Harriet Fopay Yancey

Harriet Fopay Yancey, widow of Fred Swayze Yancey, passed from this life on May 10, 2009 at the age of ninety-one at the Goodall-Witcher Nursing Home in Clifton, Texas after an eight-month struggle with lung cancer. Her life was characterized by her strong faith in Christ, devotion to her family, and a strong work ethic, initially fashioned by her experiences as a young woman during the years of the Great Depression. Her unflagging positive outlook on life and genuine warm spirit will be deeply missed by all who knew her. Harriet was born on February 15, 1918 in England, Arkansas, the youngest child of Julius Walter Fopay and Jettie Lee Blankenship Fopay. In 1936, she married Fred Swayze Yancey, a native of Jonesville, Louisiana. After living briefly in Mansfield and DeRidder, they moved to Natchitoches in 1944, while Fred was serving in the Army. A short time later, they purchased property on St. Maurice Lane in Natchitoches, where they lived and reared five children: Richard, Myrna, Bill, Earl and Grace. Love was the cornerstone of Harriet and Fred’s home, and for more than forty years, they raised their family and opened their home and their pocketbooks to many a soul needing a helping hand. In the early 1950’s, Harriet’s entrepreneurial spirit prompted her to take a beauty course and build an addition on to their home to open her own shop, Harriet’s Beauty Shoppe, which she operated for nearly thirty years. In the early 1980’s, Harriet and Fred sold their beloved home and property on St. Maurice Lane, and after living for brief periods in both Pineville and Houston, Texas, they bought a small house on the outskirts of Natchitoches where they lived until Fred passed away on October 23, 1988 at the age of seventy-one. Harriet sold the property and moved into a small apartment on Keyser Avenue in Natchitoches where she lived until the age of eighty-nine. She kept herself active during the intervening years after Fred’s death. For several years, she worked part-time at Barbara O’Donnell’s beauty shop. For more than fifteen years, she volunteered as a Pink Lady at the Natchitoches Parish Hospital and enjoyed helping the other volunteers in making crafts to raise money for the hospital. She was named “Volunteer of the Year” by the hospital in 2006-2007. However, in July of 2007, she left her beloved Natchitoches, which she considered home for nearly sixty-three years, and moved to Meridian, Texas, near Waco, to live with her youngest daughter Grace and her family. Harriet was a faithful member of the Church of Christ and worshiped with the congregation on Grand Ecore Road in Natchitoches for almost forty years. Harriet was preceded in death by Fred, her beloved husband of more than fifty-two years, her mother Jettie Lee Cox, her father Julius Walter Fopay, brothers William Allin Fopay, Julius Benjamin Fopay, Jack Cochran, and Hugh Watson Cox, sister Billy Jo Cox, sister Josie Lee “Midget” Fopay Carraway, and two grandsons, Fred Charles Robertson and Clarence Stephen Robertson. In December 1991, she lost her oldest daughter Myrna Alice to cancer after a long and courageous battle. Myrna’s husband Clarence Harvey ‘Pete’ Robertson died in December 2006. They are buried beside their two sons Fred and Stevie in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Her oldest son Richard Edwin Yancey, Sr. was killed in a car accident in Houston, Texas in November 1994. She is survived by one sister, Madeline Clementine Albritton, who will be ninety-four on August 27, 2009; three children, William “Bill” Yancey and his wife Kathryn Elayne from Collinsville, Texas; Walter Earl Yancey and his wife Patricia Ann from Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Grace Lee Yancey Hewlett and her husband Jeffrey Martin Hewlett, Sr. from Meridian, Texas; her eldest daughter-in-law, Wanda Belle Yancey, widow of her oldest son Richard Edwin Yancey Sr., of Houston, Texas; one sister-in-law, Dorothy Elaine Jones Cox, widow of Harriet’s youngest brother Hugh Watson Cox, Sr., of Bay City, Texas; twelve grandchildren: Cynthia Denise Yancey Walston of Houston, Texas; Wilmer Daniel (Bo) Robertson of Ponchatoula, Louisiana; Richard Edwin Yancey, Jr. and wife Deborah Sue of Bellville, Texas; Michael David Yancey and wife Martha Kay of Austin, Texas; Donald Edwin (Don) Yancey and wife Shelly Lee of Collinsville, Texas; Michael Shane Yancey and wife Arlene Rose of Collinsville, Texas; Melvina Marie (Mally) Robertson Burch and husband Richard Walter Burch of Loranger, LA; Kristi Kaye Yancey Jeffcoat and husband Shawn Robert Jeffcoat of Leander, Texas; Johnathan Fredrick Yancey of Houston, Texas; Patrick Todd Yancey and wife Laura Lee of Dallas, Texas; Christopher Trent Yancey and wife Pamela of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jennifer Michelle Yancey Steady and husband Glendon Thomas Steady III of Atlanta, Georgia; Jeffrey Martin Hewlett, Jr. of Meridian, Texas (who is currently working in Afghanistan); and Scott Yancey Hewlett of Meridian, Texas; twenty-four great-grandchildren: Ryan Lawrence Walston and Renee Michelle Walston of Houston, Texas; Michael Swayze Yancey and Richard Edwin Yancey IV of Austin, Texas; Dawnielle Jackson Shrader and her husband, William Joseph (B.J.) of Humble, Texas; Brittney Jackson Merz and her husband Daniel Eli of Katy, Texas; Shawn Robert Jackson of Pearland, Texas; Brooke Lee Yancey, Amanda Kaye Yancey, and Shelby Dawn Yancey of Collinsville, Texas; Garrett Michael Yancey and Tyler Shane Yancey of Collinsville, Texas; Courtney Nicole Yancey and Cassidy Elizabeth Yancey of Dallas, Texas; Emily Claire Jeffcoat and Allison Paige Jeffcoat of Leander, Texas; Corban Burch and Sarah Elizabeth Burch of Loranger, Louisiana; Alice Marie Robertson and Carol Chalacy Robertson of Ponchatoula, Louisiana; Michael Yancey Steady and Beau Tyler Steady of Atlanta, Georgia; Josie Burch Newman and her husband Steven; and Jessica Burch Smith and her husband, Willie of Loranger, Louisiana; and six great-great-grandchildren: Annabelle Reese Shrader and Heidi Noel Shrader of Humble, Texas; and Elie Nicole Merz of Katy, Texas; Stephanie Newman, Owen Smith, and Benjamin Smith of Loranger, Louisiana; and she leaves behind scores of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Visitation is Friday, May 15, 2009 from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. at the Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home, 848 Keyser Avenue, Natchitoches, Louisiana. Funeral Services celebrating Harriet’s life will be held Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 10 a.m. in the funeral home chapel, with Bill Pratt, minister of the Church of Christ on Grand Ecore Road officiating. Interment will follow at Memory Lawn Cemetery, Natchitoches, LA. Her grandsons will serve as Pallbearers. In lieu of floral tributes, the family requests memorials be made in Mrs.Yancey’s name to St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or on-line at www.stjude.org/donations