Thurman Wayne Kirtley was born to Roy and Virginia Mae Kirtley on April 16, 1932, at  their home in Carter County, Oklahoma. He died March 2, 2019, in Magnolia, Texas,  with his wife of 66 years by his side. Thurman followed Jesus Christ as his Lord and  Savior at White Settlement Baptist Church, having just returned home from Korea  after serving two years in the army. He was a member of Smithville Baptist Church  when he went to be with the Lord.    He married Opal Faye Shorter on July 13, 1952, and they began an adventure together  that spanned seven decades. Before settling his family in Houston, Texas, in 1965,  Thurman worked in the coal mines in Colorado, learned Morse code as a telegraph  operator for the railroad in Oklahoma, and owned a dairy farm in Missouri. He  retired in 1997 from his successful roofing and sheetmetal business in Houston. In  2009, Thurman and Opal settled in on 113 acres in Muldoon, Texas, where they raised  beef cattle, chickens, dogs, and spent lots of joyful time together gardening and  canning the fruits of their labor.    Throughout his life, Thurman stayed committed to the work of the Lord. He studied  his Bible, taught Sunday School and was an ordained deacon in the Baptist church. He  found his greatest joy in raising his four sons, who gave him 12 grandchildren and  12 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents Roy Virgil and  Virginia Mae Kirtley, sons Philip Eugene Kirtley and Mark Steven Kirtley. His death  is mourned, even as his life is celebrated by his wife, Opal Kirtley, son Michael  Kirtley and wife Kim, Connie Kirtley, Stephanie Kirtley, son Alan Kirtley and wife  Kristine. Grandchildren PJ Kirtley and wife Karen, Darrel Kirtley and wife Tiffany,  Beth Kirtley Zindler and husband Aaron, Jennifer Kirtley Cooley and husband Bobby,  Julie Kirtley Gruss and husband Andrew, Ryan Kirtley, Mason Kirtles, Jake Kirtley,  Kolbee Kirtley, Madison Kirtley, Dalaney Kirtley, and Logan Kirtley. Great  grandchildren Kylee Kirtley, Luke Kirtley, Payton Kirtley, Taylor Kirtley, Chance  Kirtley, Avery Zindler, Charlie Cooley, Kayden Kirtley, Chandler Mae Cooley, Henley  Zindler, Chapman Cooley, and Leo Gruss, along with countless other family members  and friends, all of whom he made feel like family.