Funeral services for Emily Mae George were held on Saturday, June 24, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Tulia with Rev. John Gillespie officiating and Rev. Bryce Shelton assisting. Burial followed at Rose Hill Cemetery under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Tulia.
Emily Mae George was born on May 20, 2000. Emily was an unexpected blessing right from the start. She came into this world with a bang…12 minutes after her mother arrived at the hospital …and has been a light and a joy to everyone she met since then! Emily loved to laugh, and her face lit up any room she entered. She could be heard long before she could be seen. Her papa used to say, “She was born with a set of pipes, and we had to find a good use for them.”
So Emily began to sing with her Papa, Jimmy Burson, at the young age of 5. Together, they traveled across all of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Nebraska to perform. Emily joined the Caldwell Kids Music program in Lubbock when she was 10. She was privileged to train under the talented Mickey Vasquez, Terri Caldwell, and Cami Caldwell. Emily performed many times on the stage of the Cactus Theater.
Emily was awarded the 2018 Rising Star Award from the Cowtown Society of Western Swing and earned 2nd place in the State FFA Talent Contest in 2017. She was also privileged to perform on the Bob Wills Stage in Turkey, Texas, during their annual Bob Wills Day Celebration, all before she graduated high school from Tulia ISD in 2018. She later attended South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, where she completed their Commercial Music program, graduating in 2020. After graduation, Emily continued her music career, writing and performing the songs she loved. Her fans grew as she performed in Amarillo, Lubbock, and many other towns across the Panhandle and the state of Texas. Emily made friends wherever she went and truly loved all the friends she met and performed with.
But beyond all the music and her love of performing, Emily was devoted to her family and the faith they share. When she wasn’t performing, Emily loved spending time with her parents, her siblings, and their children, and her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It wasn’t unusual for Emily to play a show on Saturday night and still make it to church with the family Sunday morning, and long happy lunches with the family after! Emily loved being part of her big family. She was her Daddy’s girl and loved spending time with him. Emily was her mother’s best sidekick, always up for a road trip or a special day together. She loved Mimi’s delicious cooking, watching movies with Grammie and eating her chocolate chip cookies, Kenzie’s sweet laugh and Keeley’s sassy spirit. She loved spending time with and listening to her Aunt Treva’s stories about everyone in Tulia. She was an expert-level auntie, spoiling all her nieces and nephews! And she treasured every chance she had just to hang with all her beautiful cousins laughing, talking, joking, and planning for their next adventures!
Emily left this earthly life on June 18, 2023, and entered the gates of Heaven to be with our Heavenly Father. She is survived by her parents, Dusty and Kim George of Tulia; her sister, Whitney Cruz and husband Bill of Tulia; her brothers, Cayson George and wife Lindsey of Quitaque and Laith LeMaster and wife, Katie, of Lubbock; her nieces and nephews, Luke Cruz, Lyla Cruz, Ember George, Olan George, Canton George and Baby Kollins LeMaster, coming in December; her paternal grandparents, Carol and Si Bradley of Canyon; her maternal grandparents, Jimmy and Rhenda Burson of Silverton; her aunts and uncles, Treva Murrell, Trey George and wife, Debbie, Cliff George and wife, Melissa, Colton George and wife, Cindy, Keeley Cox and husband, Kraig, and Kenzie Whittington and husband, Cody; her cousins, Kortney, Kallie and Kooper Cox, Cherub Miller and husband, Brady, and their son Callahan, Jayton and Analiese Whittington, Arianna George, Cody, Ashley, Colton and Lucas George, and Chaylea Cooper and Delina McBeth, along with hermany,manyfriendsand extended family.
Emily was preceded in death by her paternal grandfather, A.C. George.
Memorialsmaybemade out to the (WSMSS) Western Swing Music Society of the Southwest Youth Scholarship Program, P.O. Box 916, Jacksboro, Texas, 76458.
Online condolences can be made at www.kornerstonefunerals. com