In the early morning hours of April 26, Bennye Sims Meredith, 93, quietly and peacefully walked into the waiting arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She did not waste one minute worrying about the future or what would happen next, she knew.

Born and raised in southern Arkansas, Bennye was the oldest of three children. She attended Camden High School where she played the trombone and taught herself to play tennis. While getting her degree at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, she was a cheerleader and sang and traveled extensively with the choir. An avid reader, Bennye also loved playing the piano and was especially accomplished at boogie-woogie jazz tunes. Before she could

drive a car, Bennye earned her pilot’s license at sixteen. She embarked on what she knew would be an extensive flying career, ending only after crashing her plane into a hanger during her first solo flight. Bennye wasn’t injured but the plane and hangar weren’t so fortunate and on to Plan B.

From an early age, Bennye was drawn to missions. She attended the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth where she was also drawn to an outgoing, soon-tobe ordained minister from Oklahoma named Hugh Meredith. They married and she took up the complicated role of preacher’s wife serving in churches in Oklahoma and Texas. Bennye and Hugh had four children - Molly, Jim, Jack, and Ann. Bennye’s strong belief in the power of education and desire to see them succeed gave her a judge, an assistant federal public defender, a school principal/rancher, and a teacher/administrator at the renowned School for the Deaf in Austin. Bennye, the daughter of a watch repairman and seamstress, could not have been prouder or more supportive of them.

When her children left home to make their own way, Bennye and Hugh traveled the world – Europe, China, and Japan to name a few. She taught junior English at the high school level, a subject she loved. Her students learned to appreciate the joys of grammar, punctuation, and literature.

When the decision was made to move to Alpine, this child of the dense piney woods of Arkansas wasn’t sure she was going to like it. And she didn’t like it; she loved it. She loved the wide-open spaces, beautiful mountains, and intoxicating desert views. She loved the independence of the people who lived there. She was home.

Bennye gave of herself and her money to many local organizations, regularly volunteering at The Sunshine House, and delivering Meals on Wheels for many years. At the Alpine Library, she not only planted and regularly watered trees, but entered and won the library’s annual talent show playing, of course, the trombone, accompanied on the piano by her good friend, Audrey Painter. Never interested in being the center of attention, Bennye was always ready with a beautiful smile, an extended hand, and the desire to make someone else feel appreciated and seen. She grew especially attached to her little dog Frida, who was never far from her side.

Bennye Meredith is preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Gladys Sims, and her brother, Dennis Sims. She is survived by her four children, Molly Meredith Francis, Jim Meredith and wife Debbie, Jack Meredith and wife Erica David, Ann Meredith and husband David Escamilla; five grandchildren, Meredith and Morgan LeNoir, Lane Meredith Lakey and husband Wade, Kelli Meredith Cross and her husband Cameron, and Hector Meredith; five great-grandchildren, Hudson, Preston, Nolan, Jordan and Evan Lakey; and her brother Lewis and children Cindy, Stacey and Scott.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Alpine. In lieu of flowers, Bennye would without a doubt ask you to show an unsolicited and unexpected act of kindness to a person in need, pick up a piece of trash and put it in the trashcan, participate wholeheartedly in a cause you believe in, and occasionally just look up at the sky and give a prayer of thanks that you live in this beautiful world.

Services have been entrusted to Alpine Memorial Funeral Home.