Obituary of Elree Harace Gandy

Elree Harace Gandy December 28, 1923 - July 27, 2016 Elree Harace Gandy was born on December 28, 1923 to Richard Horace and Nannie Bell Williams Gandy in Caddo, Texas. He was the last surviving sibling of 12 children. Mr. Gandy passed away on July 27, 2016 at the Good Samaritan Society-Betty Dare Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico at the age of 92 after a brief illness. The family moved to a farm east of Bledsoe, Texas in 1926 when Elree was three years old. He graduated from Prairieview School in 1942. Elree’s first job was with the Cochran County road maintenance department. He then went to work at the Hobbs Army Airfield during World War II. Later he moved to Levelland, Texas where he received his barber’s license and worked in a shop on the north side of the square. After that he got a job with General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas. While there, he was offered an oilfield job with Southern Production, which led him to be transferred to many small Texas towns. In 1957, he left working in the oilfield and moved back to Bledsoe, Texas where he started farming. Circumstances caused him to leave Bledsoe and he began working in the oilfield again around the Lea County area. He finally retired from the oilfield in 1970 and he went back to Bledsoe, Texas and farmed until his final retirement in 1996. Then he moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico. He met and married his wife Thena Clarke on September 26, 2010 and they made their home in Ruidoso. Elree was a very hardworking man who always provided for his family. He loved to dance and visit with people. He was a member of the Bledsoe Baptist Church in Bledsoe, Texas where he was baptized in a stock tank north of town in 1941. He was a member of the Bledsoe School Board for many years. He is survived by his wife Thena and four children: son, Randall Gandy and wife Joyce of Lovington, NM; daughter Roxie Imhoff of Lubbock, TX; daughter Michelle and husband Stacey Dunn of Bledsoe, TX and son, Jonathan Gandy and wife Melinda of Whiteface, TX. 10 grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren. Cremation has taken place and graveside services for Elree Horace Gandy will be held on August 6, 2016 at 10:00 am at the Tatum Cemetery, 1100 East Fifth Street, Tatum, New Mexico. Local arrangements are under the direction of Kirby-Smith-Rogers Funeral Home and condolences may be sent to www.kirbysmithrogers.com