OPAL ROPER

May 3, 1928 - July 19, 2024

Opal Gwen Allen was born on May 3, 1928, to parents Clemmie Bowen and John D. Allen. She was the youngest of five children and the only girl. She passed into the loving arms of Jesus on July 19, 2024.

At the age of 16, Opal met Escar Clay Gilley when they worked on theater row in downtown Dallas. They married on August 22, 1944. The following year they welcomed a daughter, Linda Faye Gilley, and completed their family with the birth of a son, Brian Clay Gilley, in 1958. Their union was dissolved in 1969, but they remained fast friends until his death in 1994.

Opal became a grandmother at the age of 36, and henceforth was known as Nana. Her grandkids were the joy of her life and there was nothing she wouldn't do for them. As they will all attest, her love language was food, especially cake, pie, ice cream or candy.

Opal was a homemaker until Brian started school, whereupon she completed her GED and earned her LVN certificate through El Centro College. When she took her state board exam, she was informed she had earned the highest score of anyone in the state. She worked first at Methodist Hospital and then began her tenure as nurse/receptionist for Phillip D. Newell, M. D., a longtime OB/GYN specialist in Oak Cliff. Opal retired at the age of 65, when she moved to Mount Pleasant, Texas to care for an elderly aunt. She later returned to the Dallas area where she resided in Duncanville until she moved to Coppell to live with her daughter and son-in-law. She lived the final three years of her life at Frankie Lane Assisted Living in Lewisville, Texas, where she shared every meal and activity with nine other ladies.

Opal was a committed Christian with an unwavering faith in a good and merciful God. She raised her two children in the faith, prayed for them unceasingly, and took them to church all their lives. She was a devoted mother, grandmother, woman of prayer, servant and friend.

Opal was preceded in death by her son, Brian Gilley. She is survived by: daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Ron Cawthon; grandchildren Dwaine Cawthon, Bruce Cawthon and wife Kristal, Amy Bellah and husband Sean, Tiffany Rodriguez and husband David; great grandchildren Madelyn, Abigail and Levi Bellah and Eli, Evelyn, Ella, and Emma Rodriquez; and, nephew Dan Allen of San Francisco, CA..

Her family will be forever grateful for the nurturing atmosphere provided by the wonderful, caring staff at Frankie Lane.

A visitation will be held from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM with a funeral service at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at Jeter & Son Funeral Home. Graveside Service and interment will follow at Little Bethel Memorial Park.