Obituary

COTTON CENTER - Funeral services for Bruce Brightbill, 85, of Cotton Center will be at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church of Cotton Center with the Rev. J.D. Templeton and the Rev. Joel Perez officiating. Military graveside services will precede the service at 10 a.m. Thursday in Abernathy Cemetery under the direction of Abell Funeral Home and Flower Shop in Abernathy. Visitation will be from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Mr. Brightbill died Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, at his home. He was born Nov. 13, 1925, in Marysville, Kan., and served in the 45th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army during WWII. He married Dorothy Rhodes on Sept. 14, 1947, in Abernathy. They lived in Arizona from 1964 until moving back to Abernathy in 1974. They also lived in Lubbock and Amarillo, and in 1999 moved to Cotton Center. He was a charter member of the Abernathy Riding Club and was a member of First United Methodist Church in Abernathy and Cotton Center and was attending First Baptist Church in Cotton Center. Survivors include his wife; four sons, Jerry Brightbill of Plainview, Darryl Brightbill of Abernathy, David Brightbill of Monrovia, Md., and Randy Brightbill of Cotton Center; one sister, Carol Bryant of Tucson, Ariz.; 13 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Two brothers, two sisters and a grandson, Chris Brightbill, are deceased. Memorials may be made to the Debbe Brightbill Art Memorial Fund at Wayland Baptist University, 1900 W. Seventh St., Plainview, TX 79072.