Ethel Byrle and her fraternal twin sister Edna Earle were born on March 15, 1938, to Lewis Thomas and Mavis Lucille Witherspoon Snyder, in Roscoe, Texas. Ethel was a 1956 graduate of Roscoe High School and worked as a waitress at the Midway Café in Sweetwater, Texas. While working there, she met the love of her life, Glenn Dale “Champ” Champion. They were married in her parent’s home on November 28, 1958.
Ethel was one of a kind! You never needed to ask her opinion because she gave it to you whether you wanted it or not. If you were a friend, you were a friend for life. Ethel was a caregiver and continued to do so even as her health failed. She was a champion in the sense…battling metastatic lung cancer, taking radiation and chemotherapy all while taking dialysis three times a week for twelve years. During all of that, she never complained and was an inspiration to those around her. She loved life, was a hard worker, a loving and caring wife and mother, an excellent cook, and she loved her Lord and Savior.
Ethel was a past member of the Cottonwood Ladies Quilting Club, a founding member of the Cottonwood Volunteer Fire Department, and a life-long member of the Church of Christ.
She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 39 years, Glenn “Champ” Champion; her parents Lewis and Mavis Snyder; sisters Edna Kinniard, Wilda (Nelson) Dixon, Martha (Kenneth) Kidd; brother Derwood (Thelma) Snyder; nephews Robert Kinniard and Ronald Snyder. She was also preceded in death by her brothers-in-law Roy Sumners, Claud (Beverly Jo) Champion, Robert (Murt) Champion; and her precious and loving father and mother-in law, Calvin and Alice Woody Champion.
Left behind to cherish her memory are her sister Meba Boyd and husband Hollis of Hurst; sons Glenn Dale “Butch” Champion and wife Lori of Abilene, Monty Wade Champion and wife Kim of Stephenville, and Calvin Lewis Champion and husband David Cooper of San Angelo; grandchildren Jeffery Champion of Stephenville, Cassidy Champion of Lubbock, Caleb Champion and wife Amanda of Lubbock, and Shelby Jennings and husband Jarrod of Dublin; three great-grandchildren Braxton and Kordyn Champion of Stephenville, and Harley JoAnna Jennings of Dublin; brother-in-law Ralph Kinniard and wife Wanda, sister-in-law Viola Champion Turnbough and husband David, sister-in-law Lillian Rae Champion; four nephews, ten nieces, their families; and a host of other relatives and close friends.
To celebrate Ethel’s life, the family requests attendees wear bright and cheerful colors.
Visitation will be held from 5 – 7 PM on Saturday at Johnson’s Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 3 PM on Sunday at St. Paul Presbyterian Church in San Angelo. Another service will be held at 10 AM Monday at the Cross Plains Church of Christ with burial to follow at Cottonwood Cemetery near Cross Plains under the direction of Johnson’s Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Bob Crowley, Caleb Champion, David Cooper, David Sumners, Jarrod Jennings and Rocky Champion.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Ethel’s favorite charity, West Texas Rehabilitation Center, 4601 Hartford Street, Abilene, Texas 79605.
