Geneva Olive Cornett

Geneva Cornett, age 96 of Gatesville, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, October 30, 2025 at Trinity Baptist Church with Pastor Sam Crosby officiating. Interment will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, November 1, 2025 at Gaines County Cemetery in Seagraves, Texas. The family will receive visitors one hour prior to services at Trinity Baptist Church.

Geneva Olive Cornett was born December 28, 1928 to the late G.W. (Lonnie) and Sarah Rissa Gordy Belknap on the LX Ranch between Ft. Sumner and Roswell, New Mexico. Her family moved to Seagraves, Texas in 1935, where they lived on farms, which she enjoyed. She learned to drive a tractor at a young age; a skill her future farmer husband John greatly appreciated. She graduated from Seagraves High School at the age of 16 and attended West Texas State College, before returning home to begin her career as a bookkeeper. She continued in that profession for nearly five decades, working for several companies wherever she and John made their home.

On September 1, 1950, Geneva married John Cornett in Portales, New Mexico. This year, they celebrated 75 years of marriage. Together, they raised five children and lived in Seagraves, Odessa, Fort Stockton, and Harlingen before settling in Beeville in 1960. There, they became active members of First Baptist Church, where Geneva taught Sunday School and served as church librarian. She and John also enjoyed square dancing and, after retirement, dedicated themselves to volunteering with the Texas Baptist Men church builders.

In 2002 they moved to Gatesville and joined Trinity Baptist Church, where Geneva faithfully visited homebound members. She and John continued to volunteer with TBM church builders until 2019. Geneva also gave her time to the Gatesville Care Center and Central Texas Hospitality House.

She enjoyed attending genealogy meetings, tending to her plants and watching birds, especially hummingbirds. She was an excellent seamstress and learned how to make, repair and fix just about anything. Geneva never met a stranger. She had a remarkable memory for details and could always remember information shared with her about people and their families.

Geneva’s faith was a central factor in her life. She read her Bible, along with devotionals and Christian magazines, and even in her last days, she continued to connect with her care givers and friends, discussing their mutual faith. Geneva and her husband John, were blessed to remain together in their home until her last two months.

Geneva was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Teresa White and husband, David; siblings, George Munroe Belknap, Marion Belknap, and Wanda Belknap Black.

She is survived by her husband of 75 years, John Cornett; children, Edith King and husband, Robert, Nancy Morgan and husband, Gary, John M. Cornett and wife, Terri, and Belen Thorne and husband, Brad; 15 grandchildren; and 24 great grandchildren.

Geneva was a kind and loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many who will remember her fondly.

Memorials in Geneva's name may be made to Trinity Baptist Church Building Fund, 1506 W. Main Street, Gatesville, Texas 76528, or to Texans on a Mission, 5351 Catron Drive, Dallas, Texas 75227, or online at www.texansonmission.org/donate.