Maretta Marie Duckworth

Maretta "Marie" Duckworth, 99, faithful servant of God, left this earthly home on August 7, 2008, following a lengthy illness.Marie Duckworth was born January 22, 1909, at Rye Hill Arkansas, a community near Ft. Smith. She was the daughter of David Nathaniel Reeder and Nannie Ruth Sparks Reeder, a coal mining family that had recently moved from Texas. Her father was in the process of building a home for them, but had not completed it in time for Marie's entrance into the world. Her birth would occur in a tent next to the incomplete structure.She would attend and graduate from Rye Hill School, where she would later become the school cook. Eventually, she would move to Tulsa, where she met Fredrick Eugene "Buck" Duckworth, a young man recently home from serving in the US Army after World War II. He would steal her heart and ask for her hand in marriage. They would move to Longview, Texas in 1945, eventually settling in Waskom which became their permanent home in 1948.The Duckworth family was known in the city of Waskom. After her husband, Buck, retired from Arkla Chemical, he was employed as a street repairman for the city, overseeing a crew of boys, filling potholes on the roadways during the summer. Mrs. Duckworth was a gentle neighbor, maintaining her flower garden and yard until her son took away her lawn mower at the age of 93. She would maintain her home in Waskom until failing health caused her to move with her son to Cedar Hill, Texas in 2003. Mrs. Duckworth was a member of the United Pentecostal Church for more than 50 years.Survivors: son, Raymond E. Duckworth and his wife Cindy of Cedar Hill; Also grandchildren, Staevan Duckworth and his wife Cheri of Mansfield, TX., Ryan Duckworth and his wife Lindey of Humble, TX, Richard Alan Hudson of Bunkie, LA, Russell Hudson and his wife Michele of Shreveport, LA., Ronald Scott Hudson and his wife Patricia of Benton, LA., Rachael Leigh Leonard and her husband David of Keatchie, LA.Her great-grandchildren, Aimee McKynzie Duckworth, Celia Marie Duckworth, Espen Royal Duckworth, Daniel Hudson, Richard Alan Hudson II, Russell Hudson II and his wife Kristi, Lisa Marie Hudson, Joe Hudson and his wife Kristin, April Hudson, Erica Hudson, Adam Hudson and Aaron Leonard.Also by great-great grandchildren; Dalton Hudson, Keylah Hudson, Russell Hudson III, McKinna Hudson, Joe Hudson and Jackson Hudson.She was preceded in death by her husband, Fredrick Eugene "Buck" Duckworth, a daughter, Wanda Ruth Hudson and granddaughter, Amy Lynette Duckworth.Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, August 9, 2008 at Guerrero-Dean Funeral Home, 500 East Main Street in Grand Prairie. Funeral: 4 p.m. Sunday, August 10, 2008 at Sullivan-Heaster Funeral Home, 100 East Travis Street, Marshall, Texas, Pastor Dan Dean officiating. Burial will follow at Restland Cemetery in Waskom.The family kindly request donations in the Duckworth name to Casa Hogar Orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico, care of The Heartland Church, 310 S. Story Rd., Irving, TX, 75060.

Maretta Marie Duckworth

January 22, 1909 - August 7, 2008