Lois Eva Wauson

Most people who knew Lois Zook Wauson well – and even those who only knew her through social media – would call her a force of nature. She was first and foremost a strong, beautiful Texas woman and a faithful Christian. She had an intelligent and inquisitive mind, and her children say she was the smartest woman they ever knew. Lois was an avid reader her whole life and passed that love of reading on to her kids. Throughout her life, she read thousands of books, including almost 100 books in the last year of her life, as well as newspapers and magazines regularly. Due to the stroke she suffered in 2017, she could no longer hold a book, but she didn’t let that stop her. She continued reading through the Kindle app on her cellphone, right up until the end.

Lois Eva Zook Wauson, 90, went to heaven to be with her beloved Eddie on April 23, 2022. She was born March 11, 1932, in Wilson County, Texas, to Lawrence E. and Bertie Lee Zook, the oldest of eight children. She grew up on a farm in the Casper community, graduating from Poth High School in 1949. In 1950, she married the love of her life, Eddie Wauson, and they were married almost 60 years when Eddie passed away in 2009. Together they raised four children: Trent, Julie, Derek and Kristi. The family made their home in San Antonio, Texas, and then moved to Hurst, Texas, in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in 1968, where they resided until 2003. After Eddie was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the couple along with their daughter Julie moved back to San Antonio to be near their large family, including their son Derek and his wife Laura, eventually settling in the small town of Floresville – not far from where both Lois and Eddie were born and raised.

Lois was a loving wife and mother who dedicated her life to her family. She always encouraged her children to follow and explore their gifts and passions, whether it was theater, golf, softball or writing. She was also a grandmother (Mimi/Meems) and great-grandmother (Mimi-Grapes), an athlete, a talented writer, artist and seamstress, a genealogist, a minister and a social butterfly, to name but a few. She played softball, volleyball and tennis for many years. She also coached her youngest daughter Kristi’s softball team, starting in 1973, and was the first woman coach in the Hurst Girls Softball League. Lois was a lifelong sports fan and loved to watch the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks and college football, basketball and baseball.

In the 1980s, Lois and Eddie became born-again Christians after Julie suffered a traumatic brain injury. For many years, they served as lay pastors for First United Methodist Church of Bedford and ministered to many people in their home group on Wednesday nights and around the U.S. and Mexico. Their strong faith influenced their children, extended family and many friends to also draw nearer to God.

In the late 1990s, Lois began writing the column “Rainy Days and Starry Nights” for the Tri-Canyon Echo newspaper in Leakey, Texas, which was owned and operated by her children. In the column, she told stories about her childhood and growing up on a South Texas farm during the Great Depression. In 2003, a collection of her columns was published by Maverick Publishing Company, now Trinity University Press, in the book titled “Rainy Days and Starry Nights: Growing Up in the South Texas Brush Country.” After moving to Floresville, Lois wrote a local history column for the Wilson County News. She also self-published the book “Looking For a Silver Lining” about her Alzheimer’s journey with Eddie and a book about her Zook family genealogy. She never got to finish the book she was writing about strong Texas women, but Kristi promised to finish it for her.

Lois called her years in Floresville “driving in the slow lane,” but she remained very active and busy in spite of health problems that limited her mobility. She spent her days interviewing longtime Wilson County residents and writing their stories for the newspaper and spent hours on the computer researching her family history. She also attended church, visited with her brothers and sisters and even traveled to Bolivia to visit her son Trent. Her daughter Julie was a great companion to her for many years, as they shared their home in Floresville.

In the last years of her life, after her stroke in 2017, Lois (and Julie) moved back to North Texas with the help of her grandchildren Taylor and Bradley, who provided care for her in many different ways along with her granddaughter Stephanie. During the pandemic, Lois lived with her daughter Kristi and her husband Chuck in Southlake, where she was blessed with the most wonderful and loving caregivers, including her granddaughter Jessica. The last month of her life, Lois was cared for by her grandchildren Miranda and Noel in their home in Denton, and they were there to hold her hand and love her when she passed.

Although Lois is no longer on this earth, the legacy of her indomitable spirit lives on in the hundreds of thousands of photos she took over more than 70 years, in her beautiful writing and in the hearts and souls of her family and friends. She is greatly missed by all who knew her.

Lois was preceded in death by her husband Eddie Wauson; son Trent Wauson; granddaughter Lacey Sexton; parents Lawrence and Bertie Lee Zook; brother Lawrence Zook Jr.; sister Elizabeth Zook Brown and brother Bob Zook. She is survived by her children Julie Sexton of Grapevine; Derek and Laura Wauson of Yoakum, and Kristi and Chuck Johnson of Flower Mound; sisters Margaret Wauson (Johnny) and Gerry Wieding; brothers Don Zook and Sam Zook (Rose); grandchildren Miranda and Noel Peña; Stephanie and Trent Shipman; Taylor and Brett Baughfman; Jamie and Justin Alexander; Jodi Moore; Jessica and Gary Tanner; Bradley and Kendal Parker; Reno and Jazlin Wauson; and Sierra and Jonathon Jones; 20 great-grandchildren; many nieces, nephews and cousins; and caregivers Brenda Blanchard, Hannah Harkins, Tiana Stephens and Liz Tilley.

A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 2, at Moore Funeral Home, 1219 N. David Drive, Arlington, TX, 76012.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.moore-funeralhome.com for the WAUSON family.