Rosa Lee (Layton) Whitehorn

Rosa Lee (Layton) Whitehorn was born March 13, 1938, in Henderson Texas.

Some people build ships and fly to the moon. Some people build cities. Some people build nations and some people build legacies. Children were Rosa Lee's legacy. Psalm 127:3 says that children are a heritage from God. The good Lord blessed her greatly and she knew that. She loved children and gravitated toward babies. Her greatest joy was having her grandchildren with her every summer. She liked to have one sit on the cabinet while she was cooking, quite often with their feet in the dish water. As the grandchildren got older she would let them help cook or just be in the kitchen with her. She said having all seven of them together in the summer helped them to bond to her and to bond to each other. One of her favorite quotes she got from her mother: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

She was married to the love of her life Bill and would have been married seventy years if he had lived until October of 2023. They married when she was fifteen and he was twenty-one. They had three children together: Billy Eugene, Rosa Ann Smith (husband, Gary W. Smith) and Isaac Andrew Whitehorn (Dottie Whitehorn).

Rosa Lee was proceeded in death by her husband, Bill R. Whitehorn; her father, John L. Layton; and mother, Irene Hobbs Layton. Also, her brothers, Henry Layton, Johnnie Layton, Fred Layton, Ted Layton and Lonnie Layton and sisters Ada Bell Howell, Waneta Billups and Leona Swiney. She has one living brother, Eugene Layton.

Her grandchildren are Gary "Zeb" Smith, Rebekah Ecker, LeElla Whitehorn, Isaac Whitehorn, Shawn Whitehorn, Jonathen Whitehorn and Joseph Whitehorn.

Her greatgrandchildren are John Vaughn, Layton Cardenas, Christopher Smith, Beau Smith, LauraLee Crosby, KayDe Call, Anson Call, Daea Whitehorn, Brayden Whitehorn, Daymon Whitehorn, Ethyn Whitehorn, Trayvn Whitehorn, Natalie Whitehorn, Hadley Whitehorn and Lynzlee Whitehorn.

She has one great-great granddaughter, Jaqlyn Crosby.

She has numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Rosa Lee can be summed up in one word -- Family.

A funeral service celebrating Rosa's remarkable life will be held 10 A.M., Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at Bethel Baptist Church, Buffalo, Texas. Pastor of the church, Rev. Ray Grissett, will officiate the service. Interment will follow in Buffalo Cemetery, where Rosa will be laid to rest next to her beloved, Bill. A time of visitation will be held Monday, November 2, 2026, from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M., at Walters' Buffalo Funeral Home, Buffalo, Texas.

Pallbearers:  Billy Whitehorn, T.J. Ecker, Layton Cardenas, Shawn Whitehorn, Isaac Whitehorn

Final arrangements are under the direction of Walters' Buffalo Funeral Home, Buffalo, Texas -- A Walters Family Funeral Home.