Milla Raye Huddleston Adams Cargile was born in 1923. Her father, C.T. Huddleston was a deacon in this church, and her mother, Ruby, was a quiet homemaker who loved to take care of her daughters, Doris and Milla Raye.

From an early age, Milla Raye had a special gift, which was her beautiful singing voice. The special quality of her voice enabled her to sing without a microphone, and every word was understood throughout a large auditorium. When she attended Texas Tech, her voice teacher urged her to go to New York for operatic training, however, she met Bill Adams from Illinois, and love intervened. After he finished his army duties during WWII, they got married and attended Baylor University for a year and then they finished their education at Texas Tech. After they graduated from Tech, Bill farmed the Huddleston farm. She and Bill Adams raised their son, Bob, in this church, and while Bob sat on the front row, under their watchful eyes, they both sang in the large church choir which recorded a record that featured both of them with solos. After Bill's sudden death in 1968, Milla Raye picked up the pieces of her shattered life which included taking care of her elderly parents and raising Bob by herself. She rejoiced when he graduated from West Texas University in 1978. He married Cheryl Starrett in 1975 and their children, Lesley and Justin, graduated from CHS and West Texas A&M University. Lesley and her husband Kyle Ingham have two children, Allison and Kahlon, and Justin and Auburn have two children, Slade and Livia. Milla Raye continued to sing specials for church, weddings, funerals, and special programs, such as Lions Club or Harmony Club. Everyone looked forward to Christmas when she would sing "O Holy Night" and Easter when she would sing "The Holy City." Many people would ask her ahead of time to sing at their funeral, and she once said, "Ok, when is it?"

A wonderful thing happened in 1980, when she and Joe Cargile got married. They sang duets together, and they sang for countless funerals together. There was never a dull moment with Joe Cargile. He loved telling jokes, singing silly songs, and he loved playing with small children, whether they were his grandkids, great grandkids, or kids at the bank, or kids at church. Everybody loved Joe Cargile, and he is greatly missed. After Joe died in December, of 2012, Milla Raye had continued to again "pick up the pieces" of her life. She considered herself a blessed woman to have had two wonderful husbands who were loved by everyone in this community, a wonderful family whom she loved very much, and they loved her very much.

Milla Raye passed away on November 25, 2018 at the age of 95. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Crosbyton.

Online condolences can be made at www.adamsfuneral.com