Joe Gaines

Joe Gaines, Jr., 88 of Abilene, Texas, passed away on December 25, 2014 in Abilene. Visitation will be 5:00 – 7:00 pm, Sunday, December 28, 2014 at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, Abilene, Texas 79606. Funeral services will be held 10:00 am, Monday, December 29, 2014 at The Hamil Family Funeral Home with Rev. Burtis Williams of Big Country Hospice officiating. Burial will follow at 3:00 pm in the Masonic Cemetery in Seymour, Texas. Joe Gaines was born in Baylor County, Texas to Joseph Emery and Audie Lee Gaines on November 5, 1926. He attended school in the Plainview community and graduated from Seymour High School in Seymour, Texas. He joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 and was a veteran of World War II serving on the U.S.S. Herbert C. Jones in the South Pacific. At the end of the war, he returned to Texas and attended North Texas University in Denton, Texas. He married Maxine “Mickie” Smith on September 8, 1950 in Seymour, Texas. During his 50 plus year career as a geophysicist in the oil and gas industry, he worked as an independent consultant and for various companies including Petty Geophysical, Independent Exploration (IX), Tidelands Geophysical, Mitchell Energy and Upham Oil and Gas. During their marriage, Joe and Mickie lived in Tampico, Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, and various locations in Texas including Wichita Falls (20 years) and Abilene, (32 years). He was a career member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, served on the North CenTex Girl Scout Council, a member of the Mavericks organization, and a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Abilene. Joe Gaines was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Maxine “Mickie” Gaines, and his parents, Joseph Emery and Audie Gaines. Joe Gaines is survived by his two daughters, Gail Gaines Matthews of Abilene, Texas, and June A. Jackson and her husband, Kenneth Jackson of Spring, Texas: his five sisters, Winona Tackett of Wichita Falls, Texas, Gladys Metcalf of Keller, Texas, Lois Decker and her husband, Ken Decker of Wilcox, Arizona, Glenna Grimsley of New Braunfels, Texas and Sharon Gaines of Wichita Falls, Texas: his four grandchildren, James Matthews and his wife Brenda Matthews of Euless, Texas, Joseph Jackson and his girlfriend, Grace Hernandez of Houston, Texas, Ellen Dimon and her husband, Mark Dimon of Boise, Idaho, and Keith Jackson and his girlfriend, Ashley Lopez of The Woodlands, Texas: his two great-grandchildren, Ben Dimon of Boise, Idaho and Sarah Honradar of Euless, Texas: numerous nieces and nephews , sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law. Pallbearers will be James Matthews, Joseph Jackson, Keith Jackson, Ben Dimon, Joe Carl Metcalf, Myrle Metcalf, Bryan Grimsley and Brent Grimsley. Honorary pallbearers will be Wayne Bowdoin, Michael Oshman, and Mark Dimon. Memorials may be given to Abilene Meals on Wheels Plus, P O Box 903, Abilene, TX 79604. The family of Joe Gaines wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the staff of the Mesa Springs Retirement Community. Online condolences may be posted at www.HamilFamilyFuneralHome.com.