Adele Wynne Monning

Irma Adele Wynne Monning, 90, passed away peacefully on April 4 in the home that she had shared with her mother, father, brother, husband, and children in Wills Point, Texas.  “Unnie” was a cherished servant of the Lord and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

Adele was born June 8, 1926 in Wills Point to Littie Adele Bruce Wynne and Buck Jim Wynne. After graduation from Wills Point High School, she attended Hollins College and her beloved University of Texas, where she became a member of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity. During the War years, she served as a Red Cross nurse in Dallas and Austin. Upon returning to The University, she was introduced by her brother Buck Wynne, Jr. to the love of her life, Ben Monning, Jr. Adele and Ben were married at Russell Memorial Methodist Church on June 14, 1947. They lived first in Amarillo, where they raised three sons, Bruce, Prater, and Wynne. In Amarillo, she was a member of the Vestry of St. Andrews Episcopal Church, a founding member and president of the Coronado Elementary School PTA, a founding member of Young Life of Amarillo, and the Junior League of Amarillo. Adele was instrumental in the creation of the popular outdoor musical “Texas,” which has played in Palo Duro Canyon State Park each summer since 1965.

Adele and Ben returned to Wills Point in 1970, where they continued their life together until Ben’s death in 2002. She served her community in countless ways. She founded and served on the boards of the Wills Point Historical Society, Keep Wills Point Beautiful, and the Wills Point Bluebird Festival. She was the first woman elected President of the Board of Trustees of the Wills Point Independent School District, and was president of Bruce & Human Drug Company, founded by her great-grandfather in 1877, and had been under common ownership by a single family longer than any pharmacy in the State of Texas. If there was a board at Russell Memorial Church, Adele served on it. In progress at the time of her death was her “Little Free Library” project, the fruits of which will soon be appearing in locations accessible to Wills Point children. Adele’s boundless enthusiasm and concern for the welfare of others was infectious. She was a devoted daughter and caregiver to both her parents, an adoring mother and grandmother, and a loving wife who supported her husband’s long career as a lawyer and counselor.

In 2001 the Wills Point Chamber of Commerce named Adele and Ben as Outstanding Citizens of the Year in recognition of their service to the City, and on March 28, 2017 the Chamber again named Adele Outstanding Citizen in appreciation for her lifetime contributions to her home town.

Adele was preceded in death by her mother and father, her brother, her husband and her son Wynne. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Bruce and Anne Monning, Prater and Nancy Monning, and Becky Monning; by her grandchildren Wright Bruce Monning, Jr., Sarah Adele Monning Schoellkopf, Shelby Monning Patterson, Benjamin Prater Monning IV, Arthur Christopher Monning,  Buck Wynne Monning, Jr., William Benjamin Monning, and John Owens Monning and great-grandchildren, Wynne and Wright Monning, Hugo and Ruth Anne Schoellkopf, and Alice Patterson; by her niece Nancy Wynne Saustad, her nephew Howell Wynne, and by hundreds of her beloved Wynne Family cousins. Her family gives special thanks to her long time friends Shirley and Danny Barker and Lessie Mae Morehead.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Keep Wills Point Beautiful, PO Box 513, Wills Point, Texas 75169, the Felix Massey Teaching Excellence Fund, PO Box 44, Wills Point, Texas 75169, or to a charity of choice.

A celebration of Adele’s life will be held on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at 3:00 pm at Russell Memorial Methodist Church in Wills Point. Services are under direction of Hiett’s LyBrand Funeral Home in Wills Point, TX.

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