Ina Mae Heathcock

She was preceded in death by her parents James Walter and Lucy Cologne Hartley, her sister Wilma Heathcock, her husband of 52 years J.W. Heathcock, her daughters Linda Debakey (surviving husband Doug) and Judy Hielscher (surviving husband Jerry), and her grandsons Michael and Logan Wyeth.

Ina Mae is survived by her older brother Ernest Hartley, and her sons Glenn, Gary and wife Cathy, Kenneth and wife Janell, Ronnie and wife Betsy, James Wendell, Lanny and wife Traci, and Robin and Ellen. She is also survived by her daughters Beverly, Teresa and Bryan, and Cindy and husband Peter Wyeth.

Additional survivors are grandchildren (Lauren and Eve, & Julie and Linda), (Evan, Melinda, Christina, Jennifer, and Michael), (Sean), (Thomas), (Heather and Jerry), (Corry, Tracy, and Wesley), (Jacquelyn, Kathryn, Kayla, and Alyssa), (Megan and Brian), (Chuck, Candace, and Erin), (Caitlin and Jacob), and (Kara and Tylor).

Great-grandchildren include (Taylor and Zach), (Luke, Michael and Hailey), (Edwin and Ester), (Oscar, Macabee, and Arlo), (Calista, Coren, Lily, and Aaron), (Reganne, Grace, Alec, Harrison, and Carter), (Hadley and Scout), (Emily, Anna, and Julia), (Cora, Asher, and Claire), (Noah), (KC, Jaxton, and Dalton), (Hunter and Olivia), (Lauren, and Josie), (Austin, Sofia, Samuel, and Addison), (Eva, and Ellis), (Camden, Lila, and Daphne).

Ina Mae Hartley was born at the family home in Copeland, AL on November 23, 1924, and worked with her parents, brother, and sister on the family farm picking cotton, corn, and peas until her marriage to J.W. in 1942 when they moved to Crichton, AL. Beginning in 1944, Ina Mae and J.W. had their first five children in Mobile, AL, before moving to Texas in 1952 where they would have seven more! After moving to Texas, the Heathcock’s would live in Andrews, Pasadena, Houston before settling in Alief in 1966, which was home until 2010. Her final home in Katy, was her first home with a concrete slab and central heat and air!

In earlier years, Ina Mae, or Grandmom, Grandma, or Maw-Maw, as she was known by her grandchildren, would share stories of life in Alabama, including the treat of getting the occasional ice cream cone when they would take cotton to town, or trips to Waynesboro, MS (which was the biggest treat!) when they would get 10 cent hamburgers and 5 cent sodas. Stories of a home without electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing were also shared, and were central themes to her endless supply of life lessons! Ina Mae also never had a driver’s license, and except for one memorable ditch-to-ditch occasion, never drove a car!

Despite the early years living on the Alabama farm and a couple other houses around Texas, the Alief house(s) are remembered by most as home. As a wife and mother of twelve, Ina Mae spent her days working in the home from sun-up until sun-down, cooking and cleaning, washing the clothes for a dozen or more, and hanging all that laundry on the line to dry. Life for the Heathcock’s in the Alief home started in the back two rooms, while the front of the house was rented out to help make ends meet. The boys lived out in the “Granny House”, and eventually the family took over the entire house, including J.W.’s later second story addition. Even with limited space and a home that was often bursting at the seams, Ina Mae always made room for anyone in need, taking in stray kids from the area, an exchange student, and even a displaced family for a time. For years, the Alief home was the center of the Heathcock world, the site of most family gatherings, and the timeless front porch where the ever-growing family pictures were taken.

Ina Mae had a fondness for sweets, but “only a taste”, the occasional sip of whatever might be in your glass, and only slowed down during the day to tune in to her favorite soap operas to keep up with “who was sinning”. Food was always a favorite labor of love, and Ina Mae could always be counted on to get the roast beef in the oven before church on Sunday mornings, and to make sure everyone had THEIR favorite cake on their birthday. The stories about her scratch biscuits are the stuff of legend, and no amount of exaggeration could possibly do them justice.

When you’re raised on a Lower Alabama farm during the depression, lose your mother at sixteen, and raise twelve children, you earn the right to live life without the constraints of judgments from others, and to speak your mind without any filters. Ina Mae shared her love, her home, her table, and her time with everyone, and never shied away from sharing her opinions or correcting those around her to keep them straight. She touched an immeasurable number of lives with her kindness and compassion, and even more now find shade and rest beneath her expansive family tree. Her impact on the world will continue to be felt for generations through her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

At the request of the family, and in lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be made to the following:

St Judes (stjude.org)

Treatment Advocacy Center (treatmentadvocacycenter.org)