Zoie Brantley Durham

Registered nurse, anesthetist and Mason county native, Zoie Brantley Durham, 89, died at home March 25, 2009, in Abilene. Mrs. Durham graduated from Brady Hospital School of Nursing in 1939, later completing post graduate work in inhalation anesthesia at Cook County (Chicago) Graduate School of Medicine. During WWII she married Army Air Corps pilot Marshall Durham. Following the war, Mr. and Mrs. Durham settled in West Texas where Mrs. Durham worked and reared a family. She was employed by Hendrick Hospital in Abilene for over a decade in numerous positions including emergency room supervisor, director of in-service education and for four years, director of nurses. In 1966 Mrs. Durham was named hospital administrator for Medical Arts Hospital in Brownwood, becoming one of the first female hospital administrators in Texas. Later she returned to Abilene and served as director of nurses for Woods Psychiatric Hospital. Mrs. Durham was known not only for her administrative skills, but also for her integrity and tenacity. For example, as a fifteen year old in a one-room schoolhouse, over her teacher's objection, she challenged the answers to geometry problems in a widely distributed textbook, writing the mathematics department at the University of Texas. The textbook was corrected. Mrs. Durham is survived by her husband, Marshall Durham, as well as her children, Marshall and Janis Durham, Jr., David and Sindy Durham and Elizabeth and Donald Davies. Grandchildren are Tiffany Durham, Kim Durham, Trace and Sharon Durham, Andrew Durham, Wendy Durham, Scott and Luanne Davies and Chris and Andrea Zuber Davies. Great-grandchildren are Marshall and Braden Durham, Sam, Annemarie and Caroline Davies, and William Davies. Mrs. Durham took great pride in her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mrs. Durham was preceded in death by great-grandchild, Thomas (Bingo) Durham, her parents Warren and Laura Ernest Brantley, brother Thomas Brantley, and beloved sisters Amy Christopher, Agnes Donofrio and Mary Williams. In recent years Mrs. Durham was professionally and devotedly cared for by Pearl Jamison, Pebble Evans, Janie Shaw, Judy Gentry and Gloria Ramirez. Thank you also to Kevin Hanna, registered physical therapist, Margaret Ann Pearce, and Hendrick Hospice Care. A charter member of Austin's Old Three Hundred, the Daughters of the Confederacy, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Mrs. Durham is a descendant of numerous Texas pioneer families. Graveside services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 28, 2009, at the Newsom family cemetery on homesteaded land in Mason County. A reception will follow at the restored 1870 Newsom and Ernest hickory log cabin. Services are under the direction of The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Zoie Durham to the Pontotoc Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 46, Pontotoc, Texas 76869, or to the donor's favorite charity.