Ara Mae Sheets August 19, 1924 – July 30, 2022

Ara Mae Sheets

August 19, 1924 – July 30, 2022

Ara Mae Black Sheets, age 97, of Gatesville, better known as Nanny Sheets to many, gained her angel wings on Saturday, July 30, 2022, surrounded by her loved ones.

Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, at Scott’s Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Matt Dossey officiating. Interment followed at Restland Cemetery.

Ara Mae Sheets was born on Aug. 19, 1924, in Coryell County, to the late Frank (Noog) and Mary Ella Vaughn Black. She grew up in the Ruth community and attended school at Ewing until it closed, at which time she was transferred to Gatesville, where she graduated in 1941. While attending school, she was an avid basketball player, serving as the team captain and tenderly known as the girl who would try and could do anything. The phrase “Ara Mae Black broke her back, trying to ride a paper sack” was coined in her honor. She received the very first 4-H Gold Star Award in Coryell County. After graduating from high school, she worked all summer to save money to attend college. She wrote Texas State University (formerly known as Southwest Texas State University) to tell them she had saved enough money to attend but needed room and board. The university contacted her and provided her with room and board with a young couple who had two small children. She attended college for one year and met her future husband and love of her life, Don Sheets, a soldier stationed at Camp Hood. The two were married Sept. 17, 1943, and she became the mother to children, Donna, Ellery (Buddy), Vernon and Mary. She later went on to work at Fort Hood as a food service manager for the Post Exchange and retired after working there for over 30 years. After retirement, she and her husband owned and operated an antique store for many years. In her early years, she enjoyed camping and fishing with her family and enjoyed gardening. She always loved finding a good buy at a local yard sale or flea market. For many years, she was known for her hospitality and opened her home to her grandchildren and many area children. She loved her family and was always on “their side.” Family was everything to her, and her legacy of love will live on forever.

Mrs. Sheets was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Mary Ella Black; husband, Don Sheets; son, Vernon Sheets; half-brothers, Joe and Frank Black; grandsons, Bobby Sheets and Earl Harman; and granddaughter, Michelle Vroman; and great-granddaughter, Haley Harman.

She is survived by daughters, Donna Wright, Mary Harman and husband, Mike.; son, Buddy Sheets and wife, Pam; 11 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; 21 great-great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews; and a special dog companion, Sky.