Elizabeth Bratcher

Maggie Elizabeth Bratcher was born on February 1, 1928 in Pie Town, NM to Seth and Jessie Wyche. On October 29, 2023, Elizabeth went to her Heavenly home to be with her Lord and Savior.

Liz and her three brothers and two sisters grew up on a ranch in Pie Town, NM. The first house she remembers living in was a one room log house which had only beds and her mother's sewing machine. The house faced a beautiful mountain which Liz proudly claimed as "My Mountain". A short distance from the house was the kitchen. In the winter the oldest brother, Jay, would put everyone on a sled and pull them down to the kitchen and then back to their "room". There was no electricity or indoor plumbing so they drew water from the wells they had dug and carried the water to the house. She has shared many memories of her life growing up in this small town in New Mexico. Liz and her siblings traveled many miles as they pretended to go all over the world. She told tales about her brothers putting her in a washtub and setting her afloat in a nearby stream, playing church with each other and many imaginative tales. In 1945 she graduated high school in Quemado, 20 miles from Pie Town.

Liz did not grow up in church but she had a friend whose family were Christians. When Liz spent the night with them, they always read the Bible and prayed before bedtime. This friend and her family were a wonderful witness to Liz through the years. On April 8, 1947, Liz felt the Holy Spirit convicting her and she accepted the Lord that day and was baptized that night. She can remember vividly where she was sitting in the church.

In the summer of 1946, she went to Artesia with her sister-in-law and that is where she met Burnice. It must have been love at first sight because he started writing and visiting her and on the third visit he proposed. They were married on March 2, 1947 and moved to Artesia where they spent most of their 73 years together.

Liz touched many lives in her 95 years. Her beautiful smile and laughter will always be remembered by all who knew her. In her earlier years she enjoyed teaching Sunday School to 4- and 5-year-olds. She loved Jesus and during her lifetime shared the gospel with many people, especially her family. Liz worked several jobs in her years including working at Moores Bakery, Abo Drug, Arrow Gas Company and Abo Baptist Church. The job she loved the most was sewing for her family and friends in her community. Sewing became an artform as she sewed for the public as well as for her children. What a blessing she was to those who received this labor of love. One Christmas she made a quilt for every member of the family and when a new baby was born, they also received a quilt. She enjoyed casting and painting porcelain dolls including making the fabric bodies and dressing them with beautiful clothing that she had hand made. She made over 100 dolls in her lifetime and cherished every one of them.

Elizabeth is preceded in death by her parents Seth and Jessie Wyche, her husband Burnice Bratcher, her daughter Carolyn Chumbley, her brothers Jay "JB" Wyche, David Wyche, and Seth Hal "Happy" Wyche, her sisters Ruth Williams and Sue Garfield.

She is survived by daughter Jeani Haggard of Shawnee, OK, son Mike Bratcher and wife Linda of Artesia, NM, daughter Avonna Davis and husband Brad of Denton, TX, 11 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and 9 great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Surely she rang the doorbell of Heaven to let Pa know she made it home.

Viewing at Terpening and Son Mortuary on October 27 from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon and funeral services at First Baptist Church on October 27 at 2:00 pm with graveside services following at Twin Oaks Memorial Park. Pallbearers are John Chumbley, Lynn Chumbley, Robert Chumbley, Nick Haggard, Ben Haggard and Zach Mathews.