Rosalie Frances Acord's Obituary
ROSALIE FRANCES GILBERT ACORD
Rosalie Frances Gilbert Acord--beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend--passed away Monday, July 18, 2011 in Longview, Texas at the age of 94 years. A service in celebration of her life will be held Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 2 p.m. at Rader Funeral Chapel in Longview with family receiving friends following the service. Officiating will be Keith Lybrand, Heart-to-Heart Hospice chaplain. Interment in San Antonio will be at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of Rader Funeral Home.
Born December 29, 1916 in Pittsburg, Kansas to George Charles Gilbert and Bernice Ruth Marvin Gilbert, she attended Pittsburg schools and graduated valedictorian of Pittsburg High School in 1934. She attended Kansas State Teachers College and graduated from business school in Oklahoma City, OK. On September 21, 1939, she married the love of her life, Thayer E. Ted Acord, in Oklahoma City and they celebrated sixty-two years of marriage before his death in May 2002.
The Acords made their first home in Schenectady, New York, where Thayer worked for the General Electric Company in a career that spanned 42 years. Shortly after the arrival of their first-born daughter Linda they moved to Dallas, Texas, their home for nearly thirty years. There the family grew with the additions of Karen, Ken, and Susan. Rosalie was involved in school/extracurricular activities of her children and also served as president of Charity League and Cresset Club. She was a member of the Garden Gate Garden Club, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the University Park United Methodist Church. In 1969 Thayer's employer transferred him to San Antonio and the Acords with their two youngest children made the move to the Alamo city where they lived for another thirty-plus years and were members of Coker United Methodist Church.
Rosalie spent the last seven years in Longview, Tx., five in independent living at Buckner Westminster and two at Hawkins Creek Assisted Living and Memory Care. The family wishes to extend a special thank you to both Buckner Westminster and Hawkins Creek staffs for their attentive care and loving concern of Rosalie's well-being and to Dr. Tim Tobin, Amy Stacey, P.A., Bethany Home Health, and Heart-to-Heart Hospice for their health care and support.
She shared her love of cooking, books, music, and gardening with her family and friends. She especially enjoyed babies and raising Siamese cats. She loved establishing traditions with family members and always made holidays and birthdays special. Her smile, quick wit. and sense of humor always brought joy to others. She was predeceased by her husband, her parents, a brother Robert Gilbert, brothers-in-law Max Bates and Randall Acord, sister-in-law Marion Acord, and niece Gia Reve Bates.
Survivors include her daughters and their spouses, Linda Pursley and Lee Wain of Longview, TX; Karen Shields and Jimmy of Mountain View, AR; Susan Murphie and Bill of Lexington, KY; and son Ken Acord of Austin, TX; grandchildren and great-grandchildren Stephen Pursley, wife Severine, and daughter Audrey of Fort Collins, CO., Susan Sutherland McKinney and daughters Katherine and Sarah of Dallas, TX, Todd Sutherland, wife Becki, and children Lauren, Emma, and Leyton of Frisco, TX; Greg Sutherland, wife Nicole, children Aimee and Scott Sutherland of Plano, TX, Catherine Murphie Hall, husband Ed of Chantilly, VA , and Alex Murphie of Lexington, KY; sister Georgia Eva Bates of Columbus, KS, and niece Gay Lynn Morgan of Columbus, KS.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, P.O. Box 199300, Dallas, TX 75219-9842, American Heart Association, 1125 Judson Road, Ste. 150, Longview, TX 75601, Coker United Methodist Church, 231 North Loop Rd., San Antonio, TX 78216, or charity of your choice.
What’s your fondest memory of Rosalie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Rosalie?
Share a story where Rosalie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Rosalie you’ll never forget.
How did Rosalie make you smile?