Tyson “Ty” Edwin Garrison

Tyson “Ty” Edwin Garrison, age 76, of Carrollton, Texas passed away on February 25, 2023. His love of serving others, his love of travel, and his love of laughter were some of the defining themes of his life.

Ty was born June 4, 1946 in Elizabethon, Tennessee to Lucien Edwin Garrison and Florence Garrison Tucker.  His parents’ employment in the space industry took the family to Florida for most of his childhood, where he thrived in little league baseball, scouting, and track-and-field prior to attending Brevard Junior College and graduating from Florida State University.

Pursuing a life of service, he moved to Texas and earned a Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  After serving churches in Texas and New Mexico, he was called to Wallace Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he most enjoyed ministering to youth and senior adult church members through sports and recreation, vacation Bible school, and mission trips.

His fondness for youth sports and senior adult programming continued as he later worked for the City of Farmers Branch Recreation Department, doing events and operations for recreation and senior centers. Those roles were a perfect segue for him to become the activities director for Lakeview Senior Living prior to his retirement.

Away from work, he was always drawn to sports and recreation. He watched every college football game he could find. He played and umpired softball leagues. He coached youth baseball. He went through a NASCAR phase, and was able to drive a real NASCAR car several times. He attended his daughters’ and granddaughters’ various games, competitions, and recitals. And he became a frequent golfer and course marshal, collecting official golf balls from each course he visited.

Throughout his life, he loved discovering new places, new people, and new things. He traveled around the world with his parents as a teenager and found even more places to explore on trips and cruises with his wife, Jean. He especially loved Florence, Italy and most recently traveled to the Greek Isles and Turkey. He loved experiencing other cultures and would bring home ornaments from his travels to adorn the family Christmas tree.

Ty’s countenance was joyful, and he could make anyone smile with his mischievous sense of humor. He encouraged others to laugh often and wanted everyone to enjoy life as much as he did. He will be remembered for his expressive and always-twinkling eyes.

He is survived by all of “his girls:” his wife, Jean; his daughters Amy (Brad) McCleary, Lindsay (Jude) Hickland, and Jennifer (Tate) Mueller; and his granddaughters Claire McCleary, Camille McCleary, Georgie Hickland, Delta May Hickland, Kit Hickland, and Katherine Mueller.

A celebration of life will be held at 1:00 pm on Wednesday March 1, 2023 at FBC at the Fields, 1401 Carrollton Parkway, Carrollton, Texas 75010 with Rev. Brent Taylor officiating. Visitation will immediately follow the service.