LaVerne Heith

LaVerne Heith, a longtime resident of Tyler, Texas, passed away at 95 years old, on October 9th, 2024. She was the loving wife of the late Cecil B. Heith, with whom she shared many wonderful years of marriage prior to his passing on June 11th, 1997. LaVerne was born in Plaska, Texas and was the youngest of 7 children born to a pioneering Hall County family. She was a product of the depression era and World War II. She lived on the family cotton farm until she went off to college. As a youth, she played baseball as a catcher, an almost unheard-of event in that era. It was a trait passed on to a daughter, son, granddaughter, grandson, and great grandson - most of whom were also catchers! LaVerne started from humble beginnings, but no matter how much success came her way, her deeply rooted humility and unpretentious values truly never changed.

She graduated from Memphis High School with the class of 1946, then went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Texas Tech in 1950. As a lab assistant at Texas Tech, she was assigned to help a returning Army veteran from Korea - Cecil, who in July of 1950 she would marry. LaVerne became the daughter-in-law of the late Ruby Alise Brown and her husband Edwin Watkins Love.

Cecil started working with Amoco Oil as a mechanical engineer upon graduation in 1951, and they lived for short stints in Texas City, Texas and Dobbs Ferry, New York before settling down for 19 years in Yorktown, Virginia. In 1974, LaVerne and Cecil began a series of international oil industry jobs that included Tehran, Iran, Singapore, and Trinidad & Tobago. They eventually retired in Tyler, Texas, in late 1985 and remained active for many years in the Newcomers Club that made them feel so welcome to the community.

They truly made a great team together. They were active members in every community they lived in and worked hard to instill good values and work ethic in their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. At every turn in life, they continued to bring out the best in each other, and those around them. LaVerne was down to earth, gave great advice, and never pretended to be someone she wasn't.

LaVerne was an avid bowler, often traveling to Las Vegas to compete in tournaments. She was a lifelong bridge player, an excellent seamstress, and a superb painter reflecting techniques developed while living overseas. Exceptionally skilled in the textile arts, her personalized cross-stitched Christmas stockings grace the fireplaces of her children's and grandchildren's homes. Her passion for sewing and the arts has been taken up and embraced by three subsequent generations of the family.

LaVerne is survived by her three loving children: Karen Cecile Stewart of Converse, Louisiana, Debra Kay Johnson and her husband Malcolm of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Michael David Heith and his wife Janice of Tyler, Texas; her five grandchildren, Shane, Jamie, Noah, Mallory, and Brayden; six great grandchildren, Arica, Conner, Heith, Kennedy, Matthew, and Zoey; as well as many other dear nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends. She was predeceased by her son-in-law Andy Stewart and grandson Matthew Johnson.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society or the East Texas Food Bank. Both causes were dear to LaVerne's heart.

A visitation for LaVerne will be held Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 2:00 PM at Lloyd James Funeral Home, 1011 East First Street, Tyler, TX 75701. A celebration of life will begin at 3:00 PM in the Lloyd James Funeral Home Chapel and will be livestreamed on Lloyd James Funeral Home's Facebook page. A committal service will occur Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 4:00 PM at Cathedral In The Pines Memorial Garden, 7825 S Broadway Ave, Tyler, TX 75703.