Elizabeth Fern Oxley Culwell

Elizabeth Fern Oxley Culwell passed away on February 21, 2019 at her home in Abilene, Texas. She was born in Apache, Oklahoma on July 20, 1926 to parents John Thomas Oxley, a farmer and Sylven Marion Oxley, a housewife and mother of eight children. Elizabeth grew up on the family farm just outside Apache with seven brothers and sisters. She was a member of the Church of Christ.

After graduating from high school, Elizabeth went to work for the Soil Conservation Service. She married James Henry Culwell on December 20, 1946 in Oklahoma. The couple first lived in Duncan where daughter Kay was born in 1947 and later they moved to Chickasha where son Bobby was born in 1951. In the mid-1950s, they moved to Abilene, Texas to take a scout executive position with the Boy Scout Chisholm Trail Council. In Abilene, Elizabeth attended McMurry University and graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Elementary Education with honors and a teaching certificate in 1963.   In 1969 she earned a Masters in Elementary Education degree at Abilene Christian University.

Elizabeth had a long and successful career in teaching, beginning first as a 3 ^rd grade teacher at Ben Milam Elementary School in Abilene. In an interview at the White House in 2006, Admiral Mark Fox, Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush and Director of the White House Military Office, spoke of his memories of 3 ^rd grade in Mrs. Culwell’s class: “Here is living proof that it is a very small world, that her son-in-law should be sitting in the East Wing of the White House and that one of her former students, who I think she would surmise that I had probably given her headaches, has somehow benefited from her instruction, and somehow has turned out, at least at this point, seem to be okay.”

In 1971, her husband Jim transferred to the Boy Scouts Council in Galveston, and they settled in Texas City. Elizabeth began teaching 6 ^th grade at nearby La Marque, Texas. It was at La Marque that she completed her teaching career, retiring in 1986. Three years later, her daughter, Kay, began writing them a postcard every day for a year—365 postcards—each one containing a new reason for them to return to Abilene for their retirement. At the end of that year, she and Jim returned to Abilene for good.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband James Henry Culwell, and seven brothers and sisters. Survivors include a daughter, Marian Kay (Vernon) Williams of Abilene; a son, Robert “Bobby” Culwell of Huntsville, Texas; 6 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 4:00 pm on Monday February 25, 2019 at South 11 ^th & Willis Church of Christ. Arrangements are under the direction of Piersall Funeral Directors, 733 Butternut St.  If you would like to make a contribution in memory of Elizabeth, please consider Sam’s Place: A New Beginning for Deaf Orphans in Kenya, East Africa. South 11 ^th & Willis Church of Christ, 3309 S. 11 ^th Street, Abilene, Texas 79601.

Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.pbfuneraldirectors.com.