Emmalee Heltzel Stradley

Emmalee Jeanette Heltzel Stradley passed away peacefully at home on Friday, December 5, 2025, with her children by her side. In 1940, she was born and raised in Cisco, Texas to Neva Lucille Suther Heltzel and Levi Clarence Heltzel. After graduating from Cisco High School, she attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she met and fell in love with William (“Bill”) Jackson Stradley. Emmalee and Bill married in 1960 and were soon to celebrate 60 years of marriage when he passed away in 2020. They shared a rare and beautiful love – deeply devoted, endlessly connected, and a testament to a lifetime of true partnership. Bill and Emmalee moved to Houston in 1960, where Bill later completed undergraduate studies and attended law school at the University of Houston. Emmalee was a lifelong learner and thrived with the opportunities she discovered in the growing city. She had an eye for finding the best in people and things and discovered her own classic, graceful international style. In her early years, Emmalee helped manage apartment complexes and organize and run estate sales. Later, she was active in Zeta Tau Alpha Houston alumni affairs and was a longtime member of the American Society of Interior Designers. She was also a superb seamstress (tailoring her own clothes for most of her life), a talented painter, and a certified Master Gardener who loved spending time in her gardens almost as much as anything else in life. But most, and best of all, she was a fabulous wife, mother, and grandmother. She was actively present in the lives of Bill, her children, and her grandchildren, always providing loving encouragement, friendship, and understanding. She delighted in hearing about her family’s activities and taking joy in learning more about their passions.

She is survived, and her memory will be forever cherished, by her daughter and loving caregiver Lisa Stradley Bergez (and her husband Craig), her son William (“Bill”) Mitchell Stradley (and his wife Stephanie), her grandchildren Dr. Katherine Bergez Cohn (and her husband Alexander), Dr. Emmalee Bergez Holt (and her husband William), Barrett Jackson Bergez (and his fiancé Emma De Vries), William Jackson (“Jackson”) Stradley, and Jessica Jane Stradley, and her great grandchildren Margo Elisabeth Cohn and Hayes William Holt.

There will be no public services.

Please celebrate Emmalee’s life in whatever manner uplifts you and yours. Emmalee would appreciate any contributions in her memory to the charity of your choice. Throughout her life, she supported many civic organizations that served Houstonians in the arts, medical sciences, education, and, in particular, welcoming outdoor spaces.