Ury Jimmie Kevil

1917 - 2016

Ury Jimmie Kevil, 98, passed away Friday, May 27, 2016, after a life of service and dedication to God, to his family, and to his country. Graveside service: 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to New Testament Baptist Church, Pantego, Texas. Jimmie was born on Dec. 21, 1917, near Rule, where he attended school, became the high school quarterback and graduated from Rule High School in 1937. In 1939, he married Mattie Frank Mullis of Haskell and they began their 71 years of marriage there. They lived first in Los Alamos, N.M., where Jimmie was a deputy sheriff. In 1941, they left Los Alamos when the government acquired the site for atomic bomb development and returned to Rule to farm successfully for one year. In 1943, he joined the Navy where his duties included teaching marksmanship in Virginia and driving a landing craft through the Panama Canal to Okinawa in preparation for the invasion of mainland Japan. When the war ended, Jimmie and Mattie returned to Rule where he was in charge of the water department. Hearing from his older brother, Rufus Kevil, of the many job opportunities in Arlington, they moved here where he began his 30-year career at Vought Aeronautics--later named LTV--and reared three sons. In Arlington, they attended the First Baptist Church where Jimmie taught Sunday school, and they both shared their faith with tireless energy. Most recently, Jimmie was a member of the New Testament Baptist Church in Pantego. Jimmie lived an exemplary life and was loved and respected by all who knew him. The family wants to express its heartfelt gratitude to the caregivers at Brookdale Pecan Park during his last years and for the extraordinary compassion and care shown to him and to his family by Community Hospice of Texas at Arlington Memorial Hospital during the final days of his life. Jimmie was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Nancy Kevil; wife, Mattie Frank Kevil, in 2011; four brothers; and two sisters. Survivors: Sons, Barry and wife, Linda, Phil and wife, Jean, of Arlington and Tim and wife, Beverly, of Corsicana; grandsons, Brad and wife, Patrice, and Jason; and beautiful great-granddaughters, Jenica, Ashley, Abbie, Savannah and Juliette, who brought him immeasurable joy.