Margaret Winters

Margaret Pearl Winters, age 88 of Mound, Texas passed away on Saturday, January 18, 2025.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, January 24, 2025 at Scott's Funeral Home with Pastor Bruce Cox officiating. Burial at Mound Cemetery will immediately follow the service.  The family will receive visitors from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at the funeral home.

Margaret Pearl Hunt Winters was born January 5, 1937 to the late Walter Reuel Hunt and Jessie Ila Zetta Hunt. She married Edward H. Winters on October 5, 1952 at Live Oak Baptist Church. They lived in Mound all of their married life, raising their family of four children there. Following the death of her husband, Margaret moved to a smaller home her husband built for them on her mom and dad’s land. She resided there for the remainder of her years until an amputation required her to move into a long-term care facility. 

The Mound community and Mound Baptist Church became a second family to Margaret and Ed and they were a very active part of the church community. Margaret loved the Lord and she loved her church. She was a Sunday school teacher. She had a beautiful voice, which lent itself to teaching Bible stories to the children in her class and teaching them children’s songs. She loved all of the children in her class and she stayed in contact with them as they grew up. Margaret sang solos for the church on many occasions. 

Margaret was very young when she started her family. Her aunts taught her to become an excellent cook. Her fried chicken was incredible. She was very well known for preparing meals from whatever she had on hand in just minutes and feeding the masses. She fed whoever happened to be at the house at the time the meals were ready and people were always at their home. You would never know that she had so little to give because she gave all she had to any and all people. And she opened her home to everybody. 

An older lady in the neighborhood befriended Margaret and taught her how to sew. She had an old treadle sewing machine and made most of her first two children’s clothes, including a little suit for Michael. She was an excellent seamstress and even made Barbie doll clothes that were stunning. She and her husband played with their children: playing in snow, making snowmen, snow ice cream, playing board games, playing sports, riding go carts down hillsides, doing jigsaw puzzles, swimming, going on picnics, perch and crappie fishing. Margaret was also very fond of coloring with her children and grandchildren. She loved Christmas. She would decorate on a very tight budget but she made Christmas magical. The entire family would decorate the tree and, at night, they would play Christmas carols and all sit around the Christmas tree in the dark watching the twinkling lights. She made it so special for her family. 

She was a catcher for the Mound Stump Jumpers softball team that her husband coached, her mother-in-law pitched, her youngest daughter played second and her oldest daughter was center fielder. Margaret was so little and moved so quickly she won the hearts of all who watched her in action. She dearly loved every team member and it became quite a ritual for the team members to gather at the Winters house the day after each game to drink great quantities of coffee and talk about the night before. 

Margaret and Ed collected old bottles for many years. They became quite proficient in the antique bottle business and they became very good friends with so many respected icons in that trade. This passion eventually led her to becoming President of the Collectors Club in Gatesville. She ran the annual Wildcat Show in Gatesville and she had a large presence at the annual Waco Wildcat show. She was interviewed by Johnny Watkins on his television show when she was the Collectors Club President. She wrote historical pieces about Gatesville for the Gatesville Messenger. She even at one time collected woodpecker holes, researched their habits and wrote a piece about that for the Messenger. 

She provided great support for her youngest son following a car wreck that took his wife and one daughter and left him to raise a 9 month old and 9 year old. She rolled up her sleeves and did whatever her son needed and saw their tragedy through to better times. She was a large presence for both of her granddaughters’ lives and they both talk about how very much she taught them about life and about being a good human being. She offered the girls and her son so much stability during that traumatic time. She never stopped to think when anyone asked for help. She dropped what she was doing and just started helping. It didn’t matter if it was close family, or a friend or an acquaintance. 

Margaret was so very strong in her faith and her convictions and, while she never pushed her beliefs on anyone else, she would let you know if you had crossed the line of her golden rule, “It’s right to do right.” She was well known for her feisty behavior. She was quick with her tongue when she felt someone needed to be put in their place for being unjust, most assuredly if her children had been wronged. If her children were in the wrong, she had her ways to take care of them, namely with sycamore switches snapped out of the tree on a dead run chasing her kids. But, if they had indeed been treated unfairly, she would take on anyone on any level, no matter how big and tough they were. She was so tiny but she would march herself right up to the culprit, get right in their space and let them have it. 

Her life was tough. She endured so much and never gave up her faith. Even in the nursing home, she became an inspiration to many of the caregivers there. She grew to love “her kids” there. She had a passion for all of life: she loved the Lord, she loved her family and she loved her friends. 

Margaret was preceded in death by her husband, Ed; parents; son, Michael Winters daughter, Patti Suksi; sister, Waldene Kuykendall; brothers, James Hunt and Paul Hunt; daughter-in-law, Rachel Winters; and granddaughters, Carly Winters and Sophie Winters. 

She is survived by her daughter, Carla Braziel and husband, Steve; son, Phillip Winters; sister, Elizabeth Harris; granddaughters, Cheyenne Gomez and husband, Nick, Macy Winters, and Charli Winters; great grandchildren, Elijah Gomez, Ezra Gomez, Salem Gomez and Zara Ramirez; extended grandchildren, Jennie Braziel Rambo, Eric Braziel, Matt Braziel and Nick Braziel, and her extended great grandchildren, Stephen Braziel, Rhianna Braziel, Laura Rambo, Lisa Rambo, Brylie Braziel, Charli Braziel, Oaklyn Braziel and Warren Braziel. 

Margaret’s family would like to thank Dr. Diedra Wuenschel for the many years of healing she provided to their Mom, Dr. Betsy Spitzer for the extra care she gave and for her understanding of their Mom’s special dental needs, Dr. John Bawduniak for giving them another 18 months to be with their Mom, and a very special thanks to the Meadows team who treated her as if the staff members were taking care of their own mom.