Obituaries

Committed Christian, faithful volunteer, avid bird watcher, first class cook, and “World’s Best Mother and Grandmother,” Kathleen (Sheba) Brill Bryant Stephens died in Sherman, Texas on November 18, 2019. She was 96.

Sheba was born to Arno and Katie (Inks) Brill on October 1, 1923 in Austin, TX. She grew up in Austin and graduated from Austin High School in 1939. She then attended The University of Texas in Austin, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and was selected as a Bluebonnet Belle. At UT she met William (Bill) Bryant, a law student from Sherman, Texas. They were married in 1942. After Bill completed his service in the U S Army Air Corps, the couple moved to Sherman, where Bill began his law practice, and Sheba stayed busy raising their three daughters: Beverly Ann, Judy Kay and Becky Jane.

A devoted member of what is now Covenant Presbyterian Church, Sheba labored in almost every capacity that was open to her. No job was too great or too small. Not only did she serve as Elder, teacher, and President of the Women the Church, she also worked behind the scenes. She drove others to church, visited the sick, and comforted those in need. She spent countless hours compiling and typing the Church cookbook. She brought refreshments for the ”Joy Class” every Sunday for twenty years. Neill Morgan, former pastor at Covenant Presbyterian, recently wrote of Sheba that what she said and did was “guided by her deep faith and understanding of the Gospel.”

If you could not find Sheba at the church, you might have looked for her at Wilson N Jones Hospital, where she worked as one of the “Pink Ladies” for years. Or you might have found her making her famous brownies for her weekly excursions to Hagerman Wildlife Refuge, where she and her bird-watching group worked with an Austin College ornithologist to record bird sightings for the Audubon Society. Or you might find her delivering her weekly route for Meals on Wheels. Sheba truly had a servant heart. Everyone who knew her benefitted from her kind and gentle spirit.

After William Bryant died in 1979, Sheba continued her volunteer activities in Sherman for several years. But in 1986, George Stephens, a former classmate at Austin High School, convinced her to move to Tucson, AZ as his bride. They enjoyed ten years of marriage, traveling extensively in the US and abroad. When George died in 1996, Sheba returned to Sherman and resumed most of the work that she had done before her ten-year absence. During the last few years, her advanced age and declining health began to slow her down, but she was still helping to deliver Meals on Wheels until a few weeks before her death.

Sheba was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Idanell Connally, three brothers, Bill, Bob and A.W. Brill, and one daughter, Julia Kathleen Bryant Thompson. She is survived by her daughters, Beverly Bryant LeMaster (Charles Jr.) of Dallas, TX and Rebecca J Bryant of Sherman, TX. Sheba is survived by seven grandchildren: Guy Harley of Seattle, WA; Charles LeMaster III (Kirsten) of Dallas, TX; William LeMaster (Mary Kathryn) of Houston, TX; Kathleen Mesaros of Lehi, UT; Sarah Julia Butler (Pete) of Chadron, NE; Bryant C Parker (Abby) of Buda, TX; and Lynn Beverly Parker of The Colony, TX. Sheba had nineteen great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Sheba’s memory to Meals on Wheels of Texoma; 1500 N Broughton; Sherman, TX 75090.

Services will be under the direction of Dannel Funeral Home at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Sherman on Saturday, November 23, at 11:00 a. m. A reception celebrating Sheba’s life will take place at Woodlawn Country Club immediately following the service.