Fonta B. "Tonti" Conway

Funeral services for Mrs. Fonta B. "Tonti" Conway, 90, of Henderson, Texas, a childhood resident of the Holly Springs area, were held in Henderson on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.

Mrs. Conway was the last living greatgranddaughter of Ebenezer Nelms and Martha Trimble Greenlee Davis, who in 1851 built the Strawberry Plains home and plantation northwest of Holly Springs that is now an Audubon Society center.

Mrs. Conway passed from this life on May 29, 2021, at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas. She was born April 18, 1931, in Brinkley, Ark., to the late Roger and Mollie (Hopson) Brittenum. She lived at Strawberry Plains as a young child. Her family also lived in the Hudsonville community near Holly Springs.

She graduated from Brinkley High School and went to Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas), where she received a Bachelor's degree. She later received a Master's degree from Stephen F. Austin University in Texas. She moved to Henderson in 1957.

Mrs. Conway served as the County Coordinator and Home Demonstration Agent for Rusk County, Texas. Upon her retirement in 1996, she went to work for Donovan's garden center in Henderson, working there another 15 years.

She was a member of Beta Sigma Pi sorority, the American Home Economics Association, and the Rusk County Chamber of Commerce, where she was a Silver Star. She volunteered with the Rusk County Youth Project Show for 40 years. Mrs. Conway was involved with the Rusk County Children's Advocacy Center and served on the Rusk County Children's Welfare Board. She also was an active and long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church of Henderson.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Laborn Conway; and brothers and sisters, Billy Brittenum, Augusta Greene, Roger Brittenum, John Greenlee Brittenum, Dee Brittenum and Mollie Hopson Brittenum Duncan.

Survivors include her children, Dee Lee Conway Smith and Burr Conway (wife Teresa); grandson, Cody Conway (girl friend Hannah Fudge), of Henderson; her beloved dog Ginger; and a host of nieces and nephews, numerous cousins, other family, and many, many friends.

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