Ella Mae Brightman

Mrs. Ella Mae Brightman has now reached home. She was called from this world to be with her Lord and Savior at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, surrounded by her beloved family. A celebration of Mae Brightman's life will be held Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. at the Graham Church of God with Pastor Don Russell and Reagan Kelley officiating. Burial will follow in Pioneer Cemetery under the direction of Morrison Funeral Home.

Mae was born on October 19, 1928, in Roaring Springs, Texas to Mr. and Mrs. Ray Roberts. She married the Love of Her Life, Tom Brightman on November 22, 1943, in Odessa, Texas, and shared sixty-three love filled years with him before he succeeded her in death on November 27, 2006. The storybook legacy of Mae Brightman will always loom larger than life in the hearts and memories of those who knew her. A living reality behind the original word "Mother," Mae not only filled the role of a Mother and most beloved Grandmother to her children and theirs, but also extended her heart to foster this same loyalty and emotion in many others. Her love for God gave her a calm inner strength that she unobtrusively extended to those around her. She inspired joy and confidence in her children, and exuded peace and comfort to others. Mae was a stabilizing force in the background of her husband's hard work and success, and he was always quick to tell anyone who would listen that she was his "little oil well..." praise indeed from Tom Brightman! A faithful steward of the blessings in her life that she knew to be from her Lord and Master, Mae was forever willing to pass those blessings along to others. Mae Brightman's heartfelt generosity has touched many lives through the work of her own hands, and will continue even now in the legacy of the well-guided hearts of her children and grandchildren, for God did indeed bless her, and make her a blessing.

Her beloved children, Elaine Day, Bill Brightman, and Fleda Brogdon have continued her legacy with the birth of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; Elaine and James "Butch" Day's children, Larry and his wife Cathy and daughter Raelynn Day of Gunnison, Colorado; Leanne and husband Jay Hodges and their son Trevor of Graham; and Lori and her husband James Miller and their children, Greg and Grace, also of Graham. Bill's children, Cliff and Sharon Brightman and children Relisha and Dylan, and Judy Mae Brown and her husband Darryl and their boys, Brett and Wesley Brown, all of Graham. Fleda and Gary Brogdon's daughters; Jenifer and husband Reagan Kelley and daughter Ella, and Jaci Mayes and her husband Dusty, all of Graham; brother, Van Roberts and wife, Ida of Missouri and sister, Margaret Carnley of Arkansas.

Mae Brightman carried many distinctions during her long and blessed life; precious daughter; beloved wife; Mother, and Grandmother, cherished friend, and teacher. She was the sweetest example of all that a woman should be that many of us have ever known, and she will be greatly missed by those of us who knew and loved her.

The family will receive friends on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.