Elanor Irene Hafley Harvey

Eleanor Irene Hafley Harvey

Decatur

Funeral for Mrs. Eleanor Irene Hafley Harvey, 95, of Decatur, will be on Wednesday, December 26, 2012, at 11 a.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Roselawn Funeral Home will be directing. Burial will follow at Decatur City Cemetery.

Mrs. Harvey, who died on Friday, December 21, 2012, at her home with her family, was born on June 23, 1917, in Limestone County to Ransom Harvey Hafley and Mary Irene Riddle Hafley. She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 37 years, Thomas C. Harvey; sister, Mary Marvalene Shaw; and her stepdaughter, Gaye Harvey Phillips of Ft. Worth Tx.

She is survived by her daughter, Mary Eleanor Harvey Claborn (Ronald) of Decatur; her grandchildren, Cynthia Claborn Stevens (Darryl) of Alvin, Tx, and Rebecca Claborn Weaver, of Decatur; great-grandchildren Jordan Marie Weaver, of Decatur and Nathan Hume Stevens, of Alvin Tx.

Mrs. Harvey was a lifelong educator and loved teaching. She attended Mooresville-Belle Mina Middle School and Decatur High. In ninth grade, she lost her father to cancer where she had to move into her maternal grandmother's home. Life was tough with the Great Depression, losing her father, and moving all at once, however, her family was embraced with love from the grandparents, aunt Lucile and uncle Robert Riddle Aunt Kate and uncle Emmet Stockton kept her during the school week and because of the family support she was the high school valedictorian Class of 1934. Three great years were then followed up at Florence State Teachers' College where she made friends that lasted a lifetime. It was there where her high points in her career became clear in her roles in plays. They won for FSTC, a chapter in Alpha Psi Omeaga, dramatic fraternity. At the end of her junior year, she was offered a teaching job at Lafayette Street School in the Decatur system. She continued to teach five years at Lafayette after she married her husband just before he entered the army during World War II. She then taught six years at Joe Wheeler. After being out a year after the birth of her daughter, she returned to Veteran's School, one year at West Decatur Elementary School, three years at Decatur High School, and finally, 27 years at Walter Jackson. During this time with the encouragement and help of her husband Tom, she earned her Masters Degree in Education and her AA Certificate in Supervision and Curriculum Development with certification in Administration from the University of Alabama. The years at Walter Jackson were wonderfully fulfilling. The teachers were like family. That cooperation and love extended beyond retirement. After losing her husband in 1977, she was thankful to have God for her work and her health, and most of all her daughter, her husband, and her talented granddaughters. They stood by her through thick and thin.

She had a 75th Gala Birthday Party thrown by her children with lovely food and decorations. About 200 relatives and friends came to help celebrate. She had so much to be thankful for and her friends and family were a continual source of inspiration and love.

The family asks that any gifts be given to Westminster Presbyterian Church, Hospice of the Valley, or your favorite charity.

This obituary was originally published in the Decatur Daily.