Obituary of Ola Mae Finley

Funeral service will be held at the Elizabeth Cramer Chapel on the west side of Arborlawn United Methodist Church on Tuesday, Apr. 2, 2019 at Noon with Pastor Bill Ramsey of The Met Church officiating. A Memorial Service for her son, Dennis Wayne Finley, who passed away 17 days after Ola will be held jointly.  Burial will follow at Laurel Land Memorial Park, 7100 Crowley Rd., Fort Worth, Texas. Visitation will be held on Mon., Apr. 1, 2019 from 6 - 8 p.m. at Martin Thompson and Son Funeral Home. Martin Thompson and Son will be handling the funeral arrangements.

Ola Mae, "Mazie" was born on Nov.14, 1930 in Azle, Texas, to Harvey Clifton Thomas and Minnie Mae Absher Thomas. She married John G. "Johnny" Finley on Jan. 10, 1948 in Grapevine, Texas and they became proprietors of Finley's Cleaners and Washaterias in the late 1950s. To say Ola loved antiques was an understatement. When their home reached its max capacity in 1974, Johnny gave her an ultimatum: either stop buying antiques or rotate one piece out for every new piece brought in. Her answer was to buy a house on Hemphill Street and open her first antique business: Hemphill Antiques.  As business changed, she changed with it, moving on in the '80s to create Hemphill Antique Auctions, and in 1996, Cleburne Antique Mall in downtown Cleburne, Texas, which she ran until Alzheimer's took control of her life in 2012. Ola was also a 61-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

Ola is survived by her daughter, Janice Finley Blakely, of Fort Worth; her beloved granddaughters, Rebekah M. Blakely and Sarah G. Blakely, both of Fort Worth; nieces Beverly Atwood (Jimmy), Karen Thomas, Christi Forman, Marjorie White (Michael), and Elaine Martin (David); and nephew Larry Sams. Her son, Dennis W. Finley, survived her by two weeks then tragically passed away after a short battle with cancer.  She is preceded in death by her parents; husband of 50 years, John G. Finley; infant son, Dale Wendell Finley; brothers Earl Thomas (Florence), Horace "Sonny" Thomas (Eula), Roy Gene Thomas (Ruth), and sister Patsy Sams (Edwin). Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 2630 West Fwy #100, Fort Worth, TX 76102. 

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to the past and present staff of James L. West Alzheimer's Center, specifically Joey Berck, Jaime Cobb, Linda Mayfield, Jennifer Miller, and RaShel Smith, for their passionate care.