Margaret GURLEY SEAY

Jan 28, 1922 - Feb 23, 2006

Section: Mausoleum Garden

*Obituary

SEAY, MARGARET MARY GURLEY Margaret Seay died peacefully at home on Thursday, February 23, 2006. Margie was born in El Paso, Texas on January 28, 1922, to H. Joseph and Pauline Bonner Gurley. She attended The Hockaday School and Sunset High School in Dallas, St. Marys Hall in San Antonio, and then graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1943 with a BS in Education. At the University of Texas she served as president of Zeta Tau Alphas chapter.Margie met her future husband, William H. Seay, at the University of Texas and they were married in 1943. During WW2 they were stationed in Mineral Wells where she taught elementary school. Following this they made a permanent move to Dallas. They had celebrated 54 wonderful years together at the time of his death in 1997. She was the quiet strength behind her husbands successful career as Chairman of Southwestern Life Insurance Co. and as a Dallas civic icon. Margie Seays family was paramount in her life. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, William H. Seay, Jr. and Carolyn of Dallas, Joseph G. Seay and Beverly, of Jacksonville, Florida, and her daughter and son-in-law, Janie and Blake Taylor of Dallas. Her grandchildren, the loves of her life, are Nancy Seay Anderson (Mrs. John), Jennifer Seay Saenz (Mrs. John-Paul), Benjamin Seay, Mary Bonner Seay, Brett Taylor, Meggie Taylor, and Will Taylor. There are two great-grandchildren, Bryce and Zachary Anderson. As a child of 9, she lost her mother in a train accident. Because her beloved father traveled much of the time for his work, she was raised by different relatives and moved many times. This difficult experience shaped her own family in a wonderful way as she was strength, constancy and stability for her children and grandchildren. That which she longed for growing up, she provided in being a compass for many. She was in the world but not of it, and things were sure and unchanging in her home on Belclaire Ave. for 50 plus years. She and her husband were charter members of the Independent Presbyterian Church, now Northwest Bible Church, where she taught grades 1-3 in Sunday School. Undoubtedly, Margie Seays greatest legacy was her 30 years of Bible teaching to women of all ages in Dallas. She is especially known for her teaching of Old Testament fundamentals to young women at Highland Park Presbyterian, and senior ladies in private homes. She led many to the Lord by her unwavering devotion to the Scriptures. Margie Seay was a member of HPPC for almost 40 years. She was dedicated to the University of Texas School of Education where she served on the Advisory Council, and the Margie Gurley Seay Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Education and the Margie Gurley Seay Professorship in Education were established to honor her. A long career of volunteerism included serving many years with the United Way and she was president of the Dallas Services for Visually Impaired Children. She was a member of the Junior League of Dallas, the Silver Scroll Society of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Womens Club, and the Dallas Garden Club. She was also a sixty-year member of a Bridge Club which included her dearest cherished friends. She was steadfast in her faith, and was patience, gentleness and love personified. Her family will miss her dearly but rejoices in her home-going. Services for Margie Seay are scheduled for 2:00 PM, Monday, February 27, 2006, at Highland Park Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: JDRF, 9400 N. Central Expressway, Ste. 1201, Dallas, 75231. Dignity Memorial Sparkman Hillcrest 7405 W. Northwest Hwy. Dallas (214) 363-5401

Published in Dallas Morning News from Feb. 24 to Feb. 26, 2006.

Photo courtesy of Annette Shaw

Contributed on 2/2/21 by hawkinsdonna48
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Record #: 385233

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