Mom has gone to the great family reunion in the hereafter. After a life in which she planned many reunions, she didn't have to plan this one. It was arranged by the Almighty One himself.

Leta Jean Key Wright was born on October 14, 1930 in the home of her aunt, Cora Gragg, in Archer City, Texas. She lived with her parents, Luther Key and Bernice Powell Key (Bunk) and her younger sister, Leann, on the Key Ranch in the McCormick community of western Archer County. Luther was a farmer and cattle rancher, so Leta grew up helping with farm chores, feeding their hogs, milk cows, and chickens. She didn't have many toys, instead she had pet dogs, cats, and a horse.

Leta's first school was McCormick School, a two-room schoolhouse. For some years, the two sisters who taught at the school rented a room at the Key house. Leta thought that having to live with her schoolteachers was just unfair– It was too much pressure to stay on good behavior! In high school, she rode a school bus into Archer City, often staying with her Grandmother Powell. When Grandmother Powell's health was failing, the Key family moved into her house to care for her. After her death, Luther and Bunk bought the house and lived there the rest of their lives.

After graduating from high school, Leta made plans to attend North Texas State Teachers College in Denton, Texas. That summer, Leta was driving a car around Archer City with several of her girlfriends. They got into a race with a carload of guys from the neighboring town of Olney. One of those guys was John Wright, who had just finished his first year at North Texas. Leta won that race and impressed John. Leta and John dated in college, got engaged, and began a marriage that lasted 74 years, a marriage she described as the "greatest adventure of her life." They had two sons, Gene and Tom.

John's professional career took them to many locations through the years, including: Archer City, Denver (twice), Wichita Falls, San Antonio, Bedford, Pampa, Boston, Salt Lake City, Fort Worth, Tulsa, and Richland Hills. Leta became very experienced at selling the house and moving the family and belongings to join John at the next job location. No matter where they lived, they managed to get back "home" to be with family in Archer City and Olney for holidays and family gatherings. At every change in location, the family would join and become very active members of a Southern Baptist Church. Leta always became very involved with church activities, singing in the choir and leading Sunday School classes and women's groups. She was a master at traditional southern cooking and an excellent seamstress. She made many amazing wedding cakes (available only to family members) and sewed countless gifts.  Leta had a strong interest in history and a passion for family history. Her collection of meticulously-labeled old family pictures, letters, newspaper articles, and stories will be treasured for generations. Leta's college career had been interrupted by Gene's arrival in 1949, but twenty-four years and many commuting miles later, she received her Bachelor's Degree from West Texas University. At one point, all four Wright family members were enrolled in college at the same time!

Leta and John spent their early retired years in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then later moved to Richland Hills, Texas to be closer to family. She and John travelled often, especially with church groups. She was always accumulating more and more friends everywhere she went. This meant a larger and larger mailing list when it came time for Christmas cards!  Often starting in October, she would write over a hundred cards to people she'd known and cherished throughout her life, whether it was close family, distant cousins, former neighbors or people she'd met on a trip decades earlier. She kept in close touch with many friends and family members and was always telling stories about them as though they lived next door.

Leta embodied the Good Samaritan and was always thinking about how she could help other people. She and John spent decades volunteering with church groups and helping friends and neighbors. She never spoke a mean word or complained - there was always a smile on her sweet face. Even when it came time for Leta and John to move to Austin to be in an assisted living facility, her sweet demeanor and grateful attitude were adored by the nursing staff. She said she learned to be a friend to others by watching her father, who had that reputation. She wanted to honor her dad by doing the same, a value her family is grateful to try to live up to.

She was the World's Best Grandmom and loved to spoil her granddaughter, then later her great-grandchildren, often with sweet treats and playful games. She had a silly side, and usually answered how-are-you questions with "old and creaky!" She was creative and adaptable, learning how to operate an iPad well into her 80's, and often sending messages of love and support to friends and family.

She was always the first to tell those she loved how much she loved them, and how proud she was of them. Now that she's gone, that lifelong habit of never being afraid to express her love and gratitude gives her family so much peace, as no words were left unspoken. She will be missed on earth by those she left behind, but her confidence in an afterlife filled with joyous reunions leaves her family feeling reassured that she's in heaven with John, Leann, and so many others she loved. Leta is looking down on us here, proud and confident that she'll see us again too.

Leta is survived by her son Gene Wright and wife Lynn, son Tom Wright and partner Kathleen Winfrey, granddaughter Christie McNeill and husband Lance, two great-grandchildren Emiliana and Declan McNeill, and a huge extended family.

Funeral Services will be directed by Aulds Funeral Home of Archer City, Texas. Services will be held at First Baptist Church of Archer City on Saturday, January 25th at 11:00am. Burial will follow at the Archer City Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 24, 2025, at Aulds Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Archer City Cemetery Foundation, Box 198, Archer City Texas, 76351.