It is time to say good-bye to Christine McSwain Mahan - our family’s strongest link, our window to the past, the one who kept us all connected by keeping each of us in her heart.

Family was everything in her life. She personally knew every single person in every branch. Her house was open to anyone needing a place to stay for a day or week or months. Distant cousins, in-laws, maybe even a few outlaws - they were all welcomed.

She kept up with every sibling, every nephew and niece, every cousin and even the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of all. Family was the ties that bind.

Christine passed away September 13 after suffering a fall on September 11. Visitation will be on Sunday, September 20, 2026, from Noon to 2 p.m. at Watson and Sons Funeral Home in Center. Funeral service will follow at 2 p.m., under the direction of her son, the Rev. Eddie Lee Mahan, and her grandson, Zach Mahan.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons and great-grandsons - Jesse Mahan, Will Mahan, Calder Mahan, Ryder Mahan, Jason Stinger, and JJ Stinger.

She will be laid to rest in the family plot at Old Salem Cemetery.

Christine McSwain Mahan was born July 26, 1928, the daughter of Lee and Ethel Warr McSwain. She grew up in the Old Salem Community, later graduating from high school in Nacogdoches in 1945.

She married Edward W. Mahan in 1946 and they were the parents of three boys - Eddie Lee, Sammy Joe, and Jerry Don.

After relocating to the Texas coast, she earned her Associate Degree and became a successful real estate broker in Deer Park as owner of Mahan Realty. She and Eddie retired in 1990, building their dream home log cabin on Hwy 96 South in Center.

Genealogy was her passion and she spent decades researching and writing the history of the Warr, Fountain and McSwain families in books that are cherished today. Her biggest regret was that she could never successfully trace the Mahan name. She discovered a great-grandmother in an unmarked grave at Old Salem and purchased a marker for her. Just a few years ago she traced the McSwains back to the Mayflower. She attended every Homecoming at Old Salem and Sardis and encouraged all of her family to do the same. She was instrumental in raising funds for the historical marker the McSwains erected at Salem.

For more than 20 years, she volunteered at the Shelby County Museum, helping countless others with their family research and proudly setting up exhibits.

Art was a passion from the time she was a teenager and her home was filled with her paintings. She was generous with her work and today her award-winning artwork is cherished in homes across Texas.

Christianity was always important to her. She was a charter member of Central Baptist Church in the 1950s and a longtime member of First Baptist Church in Center, where she was a member of the Martha Sunday School class.

She and Eddie celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 17, 1996, surrounded by family and friends. Another special day was in July 2018 when her family hosted her 90th birthday celebration and they have hosted birthday parties every year since, the last one on July 25.

At the age of 98, she was blessed to be still living in her home, physically and mentally taking care of herself. But, as in the Longfellow poem, Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary this year was hard as she lost two sons, Jerry on January 17, 2026 and Sammy on September 10, 2026.

She was also preceded in death by her parents, by her husband Eddie Mahan, her granddaughter Mandy Mahan Evans, her brother Earl McSwain, her sisters Luna Waller, Janie Johnson and Maxine Jernigan and daughter-in-law Sandy Mahan.

She is survived by her son Eddie Lee Mahan and wife Tish, daughters-in-law Pam Mahan and Sara Mahan, brother Bobby McSwain (Connie), grandchildren Jesse Mahan (Jenny), Matthew Mahan, Christie Stringer (Jason), Zack Mahan (Robyn), and Willie Mahan (Candace); great-grandchildren Madison, Arden, Calder, Noah, Ty, Olivia, Eve, Ryder, Mia, Sophia, Abbi, J.J., Austyn, Jaylon, Rihana, Ava, Savannah, Macayla and Raelynn, numerous nieces and nephews and cousins, and many friends.

All our lives were richer from having known her.

In lieu of flowers, Christine had requested donations to a place she cherished - the Shelby County Historical Museum.