Agnes Best

Agnes Louise Best passed away on March 16, 2017 at Amistad Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Uvalde, Texas. She was 94. She was born on June 23, 1922, in Crete, Texas to John Coleman Ray and Reba (Horn) Ray. She graduated from Milby High School in 1938 at 16 yrs. of age. She went to work for Nagorny Construction Company after graduation and while working there, attended Massey Business College. After working at Nagorny Construction Company she went to work for Hughes Tool Company/Dixon Gun Plant Division. It was here that she met her future husband, Paul Best. She and Paul Howell Best married on July 23, 1944 in Houston. They were married 51 years before his passing on July 26, 1995. In 1955 she went to work for Keytone Valve Corp. where she learned to operate an IBM 632 Electronic Computer. There were only three companies in Houston that had that particular computer at that time. She retired from Keystone in 1971 and went to work in the Registrar's Office at Houston Baptist University and worked there until 1976 when she and Paul moved to Bryan, Texas. They started Twin City Appliance in 1976 and she worked with him doing everything from selling, bookkeeping, and deliveries. They sold the business in 1984. She was a top-notch seamstress and loved doing handwork including crocheting, needlepoint, crewel, cross-stitch, and quilting. She began piecing quilts when she was 18 months old under the supervision of her paternal grandmother, Sarah Jane Ray. She was a member of the First Baptist Church and Order of the Eastern Star. When their daughters were young she and her husband were active in the youth department at West University Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, teaching Sunday School classes, going on youth trips as counselors and always opened their home for youth socials. Everyone loved her homemade ice cream. She is survived by daughters and sons-in-law , Paulette and Emmett Harris of Uvalde; Laura Lanette and Garland Robertson of Longmont, Colorado; Jeanette Tucker and Jack Witte of Longmont, Colorado; four grandchildren; Ronny Harris and wife, Kim, Kurt Harris and wife, Melody, Amanda Bybee and husband, Chris, and Matthew Buehler; six great-grandchildren, Rileigh and Jackson Harris, Lily and Lainey Harris and Jocelyn and Jack Henry Bybee; brothers Dudley Ray of Spring, Texas and Billy Ray of Groveton, Texas; numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, one sister, Nina Burkhart; three brothers, Truitt Ray, Buel Ray, and Mack Ray. A viewing will be held on March 22nd from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at the Riley Funeral Home in Woodville followed by a graveside service at the Magnolia Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to El Progreso Memorial Library, 301 W. Main, Uvalde, Texas 78801 or Uvalde Hospice, 1038 Garner Field Road, Uvalde, Texas 78801.