Lorene "Rene" Mercer

Lorene Lehde Mercer was born in Old Washington, Texas on June 3, 1920, and died peacefully on September 26, 2012 in Austin, Texas. If that name does not ring a bell with you it is because anyone who really knew her and loved her knows that she was called “Rene” or “Grandma.”

Rene was a long time resident of Baytown, Texas, in Harris County, and moved to the Killeen area in 1961 when she married Johnny Mercer. She was preceded in death by her husband Johnny and her sons Robert Wayne Mercer and Freddy Mercer. Rene is survived by her daughter Marion Damen and husband Mike of Austin, grandchildren: Jason Damen and wife Casey, John Damen and wife Lauren, Kelly Page and husband Jamie all of Austin,Texas, Jorgegina Cole and husband Darryl, Jimmy Mercer and wife Julie, Danny Mercer and wife Lana, and Kevin Mercer. She is also survived by her daughters-in-law Sandee Roberts and Betty Hallmark and her beloved nieces Carolyn Killgore, Kay Morris, and Marsha Gruenden, in addition to numerous great grand children, great-great grand children as well as other relatives and friends who remember her fondly and who all have wonderful stories to tell about this remarkable woman.

Besides taking on a ready-made family when she moved to Killeen, she took on making friends and becoming part of the Killeen community. For many years she bowled and played golf—being very good at both! She was one of the founding members of the Killeen Ladies Golf Association. She also spent time teaching bowling and golf to many young people from the Killeen area and introduced them to a sport that I am sure many of them are still playing today. She baked cookies, cakes and home made bread for anyone who crossed her path, sewed wonderful clothes for her daughter, her grand children, and clothes for those Barbie dolls that accompanied her and granddaughter Kelly on their numerous adventures. Rene’s talent in baking was passed on to Kelly--they could often be found baking side by side in the Mercer kitchen, which was the heart of all family activity. There were few things Rene enjoyed more than teaching her twin grandsons Jason and John the game of golf and watching them pursue that game into adulthood. She loved hearing them trade stories about who had the best handicap, who had the best shots and who won the last game.

The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank-you to Grandma’s longtime friend Donna Davis who maintained their strong friendship by visiting her frequently and letting her win at cards--Grandma’s way.

Services for Rene are being handled by Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen, Texas. Visitation is scheduled for Monday, October 1st from 4 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with burial and graveside services to be held at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery on Tuesday, October 2nd at 10:00 a.m.

It is difficult to say how much we will miss Grandma, but the memories we all carry will make us smile for the rest of our lives.