Byrdie Ellaree (Wilson) Hawley

Byrdie Ellaree Wilson Hawley February 7, 1943 – August 25, 2026 Byrdie Ellaree Wilson was born to Ruby and B.H. Wilson on February 7, 1943, in the home of her grandparents, Thomas and Thanie Askew Shipman, in Kenefic, OK. B.H. traveled by rail from his basic training in California and was able to see his newborn daughter briefly before shipping out for service in the South Pacific for the remainder of World War II. When he returned, they lived in Kenefic for a short time before moving to Borger, TX, where she attended grade school and junior high, receiving scholastic awards and the American Legion Award for all-around ability and character. In 1960, she was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study for six weeks at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston. Upon graduation from Borger High School, she received a Phillips Petroleum Company Scholarship to attend the University of Texas. The first Sunday that Byrdie attended church in Austin with her parents, she happened to meet a young man who would be her companion at church from then on. Dan continued to be her ride to and from services as they dated, and they were married in the Monroe Church of Christ in Borger on August 18, 1962. Dan and Byrdie lived in Austin until Dan graduated, then moved to Farmers Branch, TX, where Dan worked for Texas Instruments, and where Danetta was later born in November of 1965. In February of 1968, they moved to Houston, where Dan worked for Lockheed at NASA. David was born later that year in December, and Kenneth was born in August of 1972, with Byrdie working as a mother and homemaker until Kenneth started school in 1976. She then worked as an underwriter for an insurance company downtown and later as the secretary for the Main Street Church of Christ, where they attended from 1968 to 1989, when Dan was transferred to Langley in Virginia. In the fall of 1989, they moved to Hampton and then Yorktown, where Byrdie worked and attended Christopher Newport University in Newport News, earning a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems in 1997. She also worked at M. Rosenblatt & Son, starting as a clerk typist, learning computer-aided drafting, and serving as a programmer and systems analyst for AMSEC. Byrdie and Dan enjoyed their involvement in Master Gardeners and were very active in the Denbigh Church of Christ in Newport News, supporting mission efforts in the Ukraine and in Uganda. In 2009, they moved to Kenefic, OK, living there on the farm with Ruby and helping her care for her husband, Steve Ashford. Byrdie and Dan shared some precious years with Ruby and also with Byrdie’s beloved uncle, W.T. They enjoyed hosting their kids and grandkids for holidays and weekends and for special birthdays for Ruby and for Dan in the summers. Byrdie loved cooking and serving her family, and she enjoyed being surrounded by the kids playing board games like Pegs & Jokers, watching quiz shows like Jeopardy, and having movie nights with Hallmark Mysteries and classic films. For most of this last decade, she has battled cancer and its devastating effects, enduring surgery on her stomach, multiple other life-sustaining procedures and measures, and over 8 years of chemotherapy. Each hard step and difficult challenge was met with Dan at her side, fulfilling his holy vow to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and in health. All along the way, the Coleman Church of Christ has been a constant blessing and a faithful church family for Dan and Byrdie, encouraging and serving them with the love of the Lord. Byrdie’s steadfast strength, courage, and perseverance were born of her faith in the all-sufficient grace of God in Christ, which carried her through it all, enabling her to see and enjoy the growth of all 12 of her grandchildren, and to live long enough to hold and bless 5 beautiful great-grandchildren. She is survived by her husband Dan Hawley; by her daughter Danetta Shelburne and husband Ian, along with grandchildren Leila Shelburne Anderson and her husband Matt, with great-grandchildren Micah, Isaac, and Ellory, Josiah Shelburne, Nathanael Shelburne and wife Olivia, with great-granddaughter Raelynn, Jonathan Shelburne and wife Madeline, with great-granddaughter Eleanor, Luke Shelburne, Emily Shelburne, and Asher Shelburne; by her son David Hawley and wife Lisa, along with grandchildren Anna Hawley Maynard and husband Will, and Joshua Hawley and wife Olivia; her son Kenneth Hawley and wife Deborah, along with grandchildren Will Hawley, Ben Hawley, and Cole Hawley; her niece Penny Webb and husband Jim, and niece Suzanne Hawley. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.brownsfuneralservice.com.

Byrdie Ellaree (Wilson) Hawley

February 7, 1943 - August 25, 2026