Margaret O'Neil Elliott

Margaret O’Neil Elliott, 89, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, departed this earth for her heavenly residence in the early springtime-morning hours of Saturday, March 18, 2017, after a brief illness.Margaret was born on October 23, 1927, in Houston, Texas, to Harry Culver and Margaret Miller Culver. She graduated from Sam Houston High School in Houston, where she was the Drum Major of the school’s Drum and Bugle Corps. At 15 years of age, during the middle of World War II, Margaret met the love of her life, and her lifelong partner, David Leon Elliott, whom she married a year later, at age 16, in 1944. After Leon enlisted in the Army Air Corps, Margaret followed him across the country to the numerous military bases at which he was stationed before he was posted to the Pacific Theater.After the war, Margaret and Leon returned in Houston, where Leon served in the Houston Fire Department until his retirement in 1977. After Leon’s retirement, they built a little home on Lake Timpson, near Timpson, Texas, a town immortalized by the 1930s Tex Ritter railroad song “Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo and Blair”. Leon’s nickname for their cozy home with the beautiful lake views was “Heaven On Earth”, which would later inspire Margaret to compose and sing a ballad by that name.During the couple’s many years in Houston, Margaret stayed very busy. In addition to raising four active children, she brought in extra income for the family by ironing clothes, performing door-to-door market research, preparing income tax returns, selling Avon products, making and selling picture frames and artificial flower arrangements, and many other entrepreneurial endeavors. But her favorite pastime was always singing and writing songs, and what a singer and songwriter she was! In the early 1960s, Margaret began singing in church as part of a trio with two other women. Then she “went out on her own”, and began singing on Saturday nights at Johnny Morrison’s Hayride, a family-oriented country music venue in Shepherd, Texas. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Margaret recorded more than two dozen songs, the music and lyrics for most of which she had composed. She also began performing local “gigs” with singers such as Mickey Gilley, Ray Price, Charlie Pride, Willie Nelson, and many others. Margaret even found time to compose and perform a campaign jingle for then-U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson of East Texas. Rep. Wilson’s greater fame came later, as the subject of the novel and Hollywood movie “Charlie Wilson’s War”, but the political jingle Margaret wrote and sang was played on the radio in 19 East Texas counties for several months, and Charlie credited that jingle as being “the primary reason” he won re-election.Margaret’s family, numerous friends, passion for music, and perpetually youthful zest for life kept her active, vibrant, enthused, and full of laughter for 89 years. She always took care of herself, and no one ever saw her without makeup, nor, past about 1950, with her natural hair color. Margaret truly never met a stranger, and upon making a new acquaintance, she would often be told that it seemed like the friendship had spanned many years rather than just days, weeks or months. Margaret was the life of any gathering and an unforgettable presence.Even after her professional singing days, Margaret continued to be a prolific songwriter and performer. Her most recent band, which called themselves “Family and Friend”, was comprised of Margaret as lead vocalist, her son Mark as keyboardist and recording engineer, her son David as background vocalist and harmonica player, her son Larry as rhythm guitarist, her grandson Craig as rhythm guitarist, and longtime family friend Jamie Aulds as lead guitarist and lead background vocalist. In 2014, the group recorded a music video and posted it on YouTube. Search for “Santa Fe superspockman” to view the performance.In addition to her music, Margaret also loved traveling, with Santa Fe, New Mexico being her favorite destination. The strong influence of Santa Fe and the Southwest could been seen in her home furnishings, her backyard, her clothing and her jewelry. Not surprisingly, Margaret, even wrote two very different versions of a song entitled “Santa Fe!” Margaret and Leon had been married for over 56 years when he passed away in 2001. Margaret continued to live in the house at Lake Timpson for another 7 years before moving back to Houston to be closer to most of her family. While many folks her age were downsizing, Margaret increased her square footage some so that she had plenty of room to host her large family at Thanksgiving. Up until very recently, Margaret continued to mow her own grass, declaring the task to be good exercise.Margaret is survived by her four children and their spouses, son Mark Elliott and wife Melanie, daughter Gaye Layton, son David Elliott and wife Teri, and son Larry Elliott and wife Carin. Margaret’s 10 grandchildren and their spouses are Lindsey and Joe Dodds, Aubrey Elliott, Craig and Kayla Elliott, Justin and Prairie Elliott, Larry, Jr. and Brittany Elliott, Richard and Miriam Elliott, Bryan and Rowena Layton, Mandy and Derek Richard, Samantha Scioneaux, and Kenny, II and Lauri Wright. Margaret’s 12 great-grandchildren are Emilee and Grant Dodds, Kyleigh and Kamryn Elliott, Madeline Elliott and Dillon Robbins, Bryan and Bea Layton, Abby and Drew Richard, and Madison and Kaitlyn Wright. Margaret is also survived by her brothers Sam Marett and Larry Culver, their spouses, and numerous nieces and nephews.Margaret was a member of Berachah Church in Houston, Texas, for over 50 years. She was a devoted Christian who used and applied the teachings of Bible Doctrine throughout her gifted life.Visitation will be held from 10:00 am to 11:00am on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, at Crespo Funeral Home, 4136 Broadway Street, Houston, Texas 77087, with the funeral service directly following at 11:00am in the Chapel of the funeral home. Interment will be held at Forest Park Lawndale cemetery, 6900 Lawndale, Houston, Texas. For those so desiring, the family requests that donations in Margaret’s memory be made to the Salvation Army Greater Houston Command, or to a charity of one’s choice.