Feb.. 2010
( Feb. 2 ) Mary E. Byrom Watkins '61
Mary E. Byrom Watkins class of 1961 passed away this Thursday in Pearland, TX. She was Mary Byrom in school. Her late mother taught at Eugene Field Elementary. Her brothers James and Gerald are both French High graduates. Memorial services are planned for a later date.

Feb.. 2010
( Feb. 2 ) Velma Peoples
I would like to let my fellow classmates know of my mother's death. My brother, Ernie Peoples (class of '65) and I, Kay Peoples Callender (class of '70) have many friends that would remember my mother (Velma Peoples). She was very active in PTA at Eugene Field, Bowie, and French, and ALWAYS supported us in our activities (especially Belles). An obit will be published in the Beaumont Enterprise. Thank you for your help.
Kay Peoples Callender
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Velma H. Peoples, age 88 of Kerrville, passed away Monday, February 1, 2010 in a local hospital. She was born January 10, 1922 in San Augustine, TX to Frank Leo Hight and Charlcie Jane Pickard Hight. On October 17, 1941, she married Wilburn B. Peoples in Beaumont. Velma was a retired secretary for the Beaumont ISD and enjoyed working at the Hill Country Youth Ranch Thrift Shop. Velma loved life, her family, visiting and traveling. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Kerrville. Survivors include husband, Wilburn B. Peoples of Kerrville; daughter, Kay Ellen Peoples Callender and husband, Jim of Kerrville; son, Ernie Peoples and wife, Peppie of Clear Lake; grandchildren, Brian Peoples, Scott Callender, Brad Callender and Wes Callender; great grandchildren, Dillon Peoples, Cody Peoples & Austin Peoples; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a great granddaughter, Chelsea Peoples. Visitation was held Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 6-8 PM at Grimes Funeral Chapels. Services will be held Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 11 AM at Grimes Funeral Chapels officiated by Dr. George Harris. Interment will follow at Garden of Memories Cemetery. Pallbearers will be her four grandsons, Scott Callender, Brad Callender, Wes Callender and Brian Peoples, Keith Porter and Sidney Elliott. Memorials may be made to Hill Country Youth Ranch, P.O. Box 67, Ingram, TX 78025 or to a charity of one's choice. The family invites you to send condolences at grimesfuneralchapels.com by selecting the Send Condolences link. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Grimes Funeral Chapels of Kerrville. Grimes Funeral Chapel P.O. Box 290170 Kerrville, TX 78029-0170 830-257-4544

Jan. 2010
( Jan. 21 ) Veta Jones class of '66, lost her husband, Gaylon Stark this week. Please keep Veta and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

( recieved this via email: ( Jan. 21 )
David Marshall class of '66. David passed away this week of a heart attack. Visitation Friday, 1-22-10, 5-8 p.m.
Cashner Funeral Home - 80 Teas Nursery Rd. - Conroe, TX 77303 - 936 756-2126
Funeral Services Saturday,1-23- 10, 10 a.m.
Long Star Cowboy Church
21627 Eva St.
Montgomery Texas 77356 - 936 597-5742
Burial back at grave site by the funeral home.

Terry O'Bannion class of '69 passed away 1-19-2010 in League City, Texas following a long struggle with emphysema and other health related problems. He was married to Mary Burnett '69 . Please keep her in your prayers.
Terry O’Bannion, 58, of League City passed away on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. Visitation will be held on Sunday, January 24, 2010 from 2-5 p.m. at Forest Park East Funeral Home. Service will be held on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 10 a.m. in the chapel of Forest Park East Funeral Home. Interment to follow at Forest Park East Cemetery. Forest Park East Funeral Home, Webster, Texas

Mildred Campbell Yates, despairing optimist and free-thinking Methodist, died on Saturday, January 9, 2010, at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth in Beaumont. Born in Beaumont, she was the daughter of Eula Owens Campbell and Will H. Campbell. She attended local public schools, graduating with honors from Beaumont High School in 1936. Mildred attended Randolph Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens in 1940.
Returning to Beaumont with war clouds brewing, she realized that all she knew how to do was to write scholarly papers and play the cello, so she took a secretarial course and found work in the defense industry, first at the Defense Plant Corporation which was overseeing the building of Neches Butane Products Company in Port Neches, then at Pennsylvania Shipyards in Beaumont. She married Reed H. Yates, Jr., in 1944, and they lived in Gulfport, Mississippi, where Reed was an instructor at the Gulfport Army Air Base. There were two children born to their marriage, Reed III and Mary.
In 1953, Dr. Lena Milam asked Mildred to teach music and language arts at the new elementary school, Eugene Field, and she began the career she was born for. She spent fourteen happy years at Field, then two years at Lamar teaching graduate students who were working toward their Masters Degree in Language Arts. In 1969, she returned to the Beaumont Independent School District, this time to French High School, where she taught English and occasionally various history courses. Mildred loved teaching – she was a natural – for it came easily to her and all her students were dear to her. She also enjoyed her own children and entered joyfully into their lives. In 1962, she earned the Master of Arts Degree in English from Lamar.
She took early retirement in order to spend time with her family and travel with her husband. She threw herself into Historic Preservation with the same enthusiasm she had put into teaching and was pleased to play a part in the restoration of the Tyrrell Historical Library, the Jefferson County Courthouse and the Jefferson Theatre.
She was the author of two developmental readers, Images and Keystone, published by Houghton Mifflin. She was associate editor and author of two chapters updating the history of First United Methodist Church, Beaumont, With a Dome More Vast. She belonged to the Beaumont Heritage Society and was twice its president, and held membership in the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, the Mental Health Association in Jefferson County, of which she was for four years its secretary, the Tyrrell Historical Library Association, in which she served in many capacities, the Jefferson Theater Preservation Society, Pi Beta Phi national sorority, Texas Gulf Historical Society, for which she served as genealogist, and First United Methodist Church and its Alpha Omega class. She had docented in both the John Jay French House and the McFaddin-Ward Historic House. Mildred is listed in Who’s Who Among American Women for the years 1999-2005.
Her husband, Reed Yates preceded her in death, as did her sister, Mary Bond Belk; and her brother, Jeff H. Campbell.
She is survived by her son, Reed H. Yates III and his wife Linda of Southlake; daughter, Mary Yates Kirkpatrick of Beaumont; grandsons, Phillip Kirkpatrick of Austin, Charles Reed Kirkpatrick of Beaumont; granddaughters, Amanda Yates Bradford and her husband Kevin of Arlington, Bethany Kirkpatrick of Beaumont; greatgranddaughter, Natalie Bradford of Arlington; and her greatgrandson, Connor Reed Bradford of Arlington; her life-long friend, Mildred P. Hall, “the other Mildred”; many students she so happily taught; as well as three nieces; and two nephews.
Her funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday, January 14, 2010, at First United Methodist Church with burial to follow at Magnolia Cemetery under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont. A gathering of her family and friends will be from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 13, 2010, at Broussard’s.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Tyrrell Historical Library, P.O. Box 77726, Beaumont, Texas 77726-2563; First United Methodist Church, 701 Calder, Beaumont, Texas 77701; or to Charlsie Berly Fund of Texas Gulf Historical Society, P.O. Box 1621, Beaumont, Texas 77704.

Dec. '09
William A Bill Settle -- class of '62
William A Bill Settle, 65, of Kountze died December 23, 2009 after a lengthy illness. Bill was born in Beaumont, Texas on August 5, 1944 to Tom C. and Tallulah Ercelle (Rankin) Settle. Bill was a 1962 graduate of French High School and a 1967 graduate of Lamar University with Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering and Math. Following college, Bill went to work in the design and manufacture of integrated circuits in California's Silicon Valley. He worked for about ten years with several companies including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in California, and then moved to his beloved second home of Hawaii. He worked for several companies on Oahu and Maui and for the State of Hawaii on their Lunar Research Project on Maui. He was also employed by an engineering firm in Plano, Texas where he retired and moved back to his favorite Hawaiian island of Kauai. With failing health, he spent his last two years near family and friends in Southeast Texas. He is survived by his two brothers, Thomas E. Settle and Lewis H. McNeely of Kountze; two granddaughters, Ashton and Brittney Simon; grandson, Colby Simon of Ottawa, Kansas; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and son, Bryan Simon. A private memorial service celebrating his life will be conducted at a later date. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Broussard's in Kountze. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that memorial contributions be made to Kountze Public Library, 800 S. Redwood Ave., Kountze, Texas 77625, American Heart Association , P.O. Box 7015, Beaumont, Texas 77726, or to a charity of choice. Complete and updated information may be viewed at www.broussardsmortuary.com.

Dec. '09
Jackie Neff -- Class of 1945
Jacquelin Jackie Neff, 82, of Beaumont, died Wednesday, December 9, 2009, at Harbor Hospice in Beaumont. She was born October 12, 1927, in Beaumont to Melba Smith and Sam Falcon. A lifelong resident of Beaumont, Jackie worked with her father at Falcon Upholstery. She was a 1945 graduate of French High School. Jackie and Jay enjoyed entertaining family and friends at the beach. She always had a special cat that lived in the house and she cared for feral cats in the neighborhood. Survivors include her husband of sixty-one years, John Jay Neff of Beaumont; sister, Shirley Brown of Beaumont; brother, Harold Falcon and his wife Pat of Louisville; numerous nieces, nephews and extended family; and numerous cats. A graveside service will be 1:00 p.m. Saturday, December 12, 2009, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park under the direction of Broussard's, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A gathering of her family and friends will be from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. with a Christian Vigil at 5:00 p.m. Friday, December 11, 2009, at Broussard's. Complete and updated information may be viewed at www.broussardsmortuary.com

Oct. '09
JAMES EARL SMITH class of '57
James Earl Smith, age 70, of Coldspring, Texas, passed away Wednesday, October 28, 2009. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on September 4, 1939. Jimmy grew up in Beaumont, Texas and graduated from French High School. He retired from DuPont Beaumont Works after 35 years of service. Memorial services were held Friday, November 6, '09 at Coldspring United Methodist Church, Coldspring, Texas; Pastor David Green and Pastor Mariann Wallace presiding. In lieu of flowers, the family ask donations be made to one of the following: Coldspring United Methodist Church, Building Fund, Hwy 150, P.O. Box 1520, Coldspring, TX 77331; Paul Horton United Methodist Church, Building Fund, P.O. Box 1428, Coldspring, TX 77331-1428; Women's League of San Jacinto County Schlorship Fund, P.O. Box 352, Coldspring, TX 77331. Pace-Stancil Funeral Home 303 E. Crockett Cleveland, Texas 281-592-2641