Bayne Rex Truett

Bayne Rex Truett, of Kosse, passed away at Skilled Care of Mexia Monday, February 14, 2022, at age 88.

Visitation will be held Thursday, Feb. 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, in the chapel, with Reverend Steve Nance officiating. Burial will follow in Ebenezer Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Brian Truett, Greg Truett, Brandon Truett, Lynn Grote, Steve Grote and Cody Truett. Honorary pallbearers will be Larry Truett, Larry Grote, Justin Campbell, Bradley Truett, and Colson, Corbin and Tyler Truett.

Bayne was born July 10, 1933, to Levi and Vivian Truett at Heads Prairie. He started school at Harmony (which was located just behind his house) and finished at Kosse, where he had played football as a Kosse Greyhound.

Bayne was united in marriage with his childhood sweetheart, Peggy Springfield. They were both head of their class and so had skipped a grade and graduated when they were both 17, and they married soon after they graduated.

Bayne was a member of the First Baptist Church at Ebenezer as long as it was still open for services, and his wife and parents are buried in Ebenezer Cemetery. Bayne lived seven miles east of Kosse almost his entire life. He raised cattle and was a peanut farmer. He raised 500 acres of Spanish peanuts for many years. At one time peanuts were a big crop around Kosse, and he harvested with a bag combine and brought bags to the depot at the Groesbeck train station to sell as well as shipping peanuts on the train and hauling with two trucks. His sons, Ronnie and Jerry were also put to work by their dad farming peanuts. In addition to his cattle, Bayne also baled hay and did plowing for the public.

Later in life, Bayne and his wife Peggy opened an antique store in the old Kosse Drugstore building, along with a partner, Nell McKinney. They went to many estate sales and garage sales buying the items they stocked, which ranged from mule harnesses to carnival glass. They were open seven days a week. After Peggy passed away when she was 57, Bayne kept the store open for 10-15 more years.

Bayne loved music and though he could not read music he taught himself to play the guitar and harmonica. He and his mother Vivian, who played the piano, and Doyle McKinney and Andy McKinney played at gatherings at the Tabernacle (now the Kosse Community Center). They had many enjoyable hours playing together before the Kosse homecoming parades as well as at the Oletha Jamboree and New Baden Jamboree, and he didn’t let two broken fingers slow down his “picking.” His favorite song was “Milk Cow Blues” and he and Peggy had a favorite song, “Just Between Me and You.”

Bayne was preceded in death by his parents; his wife Peggy Truett; his two brothers, Grady Truett and Hulen Truett; and granddaughter, Tammy Jo Truett Campbell.

He is survived by his two sons and daughters-in-law, Ronnie Carl and Marilyn Truett of Kosse and Jerry Bayne and Dava Truett of Kosse. The three grandchildren and their spouses are: Greg and Morgan Truett, Brian and Veronica Truett, and Brandon and Courtney Truett. There are 10 great grandchildren: Tammy’s son, Justin Campbell; Greg and Morgan’s children Tinley Truett, Taryn Truett, Tyler Truett; Brian and Veronica’s children, Cade Carroll and Jack Carroll and Whitley Truett and Kendall Truett; and Brandon and Courtney’s children, Colson Truett, Corbin Truett, and Blakely Truett; also, a great-great grandchild, Karson Campbell; and nieces and nephews.

Visit www.groesbeckfuneralhome.com to leave messages of condolence on the guestbook.