Obituary of LaVerne Taylor Watts

LaVerne Taylor Watts Funeral services for LaVerne Taylor Watts of Elsberry, MO will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 14, 2009 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry. Rev. Allen Calkins, church pastor, will officiate with burial in Star Hope Cemetery near Elsberry. Serving as pallbearers will be Shane Stone, Jeff Stone, Dr. Billy Owens, John Owens, Cannon Watts, Jeremy Watts and Casey Morris. Honorary pallbearers will be LaNora Burbridge, Carolyn Coller, Stephanie Morris, and Tammy Wombles. Mr. Watts, 88, died Saturday, February 7, 2009 at the Missouri Veterans' Home in Mexico, MO. Born September 3, 1920 in Elsberry, MO, he was the son of Ernest Columbus and Edith Lorena Cunningham Watts. He was united in marriage on April 17, 1940 in Elsberry to Nora Lucela Hausgen. This union was blessed with three children: LaNora, Carolyn, and Gilbert. A veteran of World War II, he served his country in the U.S. Army from November 21, 1945 until being honorably discharged on May 14, 1946. He owned and operated a commercial trucking company for several years and worked for the city of Elsberry as a public utilities supervisor from 1972 until retiring in 1991. He was a member of the Star Hope Baptist Church. He was also a 50 year member of the New Hope Lodge #199 A.F. & A.M. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ernest and "Lorene" Watts; two brothers: Ernest Eugene Watts and Reginald Watts; and his beloved wife of 64 years, Nora Watts, who died November 28, 2004. Survivors include two daughters: LaNora Burbridge and her husband, Billy Joe, of Clarksville, MO, and Carolyn Coller and her husband, Austin, of Anchorage, AK; one son, Gilbert Watts and his wife, Sara, of Elsberry; eight grandchildren, twenty-five great-grandchildren, three great, great-grandchildren. He also leaves one brother-in-law, Edward Hausgen and his wife, Ida, of Elsberry; two sisters-in-law: Margia Hausgen and Jessie Hausgen both of Elsberry; one special cousin, Joan Eads of Eldon, MO; several other relatives and many friends. Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. until the time of service on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry. Memorials may be made to the Missouri Veterans' Home in Mexico, MO in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 South Fifth Street, Elsberry, MO 63343. Online condolences may be made at www.carterricksfuneralhome.com.