LLOYD CATON TYSON Private graveside services for Lloyd Caton Tyson, 87, were held June 24 in Morton Memorial Cemetery at Morton, Texas, with Joey Pierce, of Levelland, Texas officiating.
An open memorial service followed at 1:30 p.m. at the Morton Church of Christ, 701 E. Taylor.
Caton died June 14, 2023, in a Dallas area hospital after a long battle with congestive heart failure.
He was born Sept. 13, 1935, to John Caton and Virgie Mae (Wynn) Tyson on their remote family farm south of Maple, Texas. He graduated from Three Way High School at Maple in 1953 and served in the Army for four years. He was a farmer for nearly 60 years, retiring along with his brother, Jesse Wynn, in 2004. The farm remains in operation.
Caton and Darance Gwynn Bratton were married on Dec. 20, 1962, in the living room of their new custom-built home. They had three daughters: Dyrinda Syree in 1964, Sylinda Dylene in 1966 and Lykinda Lygale in 1968. Caton and Darance’s home started as a simple two-bedroom, two-bath house. Utilizing his skills and natural ingenuity, though, Caton expanded and modified the home to suit their growing family. Darance died on April 11, 2002, after a brief battle with cancer.
On Feb. 14, 2006, Caton and Darla Turner were married in Lake Tahoe, Nev. They made their home on the farm, where Caton kept busy with various projects well into his 80s. The crowning jewel, though, was a cabana he built in the backyard. He whiled away many a hot summer afternoon out there with his beloved pups.
His continued health issues prompted them to move to Roanoke, Texas, in 2022.
Caton was a strong and ingenious man, plainspoken but witty. He truly enjoyed life, and for years, his crew’s annual hunting trips rolled around as regularly as Christmas. But his farm, family and legacy were never far from his mind, and he and Jesse Wynn worked hard to build on what their father established. It’s a shame he won’t be around to mark the farm’s centennial in 2024, but his grit and love for the land lives on in every acre.
He is preceded in death by his parents John and Virgie Tyson; his wife Darance Tyson; his sisters, Evelyn (Johnson) Davis and Wanda (Johnson) Kelley; his daughter Sylinda; and great-grandson Hunter Trey Timmons.
Survivors include his wife, Darla Turner Tyson; daughters, Dyrinda Tyson-Jones of Oklahoma City and Lykinda Cross of Garland; stepsons Tony Timmons and his wife Liz of Austin, and Clay Timmons and his wife Cara of Southlake; sister, Maxine Roberson of Lubbock; brother, Jesse Wynn Tyson of Morton; grandsons, Rayner Cross of Laramie Wyo., and Cole Timmons of Fayetteville, Ark.; and his granddaughters Hadley Cross and her partner Daniel Beaver of Durango, Colo., Claire Jones and her partner Eric Christo of Norman, Okla., and Cameron Timmons of Southlake.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the New Mexico Children’s Home in Portales, 1356 NM 236, Portales, N.M., 88130. Arrangements are under the direction of Ellis Funeral Home of Morton.