Opal Daffern Zeleny (Plainview)

Opal Daffern Zeleny, 78, of Plainview passed away on Thursday, February 2, 2017 in Lubbock. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Monday, February 6, 2017 at the First Presbyterian Church with Rev. David Hawkins officiating. Burial will follow in Plainview Memorial Park under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Plainview. A visitation will be held on Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4 P.M. at the funeral home. Opal was born on January 2, 1939 in Plainview to Wilson and Nell Daffern. She grew up and attended schools in Plainview and graduated from Plainview High School in 1957. She attended Baylor before returning home and getting married. She married Dale Zeleny in 1960 in Crosbyton. Opal held several jobs as a bookkeeper in Plainview. She worked for several banks, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and at the Montford Unit for TDCJ. Perhaps the job that was most fulfilling was that as a stay-at-home mother and a farmer’s wife. You might find Opal in the kitchen canning vegetables from the family garden, or she might have been plowing on the John Deere. While Opal was raised in the First Baptist Church, she later became a member of First Presbyterian Church. She was an artist and enjoyed oil and acrylic painting. She was also an accomplished author and had two books published: OZ and I Volunteer My Mother. Opal loved animals and considered her dogs her children. She could play the organ and piano skillfully. Opal had a sneaky sense of humor and would throw witty comments into a conversation that would go unnoticed until you saw her smile. She considered flying solo among her greatest accomplishments. Opal was preceded in death by her parents, and a brother Steven "Buz" Daffern. She is survived by her husband, Dale Zeleny of Plainview; three children, Lori Fuller and husband Jim of Lubbock, Dale Zeleny, Jr. and wife Sharon of Streetman, TX, Susan Bailey of Dalhart; one brother, Fred Daffern and wife Ima Dee of Lamesa; four grandchildren, Chase Ryan and wife Ayla of Wolfforth, Tyler Ryan-Parrott and husband Cody Parrott of Pflugerville, Madelyn Bailey of Dalhart, Mitchell Bailey of Dalhart; and three great -grandchildren, Alice Ryan, Nora Ryan, Boston Sizemore. The family suggests memorials to the First Presbyterian Church, 2101 Utica St., Plainview, TX 79072.