Mabel Christine Tittle

Mabel Christine Smith Tittle was born on December 2, 1925 in Abilene, Texas to Dewey and Beulah Smith. She passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 17, 2023 in Rowlett, Texas. Christine was raised in a loving family by parents that she respected and honored with all her heart all the days of her life. She was the 5^th of 12 children and apparently a good student who was quite shy. (It is obvious that she outgrew that trait many years ago.) An entrepreneur at heart, according to her siblings, she often paid them to do her homework, iron her clothes, and do other chores. When she was 10, sadness hit their home with the loss of her baby brother. Through the kindness demonstrated by neighbors, many of the family found hope in Jesus during this heartache.

Christine graduated from Abilene High School at the age of 16 and attended Hardin Simmons University for a brief time – but her love for her family and homesickness got the best of her, and she moved to Austin to join them. During WWII, she considered joining up, but her 2 older brothers, who were already in the service, discouraged her from following that path. Instead, the entire family moved to Orange, Texas, where she worked with her mother in the shipyard to support the war effort any way possible. To get to Orange, the family story goes: that their papa had gone ahead of them to find a job and their mama drove some kind of tractor pulling a trailer filled with the kids and a few belongings. They stopped along the way to pick cotton to be able to pay for their gas. She was always proud of her mother who learned how to be an electrician on the ships they built there “with baby #11 on one hip and baby #12 on the other.” Her life and family were greatly impacted by the war in many ways, including that her oldest brother, Will, gave his life for his country when his plane was shot down.

After the war, the family moved backed to Austin and began to rebuild their lives after this huge loss. God placed more believers in their lives there, and due to their acts of kindness more family members found a relationship with Jesus. The youngest brother, Jackie Lee, and her “Papa” were baptized together in 1951. The Smith family will be forever grateful for those believers.

Also, in Austin, Christine met the love of her life at Hyde Park Baptist Church. She married John (Jack) Tittle, a WWII veteran, on February 2, 1952 and moved with him to Fort Worth, Texas. Some of her favorite past-times were praying for her family and friends, singing in the church choir, being an avid fan of the Rangers and Cowboys, and attending her grandchildren’s activities (which always included lots of opportunities for hugs and clapping.) She volunteered alongside Jack teaching rifle safety and with Citizens on Patrol. She was very involved in Wedgewood Garden Club: where she won Best of Show for her white iris in the Ft. Worth All City Show. She loved her TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) clubs where she was crowned queen for her weight loss and where she was voted “Angel” too many times to count for her kind encouragement of others. She also played church softball on her daughter’s team when numbers were short. Her least favorite past-time, although she did it every year in the cold and under very uncomfortable circumstances, was deer hunting – she did it for the sole reason that the love of her life, loved hunting and wanted her to love it with him. What a woman! She faithfully loved Jack until his death May 19, 2008, when she moved to Rowlett to be with her daughter’s family.

Christine was a member of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth for over 40 years and later First Baptist Church Garland for her last 16 years. During days of the Pandemic, Christine was often seen rolling down the halls of her memory care facility with her hands in the air praying for all the residents. The care-takers would often go to her room for prayers and hugs of encouragement. The Director believed that those prayers were the reason that so many stayed safe at their facility during those challenging days. Everyone there was like family to Christine, and she spent many hours sharing the Gospel to anyone that would listen.

She never met a stranger anywhere and always saw the good in everyone she met. One of her favorite beliefs was that prayer continues to effect lives long after we leave this earth. To all who knew her, we can say that she loved each person she ever met and prayed for them often.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Dewey and Beulah Smith, and husband, John Tittle III, 5 great-grandchildren Sam Wilson, Jesse Wilson, Hope Wilson, Micah Wilson, Asher Wilson; granddaughter Monica Edwards, 10 brothers and sisters; and 8 brothers- and sisters-in laws, niece Scarlett Reimer, nephew Matthew Hershon, 3 great-nieces and great-nephews Todd Reimer, Baby Robin Reimer, and Chris Webber.

Christine is survived by: son, John (and Danna) Tittle IV; daughter, Janice (and Bob) Utterback; grandchildren, Vicki (and Zach) Wilson, Debbie Utterback, Becky (and Richard) Reid, Jenny Utterback, Tyrel (and Carli) Greene, Jevin (and Tami) Greene, LJ (and Bethany) McCulloch; great-grandchildren, Tyrell Reid, Jaxon Reid, Eliana Wilson, Gabriela Wilson, Janessa Wilson, Wyatt Greene, Garrett Greene, Levi McCulloch, Aliyah McCulloch, Natalie McCulloch and Marcus McCulloch; younger brother, Raymond (and Norma) Smith; and a host of cherished nieces and nephews and loved ones.