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Mr. Stecker
Walter F. Stecker Jr., 81, died March 15 after a long illness. Funeral services were held March 18 in the chapel at Robertson Mueller Harper with Rev. Verne Fuqua, associate minister at Arborlawn Methodist Church officiating. Burial was in Laurel Land Memorial Park next to his first wife Vivian.
He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 22, 1924, the son of Walter Freeman and Margaret Ellen Holden Stecker.
He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Medal in April 1945. He obtained a degree from Texas Christian University and went to work for General Dynamics where he remained for 38 years until his retirement in 1989.
Survivors include his wife, Ann F. Stecker of Hamilton; sons, David Stecker and wife Christine of Fort Worth and J. Howard Stecker and wife Josefina of Norwalk, Conn.; grandchildren, Dustin, Brian, Greg, Lindsey and Peter and sister Elizabeth Stecker Schlueter of Austin.
Robertson Mueller Harper
Mrs. Clay
Norma Lee Moore Clay, 96, died at Gatesville March 18, 2006. Funeral services were held March 20 in the Pearl Baptist Church at Pearl with Rev. John Weaver officiating. Burial was in the Bee House Cemetery.
Mrs. Clay was born March 12, 1910 at Gouldbusk, the daughter of Joseph David Moore and Emma Alma Sanders Moore.
She was married to Alva Homer Clay on January 16, 1925 at Gouldbusk. He preceded her in death on April 1, 1989.
She was a devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother. While living in Port Arthur she was an assistant to an orthopedic surgeon for many years.
She was a wonderful cook, loved working in her garden and with her flowers, she was a very talented seamstress and an avid reader. She was a member of the Pearl Baptist Church that she dearly loved and served as an assistance pianist.
Survivors include three daughters, Alma “Fritz” Green of Evant, Norma Euvone Brewer of Blossom and Gay N. Rutherford of Waco; nine grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, one grandson David Rutherford in 2004, four sisters and one brother.
Pallbearers were Robert Rutherford, Ken Alexander, Dalton Prince, Murray Prince, Joseph Loer, Charles Dowdy, and Joe Brewer.
Evant Funeral Chapel
Mr. Goerdel
Edmund Louis Goerdel, 86, died March 16, 2006. Funeral services were March 20 in the Riley Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Peter K. Anderson officiating. Burial was in St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery at Priddy.
Mr. Goerdel was born March 18, 1919 at Aleman, the son of Louie Samuel Goerdel and Julianna Tischler Goerdel.
He was married to Inez Swindle on June 29, 1939 at Eola, Concho County, Texas. The couple lived most of their life in the Indian Gap community where they raised their family.
Mr. Goerdel loved to farm his land with his John Deer equipment; he was a carpenter and rancher as well as a devoted and loving husband, father and grandfather.
Mr. Goerdel was an easy going man and known for his fair dealing with others and respected for his honesty, setting an example for his children to follow. He was baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Aleman and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church at Priddy.
He is preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Lois Collins; three grandchildren; one sister Otillie Meyer; four brothers, Otto, Paul, Olin and Albert Goerdel.
Survivors include his wife of Hamilton; three children, Ronald Leslie Goerdel and his wife Barbara of Thorndale, Brenda Jean Goerdel Lucas and her special friend Charlie of Pottsville and Carol Ann Goerdel Jones and husband Jeff of Lamkin; fourteen grandchildren; twenty-four great grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; a brother, Bruno Goerdel of Athens and numerous nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers were Brent Goerdel, Robert Young, Brandon Jones, Brian Jones, Eldon Gregory and Eddie Collins.
Riley Funeral Home.
Mrs. McDaniel
Janet McDaniel, 62, of Evant died May 31, 2006, peacefully at home with her family.
Funeral services were held June 5 at Riley Funeral Home with Rev. Marvin Andrews officiating. Burial was in Bethel Church Cemetery.
She was a devoted Christian woman that participated in volunteer work in her community. She loved writing music. She was a devoted mother, grandmother ("Granny") and friend to all she met.
She lived at her farm house near Evant and enjoyed her critters and working in her yard. She enjoyed learning about God during Bible study at the Barn Church. She participated in building the Barn Church and loved the fellowship there.
Survivors include her daughters, Debbie McDaniel Hoague of Jonesboro and Anisa Whitehead of Aleman; closest friends Tracie and John Mann; sons-in-laws Johnny Whitehead and Robert Hoague; her sister, Loretta Bottom of Wisconsin; seven grandchildren, Christopher Templeton, Kenneth Jones, Ashley Jones, BreAnna Templeton, Rachel Whitehead, Erin Roach and Michael Mann; four great grandchildren, Dylan Jones, Kenney Jones Jr., Victoria Jones and Cameron Roach.
She was preceded in death by her parents Leslie and Lucille Williamson and her husband Kenneth McDaniel and her sister Doris Guthrie.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Barn Church at Hamilton.
Riley Funeral Home.
Mrs. Bartee
Maudie Pearl Howard Bartee, 93, of Jonesboro, formerly of Winters, died June 2 at Hamilton General Hospital. Funeral services were held June 5 at the Winters Funeral Home Chapel with Max Pratt officiating. Burial was in Shep Cemetery.
She was born Oct. 19, 1912 in May, the daughter of Pat and Dovie Holland Howard. She moved to Wingate at the age of two. She lived in the Shep, Wingate and Winters area most of her life, moving to Ireland, TX in 2002.
She was married to Sidney J. Bartee on Aug. 14, 1932 in Shep. He preceded her in death on Aug. 14, 1973.
Mrs. Bartee owned her own café in Purmela for more than 25 years and was a member of the Church of Christ.
Survivors include her best friends, Bill and Neta Lesjak of Ireland, two nieces, Patsy Music of Talpa and Jackie Wipley of Winters; a number of great nieces and nephews and a host of friends as well as many special friends at the Hamilton Special Care Facility.
She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents and two brothers, Arthur and Jack Howard.
Winters Funeral Home, Inc.
Mr. Almeida
Cecil Almeida, 45, died June 4, 2006 after a lengthy illness surrounded by his family in his home. Memorial services were held June 5, in the Live Oak Bible Church in Hamilton with LaBarbara Carey officiating.
Mr. Almeida was born August 2, 1960 at Levelland, the son of Cesilio and Amelia Martinez Almeida. He attended school in Levelland, and went on to attend South Plains College obtaining a degree in Petroleum Technology.
He worked in the oil industry in the west Texas oil fields for over twenty years. He was married to Alice Lebario at Levelland in 1977.
Mr. Almeida was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, and son. He loved spending time with his children and grandchildren, hunting, fishing, camping and crafting.
Survivors include his wife of Hamilton; three children, Amy Jo Almeida, Mitzi Marie Jancewicz and Jered Martin Almeida all of Hamilton and a son at heart Thomas Mendez of Midlothian; two grandchildren, Landon Mendez and Kryslynn Mendez; his mother, Amelia Martinez of Levelland; grandparents Martin and Mercedes Martinez; six sisters, Lorraine Castellano of Amarillo, Barbara Gomez of Roswell, NH, Leslie Garcia of Amarillo, Cynthia Cortez of Levelland, Yvonne Dominguez of Florissant, MS, and Carmen Nevarez of Amarillo; two brothers, Ruben Hinojosa and Jamie Martinez, both of Waco and two brothers at heart, Roy and Duvan Martinez of Lubbock and honorary aunt and uncle Odelia and Abednego Mendoza of Levelland.
Riley Funeral Home.
Mrs. Prinz
Katharyne Vere Cunningham Prinz, 84, of Fort Worth, died Aug. 5 at her residence. Funeral services were held Aug. 9 at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Hico with Joe Betts officiating. Burial was in Fairy Cemetery.
She was born Jan. 31, 1922 in Hamilton County and lived in Fort Worth for 62 years. She was a homemaker and a Methodist.
Survivors include two daughters, Karen Joy Samford and husband Morris of North Richland Hills and Karol Richardson of Fort Worth; two sisters, Nelda Frederick of Venus and Sherry Arrant of Fort Worth and two grandchildren, Emily Karol Samford and Cliff O’Dell Samford.
Rutledge-Jones Funeral Home
Mrs. Ables
Lecie Ina Lee Johnson Knapp Ables, 88, died August 7, 2006. Services were set for 11 a.m. Aug. 10 at Riley Funeral Home in Hamilton. Graveside services will be at Oakwood Cemetery. Rev. Keith Henson, grandson-in-law and pastor of Yukon Church, Yukon, Oklahoma and Rev. Keith Felton, pastor of First Baptist Church, officiating.
Mrs. Ables was born Jan. 12, 1918 in Gustine, the daughter of Joseph Macklemore Johnson and Kitty Bell Clements.
On March 6, 1934 she was married to Marshall Vernon Knapp at Energy, he preceded her in death on Jan. 15, 1971. For a number of years they made their home in the Olin Community of Hamilton County where they were engaged in farming, the dairy business and raising poultry. She also worked as a seamstress and a nurse’s aide. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
On June 4, 1977 she was married to Murrell Millard Ables. He preceded her in death on Feb. 24, 1992.
She was a member of the Littleville Baptist Church in Hamilton that she so dearly loved.
Survivors include four children and three stepchildren: Kenneth Vernon Knapp of Whitney, Joe Thomas Knapp and his wife Bobbie of Cleburne, Sandra Kay Knapp-Haile of Archer, Fla., Verna Leana Land and her husband Chester of Brownwood, Nelson Ables of Arlington, Melvin Ables and his wife Margie of Burleson and Roy Ables and his wife Pat of Lake Travis; 12 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be Beau Williams, Justin Knapp, Larry Knapp, Ronald McCullough, Loyd Gibbons, Roy Ables and Melvin Ables.
The family has designated the East Asian Studies, Micah Knapp Scholarship Fund, Dallas Baptist University, 3000 Mountain Creek Pky., Dallas, TX 75211 for memorials.
Riley Funeral Home
Mrs. Weatherby
Greta Angeline Little Weatherby was born March 5, 1911 to Annie Trent and John C. Little, in Hamilton and completed her earthly life on Dec. 3, 2006, in Austin. The Little family owned Dry Goods stores in Hamilton and Goldthwaite.
The family returned to Goldthwaite soon after her birth. One of the highlights of her life during her years in Goldthwaite was the honor of representing her local area of Goldthwaite and meeting Col. Charles Lindberg at a celebration in Abilene after his nonstop Atlantic flight. She then attended Southwestern University in Georgetown and the University of Texas at Austin where she pledged Zeta Tau Alpha. She was blessed to live long enough to receive her 75th Anniversary pendant this past spring.
After leaving the University of Texas, she taught school in Brady and Goldthwaite before marrying Clyde L. Weatherby of Goldthwaite on December 25, 1935. The following quotation is from a newspaper clipping found last year in an old family scrapbook. It was written in the Personalities column of the Friday, August 19, 1949, Hamilton Herald-News of Hamilton. The writer was Frankie Golightly, who was one of Greta’s close friends, her neighbor, and as the wife of the Chevrolet dealer, was the Weatherby’s closest business competitor.
“Greta recalls that she can’t remember the time when she didn’t love Clyde Weatherby. Even when they were tow-heads in the primary grades she had her eyes on Clyde, and claims she didn’t take them off during the grades through high school and even during their college years.”
Clyde bought the Ford Motor Company dealership in Hamilton, and they returned to her birthplace to live for the next twenty-four years. During that time, they had two daughters, (Caralan) Ann and (Greta) Nan; and established an Army Surplus store in the same location as her family’s dry goods store; a daytime AM radio station with the call letters KCLW, which is still in operation; a stamp redemption center; and other small businesses, and opened the first Central Texas UHF television station (KANG).
After the sale of the dealership and radio station in the late 1950’s, the opportunity came to return to Austin in 1959. They both became licensed Real Estate Brokers starting Clyde Weatherby Real Estate Company. Greta was always active in all their business endeavors. She was a member of the University United Methodist Church.
Greta was predeceased by her parents; her daughter Nan; her husband Clyde; and her brother Raymond Little. She is survived by her daughter Ann deGraffenried and husband Brian of Austin; granddaughter Julie Grimes Early and husband Mike and sons David and Tim of Goldthwaite; step-granddaughter Susan deGraffenried and her children Brian and Casey Sumner of Austin; step-grandson Leslie deGraffenried and wife Katie and children Tess and Drew of Rome, Italy; step-grandson Ray Grimes of Tolar; and sister-in-law Billie Weatherby Ledbetter of Goldthwaite, her son Jamie Ledbetter and wife Pam of San Angelo and Goldthwaite, and their son Tab Ledbetter of McGregor.
A visitation will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home in Austin.
Thursday, Dec. 7, the body will lie-in-state at Stacy-Wilkins Funeral Home in Goldthwaite. Graveside services will be held at 2:00 p.m., with Dr. Jack Riley of Belton officiating, at the Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to your favorite charity.
Ancie Caruthers Chesbrough
Ancie Caruthers Chesbrough died May 27 at Forest Ridge Nursing Home in Hamilton.
She was born Feb. 9, 1931 in El Campo and was a long-time resident of Los Altos, Calif and the San Francisco Bay area.
After a full career working in the early pioneering days of silicon wafer manufacturing she discovered that her true passion was art, especially oil painting. She was able to create, show, sell and teach others her gift of transferring what was in her mind’s eye envisioned to canvass, which was usually wildlife. In 1993 she and her husband relocated to Texas to be close to her sister Adelle and enjoy country life.
Her family and friends delighted in her mischievous sense of humor and her big-hearted nature. She dearly loved her family, friends and pets, delighted in a good joke, enjoyed a good meal, good company and a good story and she liked all animals except snakes.
She was preceded in death by her parents and two older sister, Bonnie Hightower and Adelle Allison.
Survivors include Jim, her husband of 41 years; a daughter Audrey Messick of Sunnyvale, Calif and husband Dave and their children, Courtney and Christopher; her son Michael Martin of Jan Jose, Calif and wife Lisa and their children Madison and Jamie and her nieces, Lynn Allison-Calhoun, Judy Luhr, Christine Hightower and Ruth Barber.
In lieu of flowers or cards, the family requests that you “really spoil” your pets.
Josephine Minnie Sophia Feldmann Seider
Josephine Minnie Sophia Feldmann Seider died June 16, 2007. Funeral services were held June 17 at St. John Lutheran Church in Hamilton with Vicar Jace Detrie officiating. Burial followed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Aleman.
She was born on Sept., 27 1910, the daughter of Karl Herman Feldmann and Albertine Charlatta Rosentreter of Aleman in the home of her grandparents. On the very day of her birth Pastor E. F. Moerbe was present to bring to her the new birth of Holy Baptism
She grew up on the family farm with her parents and sister Dora. From long hot days of picking cotton, to the struggles of the Great Depression, the family endured and became stronger.
The Feldmann family attended St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Aleman, where Mrs. Seider attended school through the seventh grade. She was confirmed by Pastor Moerbe on April 13, 1924 and was given the confirmation verse, “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown” Revelation 3:11.
She was married to Alfred Arthur Seider on Nov. 10, 1932. Together they worked to build a life together, farming in the Aleman community. They had three children; Dorothy, Charles, and Lenora (Tootie).
Alfred and Josie raised their children on the farm, teaching them the same values they had learned of hard work and family. After more than forty years of farming they made the decision to purchase part of the R & S Fertilizer Co. in Hamilton, built a home and moved to town.
Living in Hamilton, Mrs. Seider worked for one of the nursing homes where she was trained to be a Medication Aid.
She was well known her angel food wedding cakes and her great love for flowers, particularly African Violets.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a son, Charles Seider who died in a farming accident in 1977; her sister, Dora Kunkel Pflueger; a sons-in-law Emmett Blackman and Weldon Isensee; a brother-in-law, Herman Kunkel; a granddaughter, Jeannette Yelvington; and two infant grandsons.
Survivors include two daughters, Dorothy Schoedel and husband John and Lenora (Tootie) Blackman; a brother-in-law Erich Seider; a daughter-in-law Margie Seider; her grandchildren, Julie Wood and husband Gary Lynn; Sharolyn Lawson and husband Billy; John Isensee and wife Donna; Lisa Durant and husband Lee; Everett Seider and wife Marianne; Kristi Wagner and husband Darrell; Tammy Anderson and husband David; Robert Lanmon and wife Robin; great-grandchildren, Leslie Jansen and husband Ben, Loren Moore and husband Clay, Lindsey Hanson and husband Quin, Landry Lawson and fiancee Casey Yates, Michael Wood and wife Julie, Matthew Wood, Elizabeth Wood, Barrett Lee, Nicholas Yelvington, Rylee Durant, Bryce Durant, Kameron Seider, Kason Seider, Reagan Wagner, Daniel Anderson, Ashley Anderson and Kyle Lanmon and great-great-grandchildren, Cason Wood and Madeleine Jansen.
Pallbearers were David Anderson, Lee Durant, John Isensee, Robert Lanmon, Billy Lawson, Everett Seider, Darrell Wagner and Gary Wood.
Riley Funeral Home
