Odessa Loye Walston passed from this earth to heaven on April 28, 2014, at the age of 101. She was born to Harden and Flora Pennington in Grapeland, Texas, on November 30, 1912.

Loye graduated from Grapeland High School in 1929. She had hoped to become a high school math teacher, but the onset of the Great Depression disrupted her plans to attend college. Loye lived most of her adult life in Houston, where she married and raised her family. She worked as a homemaker, a cashier for the Houston IOSD, and as a customer service representative for the Greater Houston Retail Merchants Association. In 1974, Loye and Hughe retired and moved from Houston to Grapeland, where they lived on the Pennington homestead. Loye was very active in the Grapeland First Baptist Church and the Grapeland Women's Garden Club. She also loved to play 42, scrabble, and other games, and she often had friends and family at her house for game nights. She and Lenora Pennington were long-time domino partners and won many trophies at 42 tournaments. In 2011, Loye moved from Grapeland to Houston, where she lived with her daughter Linda.

Loye was a true servant of Christ. She faithfully attended church and studied the Bible all of her life, and she taught children and adult Sunday School classes for many years, even into her 90s. Loye truly followed Christ's charge to love God with all of her heart and to love others as she loved herself. She especially loved all of her family – her parents, brothers, sister, husband, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, all. Likewise they loved her very much and will miss her greatly.

Loye was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Oscar Hughe Walston, her brothers, Elwood, Milo, and Delbert Pennington, and her sister Opal Brimberry.

BAILEY AND FOSTER FUNERAL HOME