Pvt. Thomas Edward Lee
Fort Hood announced the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Obituaries
Spc. Caleb Allen Bezanson
Spc. Caleb Allen Bezanson
Fort Hood officials have released the name of a Soldier who died May 18, 2009 from cause unknown at this time.
Richard Phillips
Richard Phillips
Richard Phillips, 83, of Salado, and formerly of Austin, died May 23, 2009 in a Temple hospital.
Howard Drake Austin
Howard Drake Austin
Howard Drake Austin, 79 of Salado, passed away on May 24, 2009.
Mary Lou (Honey) Beesley
Mary Lou (Honey) Beesley
Funeral services for Mary Lou (Honey) Beesley of Hillsboro were held May 11, at Church on the Hill in Hillsboro. Pastor Mike McReynolds officiated. Burial will be at Fairview Cemetery in Hubbard.
Monroe Taylor “Shep” Shepperd
Monroe Taylor “Shep” Shepperd
Monroe Taylor “Shep” Shepperd, 79, of Belton passed away May 9 in a local care center. Memorial services were held May 12 at Heartfield Funeral Home Chapel in Belton.
Spc. Jake Robert Velloza
Spc. Jake Robert Velloza
Fort Hood officials have released the name of a Soldier who died supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He died from wounds sustained after being shot by enemy forces in Mosul, Iraq on May 2, 2009.
Private First Class Brittany Nicole Morris
Private First Class Brittany Nicole Morris
Fort Hood officials have released the name of a 13th Sustainment Command Soldier who died April 29 at Scott & White hospital,
Temple, from medical complications.
Private First Class Brittany Nicole Morris, 20, of Auburn, Alabama, wasbrought to Darnall Army Medical Center on April 28 after complaining ofheadaches. Upon evaluation she was transported to Scott and White Hospital in Temple for treatment. Morris died April 29.
Private First Class Morris joined the military in March 2008 as a Unit Supply Specialist and was assigned to the 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command since August 2008.
Pfc. Morris’ military awards and decorations include the National
Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
Spc.Shawn Dante Sykes
Spc.Shawn Dante Sykes
Spc. Shawn Dante Sykes, 28, of Portsmouth, Virginia, died May 7, 2009 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany of wounds suffered from an accident that occurred May 5 2009 at Combat Outpost Crazy Horse, Iraq. [Read more…] about Spc.Shawn Dante Sykes
Michele Jordan Woods
Michele Jordan Woods
Michele Jordan Woods, wife of Dr. Bryan Woods, and a Salado resident since 2003, died on April 25, 2009 after a long illness. Michele was born in Sept. 1936 in the small village of Dornestetten in the Black Forest of Germany. She lived in Germany until age 19, when she came to the United States on a one-year college scholarship. She decided to complete her education in the U.S., and moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1958, where she first attended St. Mary’s night school (in what later became La Mansion del Rio), and then Our Lady of the Lake College. While in San Antonio she met her future husband, Bryan, who was in Air Force OCS at Lackland AFB. She stayed in San Antonio to finish college while he was reassigned to Clovis, New Mexico and then Washington, D.C. They reconnected after her graduation, and married in Nov. 1961. At that time they were both working in Washington, and he was also attending night school to take pre-med courses. Their first child, Michele, was born in Oct. 1962, and Bryan started medical school in Charlottesville, Virginia in Sept. 1963.
During medical school two more daughters, Monika and Suzanne, were born. In 1967 the family moved to Brookline, Massachusetts for Bryan’s internship and residency training. They relocated to Wellesley, Massachusetts a year later, and lived there until 1993. Michele became a naturalized citizen in 1974, and a year later was the first immigrant ever elected to the town school board, which she eventually chaired. While in Massachusetts she and Bryan had two more children, sons Michael and Jordan.
In 1993 Bryan accepted a position as VA Neurologist in Temple and Professor of Medicine (and later also of Psychiatry) at Texas A&M. During the ensuing years Michele continued with her lifelong interest in antiques and collectibles, as well as remaining a close observer of politics from the local to the international level. In 2003, after Bryan retired from clinical work at the VA, they moved to Salado for more space, a beautiful view, and a home with no stairs.
In 2006 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She responded well to active treatment for two years, but then found she couldn’t tolerate any more chemotherapy.
A memorial service, attended by her husband and children and many local friends, was held for her at the VA chapel in Temple on May 11, and her ashes were interred at Bellwood Cemetery on May 12.