Private graveside services for Mrs. Claudia Maple will be conducted by Brother Jerry Lockhart of New Braunfels on July 20, 2009 at Ebenezer Cemetery near Kosse, Tx. Mrs. Maple went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on July 15, 2009 after a brief battle with liver cancer. A former resident of New Braunfels, Mrs. Maple had also resided in Pearsall, Tx., Palestine, Tx., Jacksonville, Tx., Mena, Ark., Sapulpa, Okla., Brownfield, Tx., Murfreesboro, Ark. and Minden, La. where her late husband had been in the newspaper and chamber of commerce professions. She was born in 1935 in Agua Dulce, Tx. to Claude Mayall Martin and Lois Donaldson Martin. She graduated from Johnson City High School in 1952. Her degree from Texas Tech was in Journalism. Mrs. Maple taught English and Journalism at Mena High School before beginning a 20-year career as a kindergarten teacher at both private Christian and public schools in Jacksonville and Palestine as well as Minden. She married the late Charles Maple of Claude, Tx. whom she met at Texas Technological College in Lubbock. They were parents of four children: Carol Chatfield (David), David Maple (Darla), Mark Maple (Lisa), and Ted Maple (Corina); grandchildren, Laura Newsom (Garrett), John and Sarah Chatfield; Dawn McKenzie (James), Jeremy Maple; Isaac and Joshua Maple; Dezirae, Mariah and Cheyenne Maple; and one great-grandchild, Garrett Finn Newsom, born July 13, 2009. Her passions were many but one of them was researching the history of the Ebenezer Church Cemetery in Kosse. She was part of a group that was instrumental in having a Texas Historical Marker erected at the cemetery gates. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the upkeep of the Ebenezer Church Cemetery, P.O. Box 112, Kosse, TX 76653 c/o Mr. Lyndon Phelps.
Published in the Herald-Press from 7/18/2009 - 7/19/2009