Sarah Pauline King

Sarah Pauline King, aged 92, passed away peacefully in her sleep early Tuesday morning, April 30, 2024, at The Heritage at Twin Creeks.

Pauline was born in Madisonville, Texas on June 21, 1931, the youngest child of Van Pitts Hawks and Buna Gibson Hawks. She attended Mount Tabor Church of Christ near her home until the family moved to north Houston when she was eight years old. Pauline attended Jefferson Davis High School where she lettered in volleyball and basketball. She graduated expecting to attend college to become a teacher, however, her father suffered a stroke soon after and she began working to help support the family.

Pauline, also known to her family as “Sis”, met the love of her life, Richard Lee King, in the spring of 1951, soon after he returned from serving in the Navy after World War II. Both very shy, they were soon attracted to the good character each showed, and they were married on October 6, 1951. They moved to Pasadena, Texas for Richard to work in the ship channel refineries and their first child Janet was born in November 1952. In quick succession they bore Susan in 1954 and Jerry in 1956. Needing more room, they built a home in Deer Park, Texas, and Boyd was added to the family in 1959.

Pauline was a devoted wife and mother and was frequently room mother at her children’s school, taught Bible classes at the churches they attended, including Central Church of Christ and Red Bluff Church of Christ in Pasadena, College Park Church of Christ in Deer Park, and Centerville Church of Christ in Centerville. Pauline was able to teach and help convert Richard while their children were young, and she supported Richard as he served as an elder in the church for many years. She was an example of Titus 2:3-5 as older women were instructed to be reverent in behavior and to teach and admonish the young women as homemakers and to be obedient to their own husbands. Pauline was also a gracious hostess, as she and Richard invited family and many church friends into their home, and she and Richard helped to support many ministers in the spread of the gospel over the years.

Pauline was an excellent cook, an accomplished seamstress, and she later developed as an artist. She collected thimbles, decorative eggs, spoons from her travels, bird figurines and plates, and an extensive bell collection, Pauline liked to “experiment” with recipes and is known for her cornbread dressing served each Thanksgiving with the King family. She canned vegetables and fruits from their garden in Centerville and served a variety of wildlife that Richard brought home from hunting trips. In her little “sewing closets,” she custom made outfits for her children, Halloween costumes, and was known for making Barbie and doll clothes. Her artistic sewing creations earned numerous awards in the Leon County Extension organization. Pauline and her family travelled often on weekends to visit Richard’s family in Floresville, to Gibson family reunions in Houston, and on summer vacations to Six Flags in Dallas and on camping trips to Colorado. After moving to their 30-acre farm in Centerville in 1983, she welcomed her ten grandchildren to spend weeks during the summer with them as she taught them to sew, hand stitch, make crafts, and cook while Richard taught them to explore the woods, fish in the pond, and harvest the garden.

Pauline and Richard moved to McKinney, Texas in 2008, and finally moved to The Heritage at Twin Creeks in 2018 after both suffered serious injuries from falling. Richard passed away in October 2019 and Pauline became an active participant in entertainment activities. She was a competitive card and domino player, but gracious to help others, and was known as the Bingo Queen. She loved the visiting singers and student groups, pet days, going out to eat, and Bible classes held at the Heritage, always checking the schedule and asking, “what’s next?”. Pauline was always quick to greet other residents and visitors with a smile and a hug. The family would like to thank Suzie Powell for her special care and advocacy for our mother over the past six years.

Pauline is survived by her children Janet Moody and husband Wayne, Susan Locklear, Jerry King and wife Amy, and Boyd King and wife Marilu. She is also survived by her ten grandchildren: Jonathan Moody, Elizabeth Owen, Jake Locklear and wife Missy, Tim Locklear and wife Lynnsey, Monica Swartzmiller and husband Neal, Matthew King and wife Tia, Melissa Roskos and husband Alan, Ryan King and wife Alyssa, Blake King, and Megan King, and 15 great-grandchildren, and by numerous brothers and sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Richard, sister Dorothy, brother Ray, and a great-granddaughter Averie Owen.

A memorial service will be held at the Centerville Church of Christ building in Centerville, Texas at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 11, 2024.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be offered to Sacred Selections adoption service in memoriam of Sarah Pauline King at: https://sacredselections.org/