Horace Head

Horace Wesley Head, 87, died at 3:10 p.m., Thursday, March 20, after a long illness. Mr. Head was retired from industrial construction and the U.S Army. Mr. Head was born October 7, 1921, to Wesley H. and Blanche Malone Head in Osceola. He attended Itasca public schools and graduated from Itasca High School. He attended Howard Payne College in Brownwood. While working on the construction of the Camp Bowie Army Base in Brownwood, he met the love of his life, Cheryl Maureen Dennis, and they were married on August 24, 1941. After the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor and the United States declared war, Mr. Head joined the U.S. Army and served with an engineering unit in the South Pacific. He was stationed in New Guinea where his unit built air strips and facilities to the U.S. invasion of Japan. After the war, Mr. Head continued to serve his country through the Texas Army National Guard, Hillsboro's Company L of the 36th Infantry Division. He retired as a master sergeant after 20 years of military service. After the war, Mr. Head worked in sales. He moved his family to Hillsboro in 1950 where he worked with his father in W. H. Head and Son Plumbing. He later worked as a pipefitter with the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local #146 in Fort Worth, a craft he practiced for more than 35 years. He was a piping superintendent for large industrial contractors in a number of states. Mr. and Mrs. Head were longtime judges of the absentee voting box for the Democratic primaries and general elections in Hill County. He served on the Public Works committee of the City of Hillsboro that developed the most recent street improvement project. Mr. Head was a member of First Baptist Church in Hillsboro, a self-appointed greeter to any and all who attended or visited the church in the 59 years he was a member. Mr. Head was preceded in death by his parents, a step-mother, Onata Head, and two brothers, Julian Head of Corpus Christi and T.W. Head of Abilene. He is survived by his wife, two sons and their wives, Danny and Barbara Head of Pampa, and Jim and Ellen Head of Littleton, CO; a daughter and husband, Deana and Harry Wood of Hillsboro; three granddaughters, Karen and husband Tony Doyle of Pampa, Tessa Head of Denver, CO and Amy and husband Mike Brister of Orange; one grandson, Sam and wife Megan Wood of Frisco; one great-grandson, Jonathan Wesley Doyle of Pampa; three greatgranddaughters, Meghan and Brooke Brister of Orange and Madeline Wood of Frisco and several nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Mike Brister, Jonathan Doyle, Tony Doyle, Terrance Fennell, John Nelson and Sam Wood. Honorary pallbearers included John Erwin, Billy Little, Bob McGregor, Roscoe Roberts, Darrell Sanders, David Sonny Stanford, R. D. Sullins, Jim Wiley and Carroll Weedon. Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, P. O. Box 271, Hillsboro, TX 76645.