Bobby Ben Mayo

Bobby Ben Mayo of Kaufman, Texas passed away on Monday December 19, 2022 at the age of 89. He was born on October 29, 1933 in Kerens, Texas to Willard and Lena Mayo. He grew up on a farm where he looked after farm chores, sold eggs for his mom, picked cotton with his dad, and pestered his older siblings (he was the youngest of seven). In high school he helped build a 49 foot Santa Clause statue for downtown Kerens. That Santa Clause was later acquired by the State Fair of Texas and altered to become Big Tex. In September of 1953, Bobby married Betty Landon, the love of his life. Over a ten year period, he and Betty had five children. He served in the U.S. Army from 1955-1957 and was stationed at West Point as support personnel. His wife and daughter moved to Highland Falls, NY to be with him during this time and his oldest son was born in the hospital at West Point. When he returned to Texas he went to work as a draftsman in the defense industry. He worked full time to provide for his family while completing his engineering degree in night school at SMU. He graduated in January 1965, when his youngest child was six months old. For several years, Bobby worked at Kraft Foods as the assistant plant engineer and later was the plant engineer at the Mobil Research Laboratory. During his years of retirement, he helped his wife run an antique business, helped his children with various projects and spent time with his grandchildren. In his 70s, he added two new rooms on his house, a party room to accommodate his growing family, and an additional bedroom for him and his wife. He constructed these rooms himself with his children & grandchildren helping occasionally on weekends. Bobby and Betty loved spending time with the family and hosted many family parties over the years. Bobby is preceded in death by his parents, Willard and Lena Mayo, all of his siblings, his wife Betty, one son-in-law Tim Skidmore, and two grandchildren Hope Decker and Luke Bednar. Bobby is survived by: his five children and their spouses, Merribess Skidmore, Steve Mayo, Mindy and Max Pierson, Roxanne and Mark Neiman, Ben Mayo; eleven grandchildren and their spouses – Jacque and Chad Decker, Morgan Skidmore and Nathan Kaplan, Mike and Stephanie Fancher, Maeve Skidmore and Mark Beaty, Jake Bednar, Clayton Skidmore and Lynn Hunter, Lindy and Cody Seabolt, Samuel Skidmore, Zach and Krystal Mayo, Cayce and Brian Youngblood, Kristy and Dylan Kilgore; thirteen great-grandchildren – Taylor Seabolt, Kelee Bednar, Aubrey Mayo, Ollie Kaplan, Silas Decker, Ty Fancher, Samantha Mayo, Miles Kaplan, Carter Fancher, Anna Decker, Kathy Mayo, Isaac Kaplan and Curtis Mayo.