Hazel Frances Lanham

Hazel Frances Lanham was born June 23, 1927 to Olin and Lela Clements in Lakeland, Florida. She went to sleep Thursday night September 10, 2015 and awoke early Friday morning, September 11, 2015 in the arms of Jesus. With one stroke He wiped every tear from her eyes and soothed every pain she had felt for many days.

She graduated from Mulberry High School, Mulberry, Florida in 1946 she entered Jacksonville Baptist College in Jacksonville, Texas. It was there that she met Samuel Nelson Lanham, Jr., a young ministerial student, and on January 18, 1948 they were married. She stood by his side and encouraged each step of the way to help him realize his goal to earn the Doctor of Ministry degree from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. During these days of ministry she enjoyed mission and evangelistic ministries with him in Nova Scotia and Brazil. During those busy days of ministry she blessed our lives with three wonderful daughters, Charlotte Ann, Mary Elizabeth and Brenda Joyce whom she loved with all her heart. No one could have dressed those three girls more beautifully than she did.

She excelled as a medical secretary working for Dr. Lawrence Frances McCune in New Orleans, Louisiana and Dr. Harold Reuter in Houston, Texas. In Austin she served ten years in the Texas Rehabilitation Commission where she excelled with her Secretarial abilities and received many awards. Two of her awards were for "Going The Extra Mile" in October 1994, and the award in recognition of her ten years of service to the Texas Rehabilitation Commission signed by Gov. George W. Bush. Just prior to her retirement she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In 2009 she had open heart surgery and suffered a stroke that left her in an invalid condition for the rest of her life. Despite the discomforts and inabilities she had to face she never lost her smile. She never lost her love for big band music, nor her love to do the jitterbug dance! She won the hearts of nurses and aides at both the Brodie Ranch Rehabilitation Center and the Senior Care Center of Onion Creek her in Austin. Surely, she will be greatly missed, and never will she be forgotten.

Hazel Frances Lanham is survived by her husband, of 67 ½ years, Dr. Samuel Nelson Lanham, Jr.; her daughters, Charlotte Ann Hall and husband Dick, Mary Elizabeth Rogers and Brenda Joyce Sommerville and husband Joe. From these wonderful daughters she was blessed with five grandchildren, Tracy Ann Pike, James Hall, Christopher Scott Gipson, Jennifer Joyce Smith and Robert Randall Dunlap, Jr., who rewarded her with sixteen great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers, Ralph and Edward Clements of Lakeland, Florida and her sister, Carolyn Lavern Wiley of Minden, Louisiana.

She will be laid to rest in the Onion Creek Mausoleum to await her resurrection to new life, new body, and a new home!

Visitation will be held from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 South Congress. Funeral Service 10:00 am Monday, September 21, 2015 at Beacon Ridge Church, 8300 South 1st.