Alice "Bess" Elizabeth Gaither Mcgrew

Alice Elizabeth "Bess" Kilgore Gaither McGrew, 106, of Amarillo, left this earth to live in the home that her heavenly Father prepared for her on Sunday, September 9, 2018. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at the Washington Avenue Church, 3800 S. Washington St., with Pastor Lennie McCay officiating. We know she was ready and so excited for the day to come. She saw firsthand that "the valley of death" was truly only a shadow, just as our Savior promised to all those who love Him. Bess stepped out onto the streets of gold to meet his Savior face to face. Isaiah 60:20 gives us a glimpse of our Heavenly home. "The sun shall no more go down, nor shall the moon withdraw its self because the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of mourning shall be ended." What a picture to behold! Bess was born December 28, 1911, in Van Buren, Arkansas, the youngest of six siblings born to Harry and Ida Kilgore. She grew up on a farm in Arkansas and went to a country school, graduating from Van Buren High School in 1930. She was an excellent pianist, loved to dance, played basketball and was named MVP her senior year. She married Gait at age 18 in the summer of 1930, joining her husband in Borger, TX, where she resided for 50 years, raising her family and being very active in the 1st Christian Church. Bess was a lifelong Christian, baptized as a child in the river by the pastor of the Rena Christian Church. During her life she did many things at her church including teaching Sunday School, attending and leading women's group meetings, singing in the choir and becoming a Deaconess in her later years. Bess was active in the Red Cross and several women's groups in Borger and worked many years for Phillips Petroleum Company in the company hospital as a cook. It was a small hospital so they were able to cook as if it were a large family, so much so that many of the single men who were checked in didn't really want to leave the hospital. Bess also took many bus trips to several places in the U.S., England and Scotland while living in Fort Smith. After moving back to Arkansas, she married Bill McGrew and was active in the Central Christian Church in Ft. Smith, the American Legion, volunteer for 13 years at the Veteran's Hospital, joined a camping club and traveled to all the other states in the union including Alaska and Hawaii, where she attended a Pearl Harbor reunion with her husband Bill, a Pearl Harbor survivor. After Bill's death, she returned to Amarillo until her death. Bess lived with her daughter and son-in-law Barbara and Gus Hampton until moving into Amarillo Skilled Care in August, 2016. She said one time to tell Pastor Jim Shelburne that she wanted him to tell folks that she wasn't always an old woman. Bess is survived by 3 children: son Dr. Bill Gaither and his wife Sharlene of Richardson, TX, daughters Barbara Hampton and Judy Hubartt of Amarillo. TX, and stepdaughters Mary Carter and Pat Taylor of Arkansas. Additionally, she is survived by nine grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, 31 great, great grandchildren and two great, great, great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death were husbands W.W. Gaither and Bill McGrew, sons-in-law Gus Hampton and Jim Hubartt, grandson David Hampton, her parents, and all five siblings. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Washington Avenue Church, 3800 S. Washington St. Amarillo, TX 79110; or any charity of your choice.

Service Schedule

Celebration of Life Service Washington Ave. Christian Church 3800 S. Washington St. Amarillo, TX Saturday, September 22, 2018 2:00 PM

Memorial Contributions

Washington Ave. Christian Church 3800 S. Washington St. Amarillo, TX 79110