A Joint Project of the Sam Rayburn House Historic Site and the Fannin County Historical Commission
Celebrating America 250 with Spotlights of Fannin County Citizens Who Participated In or Witnessed Historical Events
Fannin County, Texas -- The son of Alice Edwards and James Denton, Joseph “Joe” Cravens Denton, Sr., was born on March 10, 1895, in Telephone, TX. After attending Bonham High School in Bonham, TX, Joe served in WWI.
Joe worked at a grocery store in 1921 when Philip Wise asked Joe to work for him at Wise Funeral Home. In 1923, Joe attended mortuary school to receive his license and worked his way up at the funeral home from employee to owner.
He married Grace Broyles on November 7, 1923, and they had one son. During WWII, Joe was the service officer for the Rufus K. Anderson Post No. 283 of the American Legion.
Joe was friends with Sam Rayburn and conducted Rayburn’s funeral on November 18, 1961. The only issue with the funeral was from the fact that seating for the funeral followed State Department protocol, where government officials received priority seating while others could not fit into the First Baptist Church where the funeral took place.
Joe was the person called for the deaths of the Rayburn family members, from Rayburn’s mother Martha in 1927 to his siblings and their spouses into the 1970s.
Joe was part of several organizations over his lifetime including the First United Methodist Church, First National Bank, Bonham Rotary Club, the Bonham Independent School District Board of Trustees, Bonham Chamber of Commerce, Bonham Masonic Lodge, the Texas State Board of Morticians, and the National Selected Morticians.
Serving over 50 years as a mortician, he witnessed several changes to the industry, from horse-drawn hearses to the changing lengths of funeral services to the introduction and acceptance of embalming the deceased. He maintained the home and farm where he was born, and liked to hunt and fish.
“Mr. Joe lived a professional closeness to hundreds of families that had been touched by death. He has put to rest the lowly and the great, the stranger and the intimate friends while treating one and all alike.” -- Fannin County Folks & Facts
Joe Denton, Sr., passed away at the Fannin County Hospital on April 26, 1976. He is buried at Willow Wild Cemetery, Plot C 132 3SE.
This information was obtained from the Fannin Co., Texas GenWeb ( txfannin.org ) and other online sources including the Portal to Texas History. The Sam Rayburn House SHS presented this information at their 2025 Cemetery Walking Tour.
For a copy of the 2025 Cemetery Walking Tour guide or for other information, contact the Sam Rayburn House at (903) 583-5558 or email
Margo.McCutcheon@thc.texas.gov.
