May 23, 1963 – January 04, 2020
Terri Jane Baxter Maner passed away Saturday, January 4th, 2020 in San Antonio, Texas. She was born in Uvalde, Texas to Jimmy Baxter and Jimmie Mae Cox Baxter on May 23rd, 1963.
I’m not sure what you call a person who has many nicknames and I’m not going to google it to try to find out. I’m just going to tell you what we called her.
To her sons, Braden and Jeheace Davis, she was Mom. To Braden’s kids, she was “Granny”. She was “Bird” to her stepsons, Johnny and Richie Maner and their wives, Kayla and Nicole. No one really knows how that came about. It just did. And it stuck.
To our Aunt Betty Watts, who predeceased her by a few years, she was “Terri Berry Juice”. To her sisters, Jeanne and Cindy, and me, her brother, she was “T-bird”, “TJ”, “TerriJane”, “heygirl” and a half a dozen others. To our parents, Jimmy and Jimmie Mae Baxter…well, she was Terri, daughter number three. The youngest.
To the people of the Nueces Canyon and to her hundreds of friends who knew her from her eighteen years as the general manager at Big Oak River Camp on the Nueces River, she was welcoming, happy, and cheerful. And she was much more than that to them. She was family.
Our family can think of only one instance when Terri was anything but kind and gracious to a guest at Big Oak. Years ago, a not-so-smart big old boy, a drunk and disorderly camper dared challenge her. She was all of a hundred and thirty pounds. He was six four, two-forty and discovered too late that Terri was sheriff and judge at Big Oak. Adios hombre!
You know what happened next. Word got out. Terri and Wade run a quiet, clean river camp. They keep it safe for folks and their families. Now, people come from all over Texas for a memorable visit. And they count Terri and Wade as close friends.
Terri passed away this Saturday, January 4, 2020. She was fifty-six and had been battling cancer for fifteen years. When it started back then, Terri was five feet seven. On Saturday, and after all those years of chemo and surgeries, she had shrunk to maybe five feet. But to all of us who knew her, loved her…family and friends, she was a giant.
Always cheerful. Always put others first. Never complained. Year after year after year. Determined. Competent. Never lost her faith.
When my wife and I visited with Terri on Saturday after Thanksgiving this year, we had a very honest conversation about her condition. “Are you afraid?” I asked her. “No”, she said, “I have my faith and I know where I’m going”.
It will comfort you to know, as it does us, that she spent her last few hours surrounded by family. She was comfortable, calm…at peace. We talked softly to her. Told her we loved her. Held her hands. At 11:21 am, Bird spread her wings and flew away. No more pain. Only peace.
Those left to honor and cherish her memory include her loving husband, Wade Maner of Camp Wood; parents, Jimmy and Jimmie Mae Baxter of Camp Wood; children, Braden Davis (Stephanie) of Kerrville, Jeheace Davis of Indiana, Richie Maner (Kayla) of Las Vegas, Nevada, John Tyler Maner (Nicole) of Corpus Christi, and Wendell Landry (Chrissy); grandchildren, Caden, Allie, and Devon Davis, Coby John Maner, Emory Faye Maner, Carson and Helena Landry, and Katia Maxwell.
Other family members left to honor and cherish her memory include her brother, Ronnie Baxter (Julia) of Arlington; sisters, Jeanne Wimberley (Eddie) of Camp Wood, and Cindy Covington (Bobby) of Rankin; numerous nieces and nephews that she loved as her own.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to the Nueces Canyon Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 552, Camp Wood, Texas 78833 or the Nueces Canyon EMS, P.O. Box 460, Camp Wood, Texas 78833.
Arrangements are under the personal care of Nelson Funeral Home of Camp Wood, Texas.
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