Thula Elizabeth Strickland

Strickland
Strickland Services for Thula Elizabeth Strickland, 79, of Hughes Springs, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at Hughes Springs First United Methodist Church with Ricky Vestal and Jeremy Cain officiating. Interment will follow at Sardis Cemetery, under the direction of Reeder-Davis Funeral Home in Hughes Springs. There will be a time of visitation from 5 until 8, Friday evening at the funeral home. Mrs. Strickland was born Oct. 14, 1934, and died Jan. 14, at her home. She attended school in the Hughes Springs school system. She was the Drum Major for the Mustang Band. She was elected Class Favorite for many years and served, along with her husband to be, Thomas Earl Strickland, as Sophomore Class Favorite. She graduated as valedictorian of her senior class and went on to college at SMU. She attended SMU from 1952 until graduation in 1956. While at SMU, Mrs. Strickland was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority and also Lambda Chi Alpha Honor Society. She was also nominated as the Chi Alpha Fraternity Sweetheart in 1954. She graduated from SMU with honors. During the next few years she began her teaching career in Navasota, while her husband attended Texas A&M University, and traveled. Upon moving back to Hughes Springs, she began operating a private kindergarten out of her house. The big house on the corner was the perfect spot to continue her teaching career, which lasted over 40 years. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Nevelle McMillan and Thula Mae McMillan; and her husband of 49 years and 11 months, Thomas Earl Strickland. She is survived by her loving son, Shannon Strickland and precious daughter-in-law, Lisa Strickland, and their five children, all of Hughes Springs; her daughter, Stephanie Huff and her husband, Mike Huff, and their four children, all of Paris; her sister, InaGene Bennett and husband, Dr. George Bennett; several nieces and nephews; and all of her precious little kindergarten students who she loved so dearly.