Tonya Diann McBryde, “Diann”, went to be with our Lord on Wednesday, Sept. 1, at the age of 57. Diann was born in Odessa on Oct. 26, 1963 to Joe and Brenda Alvarez. Her family moved to Liberal, Kan. where she attended grade school through high school and met her husband of 39 years, Mark McBryde.

During those years, Diann embraced every community where she and her family made their home by serving and helping others. While starting their family, she earned her Registered Nursing degree from Seward County Community College. She worked at the local hospital and later served as a school nurse, closely watching over all the kids, just as she did for her own children, Jessica and Preston.

Moving to Houston, and then to Montgomery, Diann was an active parent in school and sport activities, always cheering at football games and volunteering at school dances. Her home was frequently the social center of the neighborhood, welcoming anyone at any time for an afternoon hangout or movie night. When she lived in Jacksboro, she joined the Concerned Citizens of Jacksboro knowing that the strength of rural communities lies in its people.

She and Jessica started their own Prom Wishes ministry to give teens the opportunity to attend their high school prom and enjoy the simple experiences of being a teenager. She also became heavily involved in the Friends of the Jacksboro Animal Shelter and Barks of Love Dog Rescue extending her caring nature to dogs needing rescue and placement in good homes.

Quite often, that home was hers because her philosophy was ‘there’s always room for one more’ which she applied to both people and dogs. Diann’s greatest source of joy in life was her family – watching her kids grow up, graduate high school and college, get married, and have grandkids; teaching her kids and grandkids to rock out in the car to AC/DC, spending time on the lake; cooking and baking with her grandkids, and enjoying every day life with her family.

Diann is preceded in death by her grandmother, Marie Bishop; her father, Joe Alvarez; and her father-in-law, Mark McBryde Sr.

She is survived by her spouse, Mark McBryde; her daughter, Jessica Miller; and granddaughters, Kaydence and Kiley; her son, Preston, and fiancé Kristen Ditta; grandson Hunter; and step-grandson, Weston; her mother and stepfather, Brenda and Jimmy Gordon; mother and stepfather-in-law, Dixie and Dwayne Gaede; sister and brother-in-law, Kristie and Sean McKenney, and their children; brother and sister-in-law, Joey and Sarah Alvarez, and their children and grandchildren; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, other close family and friends.