DEQUINCY – Louise Marie Heider Chancey, 89, passed away Monday, June 6, 2011 in a local care center. She was born in Urania, Louisiana, on Dec. 4, 1921, the younger of sororal twin sisters and the tenth of ten children.
Louise was the daughter of the mill foreman at Urania Lumber Company, and had security and stability during her rural Depression Era childhood. She had many good memories, of feeding hoboes who came from the railroad, and bringing her aging father detective and crime magazines to read. Her fascination with crime stories in print and television began then, and lasted a lifetime. She recalled fondly her teen years, when the Yale college men came to study the techniques of the historically noted forestry pioneer Henry H. Hardtner, who built the town of Urania.
During World War II, she worked shooting rivets to assemble bomber airplane fuselages in Arlington, Texas, a genuine "Rosie the Riveter." There she met and later married Arthur Wallace Chancey, with whom she raised five children. After the war, she was a telephone operator while attending art school in Houston. She was a fashion illustrator until her marriage, and an accomplished portrait artist as a hobby, until her eyesight failed later in life. She was a homemaker whose greatest pleasure was raising her five children. Mama Louise was known for her steadiness throughout life's triumphs and tragedies, often reassuring those around her with such sage wisdom as "if that's the worst that happens, you'll be doing alright,' and 'I wouldn't worry about it." Credited by her twin sister as "the pretty one," a characterization with which she claimed to disagree, she was almost never caught in a photo with her glasses on. She was an avid reader, and a lifelong television and movie enthusiast. She liked to travel, stay in the nicest hotel possible, and dress accordingly. Coffee, cigarettes, and conversation were all she needed to have a great time. When getting a cigarette in social situations, she liked to say "Now, don't think I smoke," a caution she learned from her Aunt Minnie. Her sense of humor never failed her. Combined with her honesty and wry outlook, Louise often produced such discerning witticisms that they became known as "Lou-isms." She was universally loved and will be greatly missed.
She is survived by her twin sister, Lucille M. Heider Shaner, of Orlando, Florida, her children Molly Chancey Kaplan (Michael) of Portland, Maine; Arthur Wyatt Chancey of Sulphur, Louisiana; Rebecca Chancey Freeman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; her grandchildren Jamey O'Quinn Santos (John), Lindsay Kaplan Irvine (Alex), Matthew Kaplan, Asher Chancey (Kelly), Eva Kaplan, Laurie Chancey, Eric Freeman, Jr. , Andrew Freeman, and great grand-children Ian Henry Irvine, Emma A. Irvine, Cayden Barnett, Lillian Louise Chancey, Alexander Wrigley Chancey, and Abraham Michael Irvine.
She is preceded in death by her parents, James B. and Emma Farrow Heider, husband Arthur Wallace Chancey, children Susie Chancey-O'Quinn and Billie Brooks Chancey, sisters Raye Monroe, Faye Perry, and Bronis King, and brothers George Heider, James Heider, Jr., Elvin Heider, Brooks Heider, and Homer Heider.
Her funeral will be at 10:00 am, Saturday, June 11, 2011 in First Baptist Church of DeQuincy under direction of Hixson Snider Funeral Home. Rev. Lonnie Gothrup will officiate. Visitation will be in the funeral home on Friday from 5 until 7 pm and in the church from 9 am on Saturday.
A graveside service and burial will be at 4:00 in Pollok Cemetery in Pollok, Texas.
Words of comfort my be shared at www.hixsonfuneralhomes.com
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