| Login “A nation can only be free, happy, and great in proportion to the virtue Stephen F. Austin |
| Anna Beth Stanford Herzer Member Number 774
Ancestors: Gustavus Eixon Edwards William Kincheloe June 27, 1935 - Jan 21, 2014 |
Anna Beth Stanford Herzer, 78, of Austin, beloved Wife and Mother died Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at home surrounded by her family.
She was born in Shiloh, TX, second child of Clorice Elbert Stanford and Mary Ellen Jordan Stanford on June 27, 1935. She attended Thrall Schools. She also attended High School in Olney, IL and returned to Central Texas to complete her senior year at Taylor High School in 1953. She completed Nixon-Clay Business College and worked at the Texas Railroad Commission while living with her lifelong girlfriends in Austin. On January 6, 1955, she married John F. Herzer at St. John Lutheran Church in Thrall, TX. They resided at their first home in Taylor, while she worked at both Taylor Manufacturing and later Johns Community Hospital in Administration. She was the loving and beloved Mother of two children, John Clifford and Anne Elizabeth. In 1971, the Herzer family relocated to Lubbock, TX when her husband was elected General Manager of Plains Cooperative Oil Mill. She fulfilled her roles as a loving wife and mother, while continuing her education at Texas Tech University. She and Big John traveled the world. They were delighted to include their children in their many travels. She was a talented vocalist with a great love of music, which she instilled in her children. She was a soloist, choir director, and Luther League director for many years. While maintaining a love of the traditional roles of Wife and Mother, she was a formidable person, and a committed partner to Big John throughout their marriage of 55 years. One of the many joys of their lives together was their purchase and improvement of their land in central Texas. She enjoyed the cattle business and took great pride in Big John's prize-winning livestock. The Herzer family enjoyed attending Texas Longhorn football with friends and family throughout their many years together. Throughout her life, she maintained a keen interest in history and her family genealogy. She spoke often with her relatives, and she was the repository of the oral history of her family and their trek to settle Texas. She traveled throughout Europe, and spent a great deal of time in Germany where she detailed the lineage of her husband's four German families, including the Herzer, Goetz, Sulzberger, and Wentland families. After successfully publishing a history of her husband's families, she feverishly pursued the history of her own family, and in doing so, she celebrated their significant place in the history of Texas and American History. She was an Eighth-generation Texan. She was a Charter Member and Officer of the John Berry Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in Williamson County, TX and an Officer of the Martin Wells Chapter of the DRT. She was also a member and officer of Daughters of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the Confederacy, The National Society of the United States Daughters of 1812, Daughters of the American Colonies, and the Magna Charta Society. Her children share and participate in her great love of the Stephen F. Austin Old Three Hundred Organization, which promotes and celebrates the 300 colonists who settled and established the original land granted to Stephen F. Austin by Mexico. She was a great-great-great Granddaughter of Robert McAlpin Williamson, 'Three-Legged Willie', Williamson County's namesake. She also enjoyed membership in the Lubbock Women's Club, Lubbock Country Club Women's Association, Lubbock Symphony Orchestra Board, and numerous parent- teacher organizations as well as many other organizations. She held many positions in the laity of the Lutheran Church throughout a lifetime of devotion and strong faith. She served as a mentor and advisor to many members of her family, her community, her church, and her professional associations. She was a distinguished hostess to dignitaries and friends alike, and she relished her children's friends treating her home as their own. Her home was also home to extended family members while they attended Texas Tech University and/or launched their careers. She was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband, John F Herzer, two sisters, Linda Pat Petterson, and Martha Lu 'Jackie' Palla; two brothers, John David Stanford and Clifford Elbert Stanford. She is survived by one son, John Clifford Herzer, of Austin; one daughter, Anne Davis and husband Phillip of Houston; and two granddaughters, Whitney and Lauren Davis of Houston. She is also survived by two Sisters, Judith Ellon 'Judie' Gustafson, and Karen Krieg (Will). The Lutheran Service of Committal will be at 2 pm Friday, January 24, 2014 at St. John Lutheran Church in Thrall, TX. The family will be in visitation from 6-8 pm, Thursday evening January 23, 2014 at Condra Funeral Home in Taylor, TX. A catered lunch will be served in the Annex of the church after the burial in the Taylor City Cemetery. Published in Austin American-Statesman from Jan. 23 to Jan. 25, 2014 - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesman/obituary.aspx?pid=169238326#sthash.6RRzQmTp.dpuf |