Onetta Fay Ables

Fay Ables left this earth, into the arms of Jesus on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

Onetta Fay Ables was born at the Gorman Hospital in Gorman, Texas on July 10, 1954. Truth be known, she is probably a little upset with God for calling her home so close to her birthday as
she was already planning and talking about the BIG EVENT. Little did Fay know that her “Elvis” Birthday T-shirt was on its way – courtesy of her big sister and constant companion, Lottie.
We can only imagine the birthday party that Jesus will throw for our Sweet Fay!

As a young child, Fay never really had any specific games she liked to play or things she liked to do; she just wanted to do what “everybody else” was doing. Boy did she try! She loved batting
rocks with Dink, playing ‘Hide and Seek’, and playing outside with her nieces and nephews. She was quite the tomboy!

Fay attended Desdemona Elementary School for a few years and loved it. Her favorite and only teacher was Ms. Singleton. Fay loved her and she loved Fay. When Fay was too big to stay in Ms.
Singleton’s class, she stopped attending school. But then, Fay discovered that she could talk to Ms. Singleton on the telephone. At first, her mama dialed the phone, stood by to monitor the conversations, and kept Fay’s phone conversations brief. However, one day she heard Fay talking and went to find out what she was doing. Fay had figured out how to dial the phone by
watching her mama, and was talking to Ms. Singleton! And I, personally, can remember hearing Granny hollering more than a few times: “FAY! Are you talking to Ms. Singleton AGAIN?!
Fay was one sharp cookie! In fact, when they were living in the Housing Project in Gorman, Fay took it upon herself to deliver everyone’s mail to them. She would get the mail out of a box and
take it to the corresponding number on the apartment. Fay loved doing this; it gave her purpose and great satisfaction.

Later in life, Fay discovered Dairy Queen and learned the value of people who had a car and could drive. She called it “Tom Cat-ing around” which I think meant “when she got to go somewhere
without her mama.” Cathy was her favorite “tom-catting partner”, and I heard from Cathy that Fay’s favorite thing to order at the Dairy Queen was a “Moo Moo Latte”! Fay found her true calling in coffee-drinking, watching baseball games on television, and shopping at Walmart. She loved it when Lottie would pick her up and take her to Walmart, but I think she mainly loved telling Lottie which aisles to go on and whether to turn left or right. Lottie says that Fay was a thorough shopper– browsing and re-browsing, and sometimes re-re-browsing certain items, but according to Lottie, she always ended up buying the very first thing she browsed as they entered the store! Fay doesn’t have character; she IS a character. Armed with advice from her mama, Fay let her oldest brother, Vernon, know on more than one occasion: “Now, Vernon! You are not the only duck in the pond!”

Not too long ago Lottie decided to start buying DIET cokes for Fay’s fridge to help her cut down on calories since she was drinking three or four cokes a day. The very next day when Lottie went to see Fay, Fay said, “LOTTIE FINCH, come here I want to tell you something.” Holding up the diet coke with one hand and pointing at it with the other, she continued, “You see this coke
right here? Well, I want the other one!!!!” Fay kept up with everybody and everything! She always knew who had a birthday, who got married, who had a baby, and who died. Her comments were always profound and enlightening. She recently announced that she was “still planning on getting married and having some kids.”

Fay is survived by a sister, Lottie Finch, her son, Robert Dail Finch, and her granddaughter, Annie Marley, and grandson, Josh Deen, all of Lubbock; a brother, Dail Ables and his wife Carol of Abilene, their son, Michael Ables of Gatesville, his sons, Ardy Ables of Mineral Wells, Joey Ables of Coleman, and his daughter, Jasmine Ables of Brady; their daughter, Breckley Welch of Stephenville; their son Mitch Ables and his wife, Andrea, and their sons Keagan Ables and Camden Ables of Hawley; their daughter, Kyndra Ables of Abilene and their son, Kris Ables and his daughters, Sawyer and Baker of Abilene; and a niece, Cathy
Steele, her two sons, Michael and Cameron, daughter, Allison, and a granddaughter, Riley all from California.

Preceding her in death are her parents, Hubert and Denzel Ables; a brother, Vernon, and his three sons Billy, Junior, and Matthew; a brother-in-law, Royce Finch, and his two daughters, Barbara and Angie; and a brother, Dink and his daughter, Janadean. Fay also leaves behind a humongous collection of mugs, cups, given to her by relatives and friends and trinkets she won playing BINGO at the Plaza……….also countless T-shirts with important holiday themes such as Christmas, Easter, 4th of July and, of course, FAY’S BIRTHDAY!

Fay was such a beautiful soul. She had so much love to give, so much compassion, goodness, kindness, and gentleness about her. She so enriched all of our lives, and we will miss her so very much, but we all know how much she is going to enjoy her new glorified mind and body and doing everything everyone else is doing!

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