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Note: Jewel was a very lovely lady in every way. She was deeply loved by the children she so very capably raised. Jewel had suffered several mini-strokes (called TIAs or something like that) over the years before she died. On October 16 and 17 Lynann and I had gone to Houston on a business trip and stayed with Bill (John Warren) and Jewel the night of the 16th going back to Grapevine on the 17th. On the 18th Barbara Arnold was taking Jewel to her son Scott's house when she noticed that Jewel was showing some of the signs of a mini-stroke. Barbara called the doctor and Jewel was admitted to the hospital on the 18th but was home the 19th. Later that week, she was back in the hospital (Saint Luke's in Houston) and they were planning on running some tests on Monday the 26th. By this time Jewel's children were in town also and at about 6:30 the morning of the 26th Jewel suffered a massive stroke and by 8:00 was in a coma never to regain consciousness. By Friday the 30th almost all the family was in Houston including Barbara and Bob Arnold, Brenda and Kim Gaynor, their children, Bill and Carol Neilson and children, Gayle Lynn Rayborn Reynolds and Brenda Jeanine Rayborn Anderson. Lynann Rayborn had flown in that morning with our daughter, Amber. They had brought Jewel back to her home and by Friday had a crisis care nurse there constantly. Saturday evening just after 8:00 PM Jewel's breathing slowed and we knew the end was near. By 8:15 everyone was around her bed. A church staff member and friend of Bill and Carol's from Amarillo was there and read Psalm 23. By then Jewel's pastor had arrived and he led us in prayer. It was during the prayer - at 8:25 PM - that Jewel simply stopped breathing. For some time we stood around her bed. We sang "Because He Lives" and "Amazing Grace" and talked about the wonderful person she had been and the great life she had lived. The funeral was at her church (West Oaks Baptist Church) in Houston at 10 AM on Monday, November 2nd. It was truly a celebration of her life. There was no doubt that Jewel was that day in Heaven with her mother, daddy and sister Marjorie. Jewel loved the Lord and is with Him today. On Tuesday, November 3rd Jewel Juanita Rayborn Neilson was buried in Memorial Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma beside her father and mother. Her's was truly a life well-lived. =Bill Rayborn= Grapevine, Texas November 20, 1998
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