Ava Pearl Wardell

Ava was born to Ethel & Milton Dooley and lived her early life on a farm near Canyon, TX. Her father passed away when she was 11 at which time her family moved into the city of Canyon. Ava grew up the youngest of four children, sisters Viola and Iris, and brother Carole, all of whom preceded her in death. She earned her Home Economics degree from West Texas State University and went on to teach home economics until she married.

Ava met Joseph William Wardell, Sr. in Bellaire, TX when she was visiting her sister and brother-in-law. Joe was the handsome bachelor, originally from New Orleans, who lived across the street. They courted by writing letters to each other, fell in love and were married on March 14, 1959.

They lived in their Bellaire home their entire married life, where they raised three children: Cheryl Cay Patrick (Dave), Nanci Carol Allen and Joseph William Wardell, Jr. (Terrie). They were blessed with seven grandchildren: Christina (Brian), Jonathan (Ashley), Danielle (Brandon), Tyler, Lauren (Phil), Megan and Will, eleven great grandchildren with two more on the way.

Ava and Joe valued family and raised their children with loving grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and continued to foster that family closeness by sponsoring annual beach trips for their children and their families for decades.

Ava was a Girl Scout leader, PTA Mom, and loved serving families at Ronald McDonald House Houston (RMHH) in Texas Children’s Hospital, where she volunteered for ten years, being honored as Volunteer of the Year in 2007.

Ava’s first and greatest passion was always her family, but she truly loved everyone, so friends, neighbors and neighborhood children were a common sight in their home. She loved baking, and sewing, but her favorite thing was getting down on the floor and playing with her children and grandchildren.

Ava was a remarkable woman. She could patch a roof, reupholster a sofa, bottle feed a homeless kitten, build a 2-story fort in the backyard and still provide a homemade, nutritious meal and dessert by 5:30 pm.

Her second passion was animals in need. From her rescued, childhood pet skunk to the many rescued cats, dogs, birds, turtles, opossums and on and on. Her great love was her Spaniel/Chow mix pup, Tilio. Her children and grandchildren proudly carry on many of her passions.

Ava was best known for her silly sense of humor, something she had right up until her passing. As a child, her older sister named her ‘The Little Wart’, which stayed with her all her life, a nickname she was very proud of. She loved God and Jesus and used to say she prayed by sending up “quick prayers” as she was never idle.

The family would like to thank her loving caregivers. For over seven years, Monica has been a part of the family providing compassionate care and sharing Ava’s sense of humor. Ava’s dedicated and loving caregivers included Aime, Maria, Laura and Xelzy. Up until her passing she was provided the best care possible by these women which brought much peace to Ava’s family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Alzheimer’s Foundation https://www.alz.org/texas, Gulf Coast Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation https://www.cff.org/TXGulf/, Ronald McDonald House Houston https://rmhhouston.org/donate/, HOPE (Homeless & Orphaned Pet Endeavor) https://www.homelesspets.net/or the charity of your choice.

Private family services will be held in her honor. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy can be shared in the Guest Book on Ava’s page at https://www.neptunesociety.com/obituaries.