Elizabeth Lasswell

Mabel Elizabeth Snyder Lasswell was born on April 13, 1915, in Glover Gap, WV, and left this world in Houston on February 4, 2011. She was a great mom, a devoted wife, a successful career woman, and an exemplary role model in every way.

The youngest child of C. J. and Ella Noon Snyder, she was raised by her beloved father and her sister Christine Freeland after her mother's early death. After graduation from business school, she worked as a secretary and in 1943 married Jack Lasswell (1920-1986). His engineering career at Brown & Root led them to Houston, their home base between wonderful adventures in Montreal, Rome, Raleigh, and Richmond. In 1975 she proudly graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University and retired as director of admissions at the University of Houston-Downtown. She was known for her sweet disposition, her passion for education, and her delight in good books and travel. From childhood she was a faithful member of the Methodist church and more recently of First Presbyterian.

She survived her parents, her sister, her brothers Dean and Clem, and her former son-in-law Charles B. Henderson. Mourning but also immensely grateful are daughters Karen Henderson and Lynda Crist, granddaughter Monica Henderson, son-in-law W. B. Crist, five step-grandchildren, nephew Ernest Freeland, nieces Virginia Glover, Phyllis Basham, and Sharon Church, daughter of the heart Antoinette Boecker, and many friends, especially Harry and the late Helen Hutchens, dear as brother and sister to both Beth and Jack.

Her family thanks Dr. John A. Burpeau and the staffs of the The Hampton at Tanglewood, Lovett Place, and Houston Hospice for their loving care.

Memorial service: Heights Funeral Home, 1317 Heights Blvd., Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 2:00 PM. No flowers, please. Her favorite charities were the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the Friends of Fondren Library, Rice University (PO Box 1892, Houston 77251).

In Beth's memory, please share a smile, encourage a young person, be a good friend.

Arrangements under the direction of Heights Funeral Home, 1317 Heights Boulevard, Houston, Texas.