Imogene M. (Jeannie) Terry

Imogene McDonald Terry, better known to her friends as Jeannie, left for her heavenly home on March 17, 2019 in College Station, Texas.
Jeannie was one of eight children, born to Jessie James McDonald and Ardina Lee Maulder near the northeast Texas town of Blue Ridge. Life was demanding growing up on a black land farm during the Great Depression. Jeannie would find herself and her talent in playing guitar and singing country/western music following her mother's passing in 1938.
At the age of 19, she won a radio talent show and was offered her first singing job at radio station WFAA in Dallas. There she became a regular on the "Early Birds" airing at 6 a.m. daily. She would later sing on radio station WOAI in San Antonio. Jeannie performed regularly as a member of the "Big D-Jamboree" on both radio and early television along with names like the "Sons of the Pioneers", the "Gladiola Mills Light Crust Dough Boys", Bob and Joe Shelton, Sunny James, Patsy Cline, and Marty Robbins.
Jeannie married Byron Jackson (Jack) Terry on June 1, 1946 in Dallas, TX where they made their home. In 1948, their son, Billy Jack Terry, was born. Jeannie continued to perform on TV, radio and make road appearances throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
Her daughter, Sharon Kay Terry, was born in 1956; after Sharon's arrival, Jeannie would gradually move from performing to become a cosmetologist. She would continue "fixin' hair", as she would say, well into her nineties. Jack and Jeannie would enjoy 38 years of marriage before Jack went home in 1984. Jeannie would maintain their home in Dallas until 2016 when she and Sharon would move to Bryan, TX to be nearer her son.
Jeannie was a loving wife and mother. She was a member of the Pleasant Grove Church of Christ in Dallas for over 40 years.
She is preceded in death by her loving husband, Byron Jackson (Jack) Terry; her brothers, Horace McDonald, Clyde McDonald, and Harlan McDonald; her sisters, Estelle Sellers, Ova Bauer, Jalaska Jones, and Wilma McComic. She is survived by a son Billy Jack Terry and wife Peggy Terry; a daughter, Sharon Kay Terry; Grandson, Jerry DeWayne Terry and wife Juliette Terry; and Great Grandsons, Bradley and Hunter Shaw; as well as numerous nephews and nieces.
A time of visitation will be held on Friday, March 22, 2019 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. at Grove Hill Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas with grave side services to follow at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested in her name for the Cherokee Home for Children P. O. Box 295 Cherokee, Texas 76832 or to the American Heart Association. Arrangements have been entrusted to Hillier Funeral Home of College Station.