E W Potts

Funeral for E.W. Potts, 83, Snyder will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Southside Baptist Church, Snyder, with Bro. Harlon Woodall, Mountain Park, officiating. Mr. Potts died Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. Burial will be in the Fairlawn Cemetery, Snyder, under the direction of Becker Funeral Home & Cremation Service. He was born Feb. 17, 1928, in Healdton, to Elmer Walter Potts and Minnie Lee Potts. He was one of five siblings. They moved to Snyder in the early 1930s where his father farmed. After his father's death, his family moved to Artesia, N.M., where other members of the family were living. He quit school by this time and traveled with his family to Artesia. He left Artesia to seek work and adventure in California. His mother had family in Southern California. He found employment and adventure in California. He worked at a plant making boxes and picking oranges. He returned to Artesia, where he met and married Eva Patricia Vallejo Feb. 21, 1948. After several years, he became a father. Michael Stephen Potts was born in December 1951. A short year later, Lyndell Wayne Potts joined the family. His family was complete. They moved to Maljimar, N.M., where he worked the oil fields. As soon as he was old enough, he carried Michael along with him to the oil fields. Family legend has it that little Michael's first words were "pump jack". He loved to tell this story, whenever he saw a pump jack or the topic came up. Seeking a better life for his family, he moved back to Artesia and learned how to clean and repair typewriters and other office equipment under the tutelage of his brother-in-law, Marvin Sanders. The family moved from Artesia to El Paso, Texas, where he continued to learn his new trade. He ventured out on his own in 1960 and opened his own office equipment repair and office supply store in Las Cruces, N.M. During the next 20 years he built his business in Las Cruces and opened a branch in Alamogordo, N.M. During this time, he traveled all over Southern New Mexico, fixing and replacing typewriters and office equipment for businesses and schools. He enjoyed the freedom of being able to stop and fish between calls, usually if school schedules permitted, with his son's Mike and Lynn at his side. He enjoyed hunting trips with all his family in the mountains of New Mexico which he had learned to know so well from his business travels. His business even had an international side through an arrangement with an office machine shop in Chihuahua, Mexico. He never forgot his Oklahoma roots. He and his young family traveled to Snyder often to visit his sister, Emaline, who had married Verlon Jeter and was raising a growing family of her own. All the family traveled back to Snyder to enjoy their time together. He often talked of moving back to Snyder. In 1980 with his sons grown to manhood, he sold the family business, bought an RV and set off with Eva. They traveled to the Texas coast near where Eva was born. He worked a bit with his nephew Tommy Potts and enjoyed fishing in the gulf. Oklahoma was still calling. In 1981, he and Eva moved to Oklahoma, bought a house and some land on Route 62 outside Snyder. They joined the Southside Baptist Church and made Snyder their home. He couldn't retire, though, and soon had a small office machine repair shop in the garage of his home. This left time for travel. Their son, Mike had joined the Navy in 1973 and had a family of his own. Michael had married, Kathy Ryan in Dec 1971 and had two sons, Travis Stephen Conner Potts, born in November 1973 and Joshua Daniel Potts, born in January 1978. Lynn, who never married, moved to Snyder to be with his parents in late 1981 and remained with them until he passed away in 2003. Over the years, Eva and he visited Michael and his family many times at their various duty locations, including Virginia; Washington, D.C.; San Diego, Calif. and SHAPE Belgium. Eva preceded him in death in 2005. Although he spent several months with Michael and his family in Maryland, Snyder remained his home. Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law: Michael and Kathy Potts: two grandsons Travis and Joshua Potts: two granddaughters-in-law: Martha and Cindy; two great-grandchildren: Dennis and Caroline Potts; a sister, Emaline Potts Jeter Hough; 16 nieces and nephews; 60 or more great nieces and nephews and several great-great-nieces and nephews. Special care was given him late in his life by his nephew, Dennis Jeter; his wife, Mary; Tommy Potts and his wife, Frances and great-nephew and his spouse: Brian and Kendra Potts; his great-niece, Tammy Knight and his best friend Jerry Birdwell. Friends may call from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. today at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association. An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at www.beckerfuneral.com Tuesday, November 15, 2011 November 13, 2011 21:42