Veda English

Veda Bancherel English, 101 years of age, of Kerrville, Texas entered into the presence of her Savior, Jesus Christ, on February 9, 2018 in Kerrville, Texas.\r\n\r\nVeda was born in Chicago, Illinois to Clarence Eugene Bancherel and Lucy Viola Ragel Bancherel on December 3, 1916. Her mother, at age 25, died from complications of childbirth. Veda went to live with her maternal grandparents for several years until they became ill. She then moved to live with her paternal grandparents Alphonse Bancherel and Ana Bancherel where she was reunited with her older sister La Vonne. The two sisters were raised together in rural southern Illinois while their father completed dental school in Chicago.\r\n\r\nVeda attended grammar school in a one room school house and after graduation moved to Chicago to attend high school where she lived with her father and step mother Helen.\r\n\r\nShe married Marion Cook English on February 11, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois. They lived in Chicago for many years and later moved to Hinsdale, a suburb of Chicago. \r\n\r\nDuring WW II, while her husband Marion was serving in the Navy Seabee's, Veda left her role as a housewife to begin work for the Pullman Train Company doing overhead welding and working in tight places fabricating ships for the war effort. Her quality and speed of work was recognized and she was asked to remain employed for a time at the end of the war and turned her welding skills to fabricating trains.\r\n\r\nWhen Marion returned from the war Veda invested her time and energy into her family. A girl child was lost at birth in 1947 but in 1951 a second child, Sandra was born in Chicago, Illinois. Veda faithfully accompanied Marion through his 50-year career at the First National Bank of Chicago. She had a strong work ethic and a very determined spirit, if something needed to be done then she got it done.\r\n\r\nCreativity was one of her special gifts. She created beauty in everything from sewing clothing, making teddy bears, painting and dressing porcelain dolls, and her later hobby of traditional rug hooking. Creating beautiful flower gardens was a talent she inherited from her father and she presented neighbors and friends with beautiful bouquets. \r\n\r\nVeda is most remembered by her laughter and her kindness to others. She looked for ways to give a bit of sunshine to friends and family whenever she could. This could be a bowl of soup for an ill neighbor, a unique present bought on one of her shopping excursions, or a handmade gift to be prized.\r\n\r\nVeda enjoyed traveling. During Marion's working career they spent two-week vacations traveling by car to locations in the United States with their daughter and after her husband's retirement they both traveled to locations around the world.\r\n\r\nVeda is preceded in death by her parents, Marion her husband of 65 years, and her sister LaVonne Peterson and husband Larry. She is survived by her daughter Sandra English Slater, and her husband Robert of Fredericksburg. Her granddaughter Leia Marie McKinnon of Centennial, Colorado and her husband Thomas Ross, her two great grandchildren Connor Allen and Kate Elizabeth. \r\n\r\nA memorial service will be held Saturday February 24th at 4:00 pm at Grimes Funeral Chapels in Kerrville, Texas.\r\n\r\nIn lieu of flowers the family requests any memorial be sent to Peterson Hospice or Christian Women's Job Corps of Kerrville, Texas.\r\n