Linnie Virgene Watkins Broumley, 89 of Hico, formerly of Aledo, passed away on Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Glen Rose.
Visitation will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, at the Harvest Hills Funeral Home in Hico. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, 2025, at the Hico Church of Christ with Frank Briscoe officiating. Burial will follow in the Hico Cemetery.
Virgene was born on January 29, 1936, in Fort Worth to proud parents Junius Virgil and Linnie Gilmore (Farmer) Watkins. She was the youngest child in her family and the only child still at home at the time. Her older siblings loved to spoil her when they came home from college, and her parents weren’t much better. She was raised surrounded by love and family.
Virgene grew up in Annetta and Aledo, an inquisitive child who was always getting into trouble because of her insatiable curiosity. Once, at age 3, she was almost bitten by a rattlesnake because she didn’t understand why something so interesting could be so dangerous, only to be saved by the family dog. Later, during World War II, her father saved up ration stamps to get a box of Hershey bars for her to have as treats from time to time, but she found and ate the whole box in one go!
In third grade, Virgene moved from Annetta Schools to Aledo and met the love of her life, Jim Broumley. Theirs was a lifetime of love and family. They graduated from Aledo High School in 1954 and married soon after. The pair would go on to college in New Mexico for a time, taking them to Las Cruces before coming back to Aledo.
The dairy business goes back many generations on both sides of Virgene’s family and when they came home to Aledo, they joined the family dairy, but also started a cow-calf operation and Jim trained cutting horses. But Virgene’s greatest joy was raising a beautiful family on their homeplace. The two of them leave behind a long legacy of love of God, family, people and animals.
Virgene and Jim raised David, Cheryl, Keith and Jody in Aledo, before moving the family and businesses to the Hico area. The Broumley Dairy and the cow-calf operation in Bosque County are still carried on by their sons.
Virgene was a force in the community, whether it was in Aledo or Hico, she was deeply involved in the community as well as her Church of Christ family. She was always the first to volunteer to help with a fundraiser or to take food to the sick or to lend a kind word or a hug to someone feeling down. But her true gift was caring for the sick.
Known far and wide for her unwavering kindness and compassion for anyone who needed it, Virgene drove many a sick kid or adult all over the countryside to doctors’ appointments or treatments. Her suburban was constantly on the road to Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco or anywhere else someone may need to go. Virgene cared for numerous sick members of her family and was known among them as the one to go to when you felt bad. She nursed her mother-in-law and aunt through their battles with cancer and took care of her father in his last years. Virgene also took care of her husband Jim during his cancer battle in 2014. She was a blessing to every single person she encountered in her life and her family is truly blessed to have her as an example to follow.
Virgene was particularly fond of her grandchildren. She and Jim had eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren and she was incredibly proud of them all, never missing an opportunity to tell someone about all they’d accomplished. She would not hesitate to drop what she was doing to come get a grandchild or great grand and take them on an adventure. It didn’t matter if they were going to a sports practice or shopping in Stephenville or to the next state over, she was there and ready to go.
Virgene was very proud of her family and family’s history. She instilled in her children and grandchildren an appreciation for family history, tracing her Farmer family back to the founding of White Settlement and more. No matter what part of the state she went to, there was almost always a family story to tell, or four. Now, we can only hope to carry on such a great family legacy ourselves, recalling the stories she so carefully told us.
She was deeply devoted to her Christian faith and her belief in God was at the forefront of everything Virgene did. No matter if it was waking her grandchildren up in the morning after a sleepover at her house or dealing with a difficult person or even an ornery animal, God was the focus and everything else was going to fall in place. She knew at the end of her race, she was headed to heaven to be with God and Jim and her family rests easy in the knowledge that her life with Jesus makes that true. She fought the good fight, she ran her race and is now lifted up on wings like eagles. And while we will miss her, we know we’ll be together again.
Virgene is preceded in death by her parents, Junius Virgil and Linnie Gilmore (Farmer) Watkins, her husband Jim Broumley in 2014, her brother and sister in-law, Scotty and Evlyn Broumley. She was also preceded by her brother, Homer Tally and sisters, Kathryn Watkins and Cora Laurice Tally.
She is survived by her children David (Brenda) Broumley, Cheryl (Johnny) Horton, Keith (Dana) Broumley and Jody (Karen) Broumley; her grandchildren, Jessie Horton, Justin (Lori) Broumley, Chance (Katie) Broumley, Cassie Horton, Sy Broumley, Dusty (Ashley) Broumley, Kolton (Samantha) Broumley, Josey (Logan) Jackson, 14 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to
Fosters Home for Children
1779 N. Graham Street
Stephenville, Texas 76401
Be the first to comment