SAN PERLITA, TX - Zelda Adaline Brown Mayo, our mother, passed away in the comfort of her home on January 26, 2009. Zelda was born to Earl Lester and Nadien Etta Fitzgerald Brown on October 28, 1923, in Burkburnett, Texas. Zelda was the eldest of three children, which included her brothers Earl Lester, Jr. and John Warren Brown. The family made their home in Blooming Grove, Texas, the home place of Earl Brown. There, Zelda was the valedictorian of the Blooming Grove High School class of 1941. After graduation, Zelda moved to Corsicana, Texas, where she was employed as a bookkeeper for Howeth's Creameries. On August 11, 1944, she wed Julian Talmadge Mayo in Blooming Grove. The young couple then moved to Dallas where Talmadge was employed as an engineer at Bryan Air Conditioning. A daughter, Malda Lynn Mayo, was born to this union in Dallas. Shortly thereafter, the young couple moved to San Perlita, Texas, where Talmadge began to farm with his father. Eighteen months later, the birth of Julian Talmadge Mayo, Jr. completed the family. Zelda was a stayat home mother to her children, and she was a wonderful cook. The family favorite was chocolate pie. As a wife and mother, she was the model of her era, teaching Sunday school, chairing the PTA, and supporting us in our endeavors. We appreciated Mother's wickedly dry sense of humor and her desire to see us achieve. When people treated us badly, Mother taught us to pray for them, returning evil with kindness, thus "heaping coals of fire on their heads." In her generation, women were not encouraged to attend college; so, it was her deep desire that her own children pursue her dreams. In light of that, Mother began working in the local gin to save money for her children's education. In 1964, Zelda began a new career by taking position of tax assessor collector for the San Perlita ISD, eventually working her way up to Administrative Assistant to the Superintendents. She loved to quip that she had "trained another superintendent," as San Perlita ISD was a proving ground for those who aspired to become superintendents of larger districts.

Zelda Mayor was a visionary. When she saw the article in the "Farmers Cooperative Magazine" announcing a grant for rural telephone cooperatives, she was pregnant with her second child and often alone on the farm without a car or a telephone. She encouraged Talmadge to apply for the grant and to organize the program in the process. Today, because of Zelda's foresight, Talmadge's hard work and the hard work of many others, Valley Telephone Cooperative is a major business. With our mother's encouragement, Talmadge joined all the many boards and organizations that helped make him a leader in his community. Zelda was also a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church in Raymondville.

Zelda is survived by her husband of 65 years, Julian Talmadge Mayo of San Perlita; daughter, Malda Lynn Mayo Burns and husband, Richard, of Rockdale, TX; son, J.T. Mayo, Jr. and his wife, Mary Ruth Robinson Mayo, of San Perlita; and one brother, Earl Lester Brown and his wife Maxine of Brownsburg, Indiana. Also surviving are three grandchildren, Lamar Burns Ontko and husband, Chad, of Bryan, TX; Julian Burns Masek and husband, Brad, of Rockdale, TX; and Dustin Mayo of College Station, TX. She was also blessed with four greatgrandchildren: Emory Lynn, Anne Carson Gray and Andrew Steven Ontko and Madison Lea Masek.

The family wishes to express their sincere appreciation to Zelda's special caregivers, Diana Lopez and Victoria Orrellano. Memorial service will be Thursday, January 29, at 11 a.m., at First United Methodist Church.

Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 367, Raymondville, TX 78580.

Funeral arrangements under the direction of Duddlesten Funeral Home.

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