Rose La Verne Chandler

Beautiful, vivacious, loving, and ultimately victorious, Rose La Verne Chandler passed peacefully into the arms of her beloved Savior, her Lord Jesus Christ, on Tuesday, November 15, in San Antonio, Texas. Faithful, devoted, and joyful mother of five, grandmother of eleven, great-grandmother of 32, sister of three, and friend to many, La Verne’s influence on this world was deep and wide. Her love for the Lord was apparent in word and deed, and her life was a testimony to His love for us and of her love for Him. Born on October 25, 1926 in Meadows, Texas to J.B. and Rene Millsap, La Verne grew up with an older sister and two younger brothers. She graduated early from Phillips High School and enrolled at the University of Texas to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. That quest ended when she married Ora Willis (“O.W.”) Chandler in 1949. During a marriage that endured for nearly 50 years, the couple followed O.W.’s career from Amarillo to Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and, finally, Southern California, where they lived for some eighteen years before retiring in 1986 in Kerrville, Texas. In Kerrville, La Verne was a proud member of Riverhill Country Club, where she became a highly competitive golfer and enjoyed the many social activities offered by the club.

La Verne was her family’s biggest advocate and most loyal fan. She ardently cheered on her brothers, sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters in any endeavor they chose to pursue. She traveled from coast-to-coast to football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball games, as well as swim meets, as her family competed, cheered, played in the band and sang at sporting events from kids’ leagues to collegiate, and professional levels—including the National Football League and two U.S. Olympic Swim Trials. She gloried in the success of those she loved, and they all knew and depended on it.

La Verne was a dedicated servant in the churches she attended, most notably for nearly 30 years at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Kerrville, Texas. It was at St. Paul’s that she helped form and lead a care group, the members of which visited shut-ins and delivered to them “Care Bears,” plush teddies which could be cuddled and enjoyed by these most elderly of the citizens of Kerrville, many of whom were younger than she. La Verne did everything with all her heart, in keeping with the Biblical charge she followed—to do so “as unto the Lord, and not unto men”. Her light continued to shine through her last days, when she joked with and gave her love to the hospice workers and caregivers at the assisted living facility in which she lived. La Verne is survived by her sister, Virginia Steele and her brother, J.B. Millsap; five children: Tom Chandler; Tari Heppe (Mark); Tamara Nicholas (Bob); Bryan Chandler (Linda); and Martin Chandler (Juliet); eleven grandchildren, and thirty-two great grandchildren. Her children wish to thank the many staff members at Heartis San Antonio and at Freedom Hospice who provided so much kind and attentive care to our mom during her last weeks.

A memorial service celebrating the life of La Verne Chandler will be held at 10:00 am, on Saturday, January 28, 2023, at Riverhill Country Club in Kerrville, Texas.