Merle Haggard

HAGGARD, Merle Anna Merle Haggard was born on September 18, 1927 in Paris, Texas to Lee and Lottie Mayo. Merle was a loving wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother, that will be deeply missed. Merle moved to Dallas early in life from Paris and attended a business school where she learned secretarial skills and worked for a company in the Dallas area. Soon thereafter, she married W. O. Haggard, Jr. on August 2, 1947. W.O. and Merle settled on the Haggard Farm in West Plano, located at Custer Rd. and Park Blvd. Merle went from secretarial job to becoming a farmer's wife and they raised two children, Rodney and Janna. Merle learned how to be an excellent cook, with great influence from her mother-in-law, Rosa Haggard. Plano was a small agricultural town in the 40's and 50's with a population around 2500. The area family farmers helped each other by combining their crops for their yearly income. It was a custom that the wives served meals to everyone working the farms. From that experience, Merle learned to cook great Southern country cooking, like chicken fried steak, fried chicken, okra, squash dishes and wonderful desserts. Merle and W. O. had many friends in Plano and it was customary for them to go to Dallas to join friends and family at El Chico restaurant on Lover's Lane almost every Saturday night. Plano was so small at the time, that they played a parent's role with the kids who attended school with their children. It was a close community. Merle and W. O. were active in their children's activities which included football, baseball, piano concerts, and active in being chaperones for all of their children's activities. It was also a family tradition for the immediate family to gather on Christmas Eve for a great big family dinner and share presents with the youngsters and celebrate the real reason for Christmas, the birth of Jesus. When W.O. passed in October of 1985, Merle continued to live on the Plano homestead for the remainder of her life. She also continued the Christmas tradition amongst other family traditions. While Merle was always in the background of W.O. she always took pride in loving and taking good care of her family. Later in life, she enjoyed going to Las Vegas with her mother and a friend or two, and she had a great time with her caregivers. She will be missed dearly. Merle was courageous in her fight with obstacles that affected her health, until the end of her life here on Earth. Merle passed away with her family surrounding her on December 10, 2016 in Plano, Texas. Merle is survived by her two children and spouses, son Rodney Owen Haggard and his wife Linda Sargent Haggard, daughter, Janna Haggard Bryan and her husband Reggie Bryan, four grandchildren, Josh Bryan, April Haggard Greer and husband Kirk Greer, Brigitte Haggard Huff and her husband, Dan Huff, Jerod O. Haggard and his wife Lorra Haggard, seven great-grandchildren, Madison Greer, Hannah Greer, Ashlyn Greer, Rily Huff, Hayden Huff, Brady Huff, Madalynn Haggard, a brother, Jim Mayo, sister, Linda Mayo Lewis and many other relatives and close friends. Merle is preceded in death by her parents, her husband W. O. Haggard, Jr. and great-granddaughter, Abigael Haggard. She is now enjoying the peace of Heaven with family, friends and a new life that surpasses all of our understanding. It will be a great homecoming when we all meet again. Funeral services will be on Friday December 16, 2016 at 11:00AM at the Ted Dickey West Funeral Home Chapel. Private interment at Restland Memorial Park will precede the chapel service. The family suggests memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Avenue Dallas, TX 75231 or at https://donatenow. heart.org.