbed-wire gate) and no telephone in her home. He married Fannie Brookreson on August 21, 1959, at the Tuscola Methodist Church. Their first home was in Lubbock, where Gary was finishing his degree while working unloading semi-trucks at Furr's Grocery Store. After graduating, Gary taught Vocational Agriculture for one year in Littlefield, Texas.

In 1961, he accepted a job with the Federal Land Bank in Abilene. The farm and ranch lending business kept him near what he loved, country life and its people. He was soon relocated to the home office in downtown Houston where he worked for the Farm Credit Administration, spending much of his time in Washington, D.C. He also worked as an officer in the Federal Land Bank of Texas. He traveled the whole state of Texas, getting to know every little town as well as the best places to eat. Gary spent 30 years with this organization before he retired as Senior Vice-President at age 53. He gladly gave up his three-piece suits for his overalls and his girls (the cows).

Gary's life centered around his whole family. He was blessed with three children: Melissa Ann, born in Lubbock, and two sons born in Abilene, Texas - Gary Max and Mark Alan. They grew up in Houston and his children are the light of his life. The Godly values he instilled in their home life included love, protection, and providing for their needs.

From an early age, he attended the church begun by his grandmother and her two friends, the Tuscola Church of Christ. The first item of business with every move for Gary and Fannie was to find their new church home. First in Lubbock, then Littlefield, Abilene, Houston, Georgetown, and finally, the Oldham Lane Church of Christ which has provided a wonderful spiritual home in Abilene for them since 1997.

Preceding him in death are his parents Tom and Lorena Vaughn and granddaughter Victoria Leigh Sisson. He is survived by his cherished wife Fannie; their daughter Melissa Ann Vaughn Sisson and her husband Dan of the Lake Abilene Community; Gary Max Vaughn and his wife Brenda of Houston, Texas; and Mark Alan Vaughn and his wife Brandy of Waco, Texas. He is survived by 4 grandchildren Kelly Brooke Sisson Thompson of Buffalo Gap; Jared Robert Sisson and his wife Eloisa of Brooklyn, New York; Jordan Thomas Sisson and his wife Katherine of San Jose, California; and Ryan Ashlyn Vaughn of Waco. His two very special great-grandsons made aging worth it all: David Steele and Thomas Rex Thompson of Buffalo Gap. His cousin Don Grubbs and his wife Evon, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, with whom he enjoyed countless hours of sharing family news, food, 42, Gin Rummy, Sorry, and Operation.

Gary was famous amongst his loved ones for his Saturday morning pancakes and black-laced eggs. He loved his pet cows, Miss Kitty (the best tuna-fed alley cat of Abilene), as well as his grand-dog Miss Scooter.

The family would like to ask that in lieu of flowers, please donate in Gary's memory to his favorite charitable cause, Foster's Home for Children, P.O. Box 978, Stephenville, Texas 76401, or your favorite charity.

Memories may be shared and condolences submitted online at www.HamilFamilyFuneralHome.com.

Posted online on April 06, 2022

Published in Abilene Reporter News