Lanette V. Fariss

A lifelong Texan and lover of all things German, Lanette was born in Clifton, Texas, but grew up on East Avenue, a section of downtown Austin that is now IH-35. Her father, Hermann Faske, was a watchmaker, jeweler, and engraver who owned a jewelry store behind the old Brackenridge Hospital. Her mother, Gertrude, who made everything from scratch and fostered an indelible bond with her daughter, sewed outfits the girl picked out of fashion magazines. As an adult, Lanette shared many stories of life in Austin and Central Texas in those early days—picnicking and fishing with her family near Mansfield Dam and at Lake Travis, swimming in Deep Eddy, attending St Paul Lutheran school and then Austin High, visiting her great grandparents and great aunts and uncles in Giddings and Mannheim. Lanette loved nothing more as an adult than attending reunions with her extended German/Wend aunts, uncles, and cousins, playfully cutting up and dancing polkas amidst tables loaded with barbeque, homemade noodles, and German coffee cake.

One time, while visiting a great aunt and uncle in Giddings, Lanette caught the eye of the star pitcher at the league's baseball game. Max Fariss, by then an engineering student at the University of Texas, was swept off his feet by the dark-haired beauty, and they married shortly following their respective graduations—she from Austin High and he from UT. The first five years of their marriage were full of adventure and multiple moves. Max's budding engineering career and the air force reserves led them through Texas, New Mexico, southern Illinois, and finally, Oklahoma, where their daughter Stephanie was born. Hermann's heart attack and Stephanie's birth led Lanette and Max back to Texas, settling in Austin to be closer to Lanette's family. They welcomed their son Scott in 1962. Max also began buying land in the Giddings area and started a cattle ranch he managed on weekends. For Lanette, this was a dream come true, as she idealized life in the country and, together with Gertrude, enjoyed picking dewberries to make jelly and fishing for bass and catfish in the property's well-stocked tanks.

Before having children, Lanette experienced success as an administrative secretary, but she never worked after becoming a mother. The phrase "stay-at-home-mom" didn't exist then, as it was usual for women in the '50s to stay home with children while their husbands worked. For Lanette, nothing that transpired during the '60s, '70s, and '80s changed that, and she remained committed to staying at home and participating in the altar guild at church for much of her adult life. In the '90s, after Max retired, they began to travel throughout the US and made a trip to Germany to see the Oberammergau Passion Play. Lanette was an excellent cook and home decorator, enjoyed collecting and refurbishing antiques, was gifted at creating container gardens and flowering beds, appreciated watching birds from her kitchen window (especially hummingbirds and Purple Martins) and took delight in a variety of pets–– dogs, donkeys, and farm cats.

Lanette was predeceased by Max, her husband of 66 years, who passed away in 2019, as well as by her father, mother, and brother Milford Faske. Lanette is survived by her daughter Stephanie Fariss (Paul Pendler) of Chicago, Illinois, and her son Scott Fariss (Marie Wilt) of Giddings, Texas.

A committal service, officiated by Pastor Robert Tiner of Immanuel Lutheran Church, will be held at the Giddings City Cemetery Thursday, February 23, 2023, at 2 pm.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com for the Fariss family.