Opal Irene Myre Martin, 91, went home to our Lord on Sunday, July 3rd, 2011. Opal was born April 29th, 1920, in Josephine, Texas. She was the fifth of nine children born to George Raymond Myre and Minnie Eunice Carnes. Opal was preceded in death by her sisters, Mable Pearl Myre Davis, Eloise Ethna Myre Hale, Geneva Rene Myre Giles, Frances Margaret Myre Bost, and Georgia Rhea Myre Causey. She is survived by her husband of 71 years, Edgar Oscar Martin of Bryan, Texas; her sisters, Mary Ruth Myre McLemore of Arlington, Texas; Sarah Eileen Myre Willis of Arlington, Texas; and brother William Henry Myre of Royce City, Texas; children Raymond Edgar Martin of Bryan, Texas; Kenneth Page Martin of Bryan, Texas, Jeanie Kennedy Meador of Bryan, Texas, Carol Jane Martin of Vero Beach, Florida, and Eddie Jack Martin of Houston, Texas. 15 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, and 2 great great grandchildren also survive Opal.

Opal’s life has been a legacy of hard work, dedication and service. As a child, she worked hot, brutal days picking cotton on their farm in North Texas. After graduating high school in Caddo Mills, Opal moved to Greenville to join her older sisters, where she became a waitress at the Washington Hotel. Her first paychecks went home to buy school clothes for her younger sisters.

Opal met Ed in Greenville in August of 1939. Paul Stevens, the youth leader at the church that Opal attended, introduced them. He called Opal “the girl with the rubber band smile”. They were married in a small ceremony at the home of Opal’s uncle Lewis and Irene Myre on Sunday morning, Dec 24, 1939 in Greenville. The honeymoon was a single night in the Washington Hotel in Greenville where Opal worked. It was a humble start to a marriage that would span seven decades.

Ed and Opal raised five children born over a span of twenty years, as Ed’s career in management with Sears, Roebuck and Co. moved the family over thirty times to homes in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Opal was a homemaker while the children were young, but always preferred the satisfaction of having a career as well. She earned her cosmetology degree and for years owned and operated a thriving in-home beauty salon and cosmetics business. A life-long learner, Opal earned her driver’s license at age 50.

After their retirement in 1977, Ed and Opal settled in Bryan and also became avid road warriors, preferring the open road to the stresses of air travel and the comforts of hotels. Much of their touring took place in their beloved Volkswagen Camper. They visited every U.S. state and made friends from coast to coast. Their crowning achievement — navigating their camper from Texas to Alaska while living in it for up three months at a time – was a feat they accomplished on three different occasions.

Ed and Opal’s Christianity has always been the core of their lives. They were active members of the Church of Christ for all 71 years of their marriage. Ed served as an Elder for the A&M Church of Christ in College Station as well as prior congregations in Duncanville, Lafayette and Marshall. Their favorite charity and their legacy has been the Camp of the Hills, a beautiful Christian retreat in the hill country that ministers to the spiritual and emotional needs of inner city children. Always servants, for almost half of their seventy years together, they have provided care and shelter for at least one adult family member living in their home with them.

The memorial service will be held on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 at one o’clock in the afternoon at A&M Church of Christ, 2475 Earl Rudder Freeway South, College Station, TX 77845. A private family graveside service for Opal will be held at Restever Memorial Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Camp of the Hills, 1552 CR 344, Marble Falls, TX 78654 or a charity of your choice. Funeral services are being arranged by Callaway-Jones Funeral Home, 3001 South College Avenue, Bryan, TX 77801.