Vernice McElyea Stanhope

ODESSA The Lord has called another Angel to Heaven. With a smile and then release from earthly suffering, Vernice Elna McElyea Stanhope, ascended from this life on November 6, 2004, surrounded by her loved ones. Vernice was born on Sept. 2, 1917, in Snyder, Texas, to Fred and Hattie Hall McElyea.
Raised during the depression era, she learned early about working hard. She grew up working in the cotton patch alongside her parents and siblings.
Later she was left with two small children to raise and she worked outside the home plus taking in ironing and sewing for the public. She was an immaculate housekeeper and an accomplished seamstress. She moved to Odessa in 1946, after marrying again. She was staying at home and was raising her by then three children when tragedy befell, her husband was killed in an accident once again leaving her to raise her three children. She went back to work for the school system where she was the pastry cook in a school cafeteria. She loved that job. She remarried and had another daughter. She enjoyed her family and would host many family gatherings at home. She will be remembered for her famous chocolate pies and her porcupine meatballs.
Not a family gathering went by without them! She was left with another sorrow in her heart after the death of her husband in 1964. She went to work for Cloth World and worked there until she remarried again. She was widowed for the third time in 1990. After that she spent her time alone enjoying her family and friends. She cherished her friends from church and spent much time visiting with them in person and on the phone. She was able to keep in contact with friends from her early childhood and was one of the last to survive that group. She will always be remembered for her laugh and her smile. Even through the rough times she always had a smile for you. She will be deeply missed by many whose lives she touched. She was a member of Sherwood Church Of Christ, where she had attended faithfully until her health would no longer permit. She taught bible school for many years and remembers with fondness all of her students. She talked about them all frequently.
Vernice followed these other Angels to Heaven, her parents; two brothers, Henry O. and J.D. McElyea; her sons, Donny Smith and Kelly A. Owen; and her late husband, Delbert Stanhope.
She is survived by her son, David Smith and wife, Janie, of Plano; two daughters, Elizabeth Ann Noble and husband, Clinton, and Raye Vern Bell and husband, Ring, all of Odessa; daughter-in-law, Ada Smith of Irving; stepdaughter-in-law, June Owen Merrell and husband, Roy; three stepdaughters, Jeanett Cook and husband, Bob, Oneta Schurbon and husband, Roger, Guienda Christopher and husband, Ronnie of Dallas and Manvel. She is also survived by two sisters, Violet Walker of Odessa and Wanda Mitchell and husband, Francis, of Josephine, TX; two brothers, Calvin McElyea and wife, Sue, of Selma, TX., and Randy McElyea and wife, Vivian, of Odessa; an uncle, Council Hall and wife, Naomi, of Gardendale; aunt, Jean Hall of Colorado City; along with numerous nieces and nephews and friends. She is also survived by 29 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services are scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, November 10, 2004, at Sherwood Church Of Christ with ministers from Sherwood Church Of Christ officiating. Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens. Memorials may be sent to Odessa Christian School.
Services entrusted to Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home.