Wendy Durham

For 44 years, she made her home on Woodhollow Drive, where she found comfort and created a place of refuge that meant so much to her.

She is survived by her daughter Julie Collier and son-in-law Richard Collier; her daughter Leslie Jackson; her grandsons Christopher and Michael Ross and Michael’s fiancée, Addison Banazek, as well as her grandson Jacob Jackson; her great-grandson Ryan Ross; her dear friends Maria Berneti and Sandra Babin; four living siblings; and many treasured neighbors.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ethel and Arthur Adams, and by Larry Durham, with whom she shared 16 years of marriage and who was the father of her daughters.

Wendy’s life of service was reflected in her long nursing career. She graduated in 1962 from the Hammersmith Hospital School of Nursing in London, then traveled to Bermuda, where she had the time of her life. While there, she served as a private nurse to Jorge Bacardi, who adored her.

She went on to devote more than 40 years to nursing and held a variety of demanding positions, each requiring dedication, skill, and compassion. These included caring for patients on a burn unit and serving as a caretaker of a small home for 26 orphanage boys, to whom she became a devoted mother figure. Her final 20 years were spent in the ICU at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Hospital in Houston, where she truly felt she was doing Jesus’ work and never complained about the long 16-hour shifts that were simply part of caring for others.

Tiny but fierce, Wendy was stubborn in the very best way. She loved dancing, flirting, and keeping people on their toes. She wore a bathing suit well past 65 and still looked wonderful in it. A gifted math student and champion speller to the very end, she made sure her children knew their multiplication tables and proportions whether they wanted to or not. Though she was famously directionally challenged, she more than made up for it with wit, confidence, and a twinkle in her eye.

She was never much of an animal lover, apart from a few sheep she raised when her children were young, and she certainly did not care for cats. But she adored her grandsons Chris, Mike, and Jacob, as well as her great-grandson Ryan, and loved them fiercely. In her later years, even as her memory faded, her devotion to her family remained clear. More than once, she would forget that she had already bought Ryan a toy and call her dear friend Maria to wonder aloud why no one had yet gotten him a present.

Even when dementia came, one thing never left her: her faith and her ability to recite Matthew 11:28–30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

That verse was her comfort, her promise, and her testimony to the very end. May it also be a comfort to us.

A Celebration of Life will be held on June 12, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. at Casner Funeral Home. Tea service will follow in the reception room.

The family extends heartfelt thanks to the staff at Woodhaven Memory Care for the wonderful care they gave her through her final days. We feel so grateful to have entrusted her to their care.