Leola T. Garrett

Leola T. GarrettLeola Tanner Garrett, 97, passed away on March 19, 2013. She was born in Bastrop County to Napoleon Bonaparte Tanner and Lillie Robinson Tanner on January 22, 1916. In 1927, her family moved to Kingsville, Texas where she graduated from H.M. King High School. Leola then attended Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M Kingsville) and graduated in 1937. She served one year as secretary to Mr. J. E. Conner, dean of the college. In 1938, she began her career as a teacher of business courses at Bishop High School. In her thirty-one years of teaching, almost every student graduating had taken typing with Mrs. Garrett.In 1971, upon the death of her husband, Fred Garrett, Justice of the Peace, she was appointed to fill his unexpired term of one and a half years. During this time, she came to be known as the 'Lady Judge'.Mrs. Garrett was a member of the First Baptist Church of Bishop, Texas and the Bishop Chamber of Commerce. In 1983, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the chamber. In 1985, members of the classes of 1942-1947 voted to establish a scholarship to honor both Mrs. Leola Garrett and Mrs. Myrtle Wakeland Roper. The scholarships are given each year to a graduating senior who plans to become a teacher.Leola was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Fred Garrett, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter Patsy Lynne, DeWitt, and Melinda Gayle Lynn, brother, N.B. Tanner, Jr. and sister, Naomi Wesley.She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Virginia Gayle and Marvin Filla, grandchildren, Jimmy (Brigette) Filla, Stacy Filla, Ryan (Maggie) Filla, and great-grandchildren Dylan, Alexa, Kalynne, Caleb and Jackson, Sister, LaVerne Wesson, niece, Glenda Vickery, Nephews, Bonn Tanner, Jimmy (Dawn) Tanner, George (Daryl) Tanner, Robert (Dana) Wesson, and Gary (Marylynn) Wesson.Visitation will be held on Friday, March 22, 2013, from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at Turcotte-Piper Mortuary with the family being present from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church, Bishop, Texas, with Bro. Clif Abshier officiating. Burial will follow the service at Restland Cemetery.Honorary Pallbearers: Kenneth Nelson, O'Neal Towery, Charles Schooley, Clarence Frels, and Howard Hensley.Pallbearers: Jimmy Filla, Ryan Filla, Don Patrick, Ray Patrick, Gary Miller, Bonn Tanner, Robert Wesson and Gary Wesson.In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church, 311 E. 5th Street, Bishop, Texas 78343 or to the Bishop Restland Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 142, Bishop, Texas 78343.Condolences may be offered at turcotte-pipermortuary.com