My grandfather, Wayne Maddox died today (31 May 2005) at 12:13p CST. He was 88.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 62 years, Benonia, four children (Russell Maddox, Kay Quast, Cheryl Evans, and Laurel Fort), ten grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Life is one of those funny things…it is and it was. And after a 2 week battle with pneumonia, he ran out of gas. Yesterday, while talking to my dad, he said that this was it–the end was near. And he was right.
I remember visiting Miami, Texas and the ranch. The ranch is about 2k acres in the Texas Panhandle and is on the caprock with some very nice escarpments; you’ll never see sunsets more beautiful than up there. At the ranch, we’d all hop into the red Ford F250 and drive around the pasture. Sometimes we’d drop feed off for the cattle, and sometimes we’d just drive around. It was always beautiful; and I always loved that part of the trip.
I remember the tractors and horses; going into town to get groceries and not having to pay for them (they still had a “tab” up there). I remember the walks in the pasture. Seeing the oil rigs. Watching the rigs turn on and off. The old-timey Tonka Trucks and the Concentration board game. I remember begging him to let me mow his lawn (he had a lawn tractor)… And I remember the stories, the wonderment of living without a toilet, and always knowing that there was someone out there who was even more clumsy than myself.
The stories are great and are quite fond to me, but his most important legacy is that of faith. All of his children have a strong belief in Jesus Christ and are all, in some capacity or another, in the ministry–from Africa to Colorado. He served as a deacon in his church and was involved in the Texas Baptist Men. If you’re not familiar with the organization (and you’re probably not), you’ll be surprised to find out all that they have done, and all of the places they have done it.
And lastly, I leave you with this article I found on Google. TBM veteran looks back on years of outreach. I think it sums up a lot.
Peace.