Long live God-given beauty that comes down and through and onto all of us. Anita Kyle Johnston McClain passed into the care of the Lord on August 24, 2017. She was the beautiful only child of Roy Lee and Lorena Good Johnston. Born in Carrollton Texas on Dec. 21, 1922, she was a granddaughter of FM and Adelia Elizabeth Good, one of other pioneer families who settled Dallas County. Some of her favorite memories were of holiday and family gatherings in Carrollton, and pastoral picnics with her mother’s sister, “Auntie” whom she adored. She grew up in Lone Oak Texas, where she rode her golden pony Sunray to school, galloping all the way. In later years she played piano and performed with an accordion band made up of young ladies from this area. She attended TCU and worked at Majors Field during World War II. On her first date with Jimmy McClain, he informed her that he was going to marry her, and they married on September 5, 1947. They were members of Kavanaugh UMC for many years.
Together Anita and Jimmy raised three daughters, DeDe, Carol, and Andrea. They instilled the family with their own boundless curiosity and appreciation for art, literature, music, and nature. Both Anita and Jimmy appreciated fine wines and cuisine, and were accomplished cooks. Interesting conversations about literature, music, and art over dinner at a well-set table were daily fare. As their girls grew, Anita and Jimmy traveled, building collections of diverse and beautiful objects that they loved. Anita painted, sculpted, and made astonishingly delicious bread. Gardening and decorating were her passions, and no wild birds went hungry in HER yard. She welcomed an almost endless parade of dogs, cats, horses, budgies, canaries, ducks, and calves into her care and taught her girls to do the same. Needlepoint, knitting and sewing projects were always in progress by her chair. She was a member of Spade and Trowel Garden Club, loved bridge, and loved playing Shanghai with dear friends. Her determination was boundless and her zest for life was an inspiration to everyone who met her. She will be dearly missed.
Preceded in death by her husband, Anita is survived by daughter DeDe Oxley and husband Gary, daughter Carol Craver and husband Jim, and daughter Andrea and husband Ray Howell. Her grandchildren are Stacy Bobo and husband Jason, Nathan Oxley and fiancée Chely Morillo, Carri Craver, and Brandon Craver and wife Vinka, Elizabeth Ibarra and husband Xavier, Catherine Tucker and husband Dustin, and Amanda Rasch and husband Cory. Great-grandchildren are Jaden and Kade Bobo, Camillo Craver, Veronica Ibarra, Hayden Ibarra, Jaxon Ibarra, Allison Ibarra, Bronc Tucker, Cayson Rasch, Cannon Rasch, Caroline Rasch, Brandon Howell Jr. , Valarie Howell, Daisy Howell and Benjamin Howell. It was her wish that in lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Kavanaugh United Methodist Church or The Cause For Paws.