Obituary of Doris Jeanette Birdwell Leak

Doris Jeanette Birdwell Leak, born December 5, 1924, in San Augustine, Texas, died in Kilgore, Texas, on July 29, 2019.

Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, August 1, 2019, in the San Augustine City Cemetery located on South Livingston Street.  Officiating will Rev. Martin Doran, Pastor of the First United Methodist Church in San Augustine.

She grew up in her hometown and graduated from San Augustine High School as Saluditorian of her 1941 class.  She married Freddie Leak in 1947. He was an Army Air Corps veteran employed by Texaco when they met.  They made their life in San Augustine where they raised their daughter, Jan Leak Jaynes.  Doris was active in the community and known for her artwork.  She loved painting and depicting nature.  She was a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church.

After her husband’s death in 1989, she moved to Kilgore to be near her daughter.  She attended St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and was a volunteer at the East Texas Oil Museum.  She and her daughter decorated boomtown at the Museum each Christmas to depict the 1930s era.

She is predeceased by her husband of forty-two years and her parents, Archie and Velma Birdwell, and one sister Evelyn Samford.  She is survived by her sister Betty Jo Bessonett of Tyler, and her daughter and son-in-law Jan and Craig Jaynes of Kilgore.

Arrangements are being handled by Wyman Roberts Funeral Home in San Augustine.