Paula Jo Minter Raynes

Paula Jo Minter Raynes, longtime resident of Terrell, Texas, passed away Friday morning, November 28, 2025, surrounded by family at the home of her daughter Jennifer Rogers in Royse City, Texas. Paula was born in Pickton, Texas to her parents, Paul and Helen Minter, on July 17, 1941. She was the third of eight siblings including her older brothers Pat and Mike, and her younger siblings Price, Bobby, Jack, Patsy and Chuck. After graduating from high school, Paula attended East Texas State University where she developed a love of theater and enjoyed participating in theater activities and plays. She graduated with a degree in speech therapy in 1962, and later returned to ETSU to earn a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education in 1979. Paula married her college sweetheart and the love of her life, Jim Raynes, on November 17, 1963. The two moved to Terrell in the mid '60s where they would start their family and continue to live for the remainder of their lives. Together they had two daughters, Amy and Jennifer, and remained married for 56 years until Jim passed away in 2018. They were longtime members of the First United Methodist Church in Terrell where Paula taught Sunday School for decades. Paula also volunteered around Terrell over her years in the community, including at Terrell State Hospital, various nursing homes, Special Olympics events, and was one of the founding members of the Kaufman County Community Theater. Paula was a public schoolteacher for 39 years, mostly at Terrell ISD, where she taught several generations of fourth graders. Paula was known for her active and creative teaching style that incorporated practical and unique activities including in-class performances and science experiments. Paula was also known to stay late to help tutor students who needed extra help and would often take on and mentor students who were rejected from other classes. Her excellence in her field was recognized when she was named a finalist for HEB's Texas Teacher of the Year in 2009. Paula also loved her fellow teachers, many of whom became lifelong friends who helped her and visited her during her lengthy illness. After her retirement, Paula opened her own private elementary school, Raynes Christian Academy, where she taught her final students before full retirement in the 2010s. During her later years, Paula was a beloved grandmother to the children of her daughters, Andrew, Brett, Brandon, and Lauren, all of whom she helped raise alongside her husband Jim. Even in their teenage years, the children would visit Paula and Jim on a nearly weekly basis where they would spend time bonding, sharing, and growing, their lives immeasurably enriched by the loving, encouraging, and enthusiastic presence of their grandparents. Paula was preceded in death by both of her parents, Paul and Helen Minter, her brothers Pat, Mike, Price, Bobby, and Jack, and her beloved husband Jim. She is survived by her sister Patsy Ramshay, her brother Chuck Minter, her daughters Amy Fox and Jennifer Rogers, her grandchildren Andrew Burnes, Brett Fox, Brandon Scoggins and Lauren Fox, and many other beloved nieces, nephews, family, and friends. A celebration of life for Paula will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 5 at First United Methodist Church in Terrell. A meal for family members provided by the church will follow in the Blain Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, her family is asking that memorial contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Terrell at https://fumcterrell.churchcenter.com/home or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org

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Paula Jo Minter Raynes

July 17, 1941 - December 3, 2025