Sue Carroll Verheyden

1936 - 2023

Sue Carroll Verheyden
09/10/1936 - 05/16/2023
Sue Carroll (Brugier) Verheyden, 86, of La Grange, passed away on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Sue was born in Houston, TX on September 10, 1936, the daughter of Clarence Brugier and Sue (Bingham) Brugier.

She married the love of her life, Jack C. Verheyden, and they married on September 6, 1958 in Houston, TX at St. Paul Methodist Church. The raised one son, Jack C. Verheyden, III.

She had a full and varied life, excelling in several different spheres and activities that were quite diverse. Introduced early as a child to the violin, she became accomplished and participated in the Houston Jr. Symphony Orchestra. Once, when the Administration of the senior body decided to give formal recognition to the younger musicians by choosing one of the younger body to participate in a concert of the senior musicians, they honored Sue Carroll by choosing her to be the one to play with the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

As a girl, Sue also performed publicly in ballet and danced Afro- Cuban on other occasions. She was accomplished as a student and graduated Salutatorian at Houston Milby High School in 1954. She attended Rice University, but this academic demand occasioned her giving up the violin. She majored in German, and she gained a life long appreciation of being named to the German National Honor Society for her work. Rice has a long reputation for high academic vigor and few of its girls pursued beauty contests, but Sue Carroll did and often was successful. Her biggest success in this respect was being named Miss Houston by the Houston Chamber of Commerce. She was still 18 and stood a fraction under 5 feet tall in June 1955 when she was selected and fulfilled this role until June 1956. No Rice girl had accomplished this until she did, and apparently that continued to be the case for the rest of the 20th Century. She was popular and chosen as a favorite in the Rice Annual Yearbook. She was a majorette that marched with the Rice Band at events such as football games.

Following Graduation from Rice, she married Jack, an earlier Rice Student. They first lived for several years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A famous teacher of Tray Painting taught in the Cambridge area and Sue Carroll became a dedicated student of hers. She became a leading exponent of Tray Painting. However, as with the violin, a change in life caused her not to continue in this quality art.

She moved with her family to Claremont, California. She soon entered public school teaching. The city of Pomona adjoins Claremont, and she was part of Pomona School District for 28 years. Her very first year saw the pupils giving her the nickname "Mighty Mouse". She soon underwent some retooling and settled in as a teacher in the fields of Biology and Physiology. She was immensely influential on many students, some who have stayed in touch through the years. She earned recognition for her teaching effectiveness time and again.

Sue Carroll's biological interest carried over into a more personal orientation with animals. Birds were especially central. Her ability of taking care of birds became known in Claremont and Pomona. People who found injured or infant birds lost out of their nest called the Biology teacher in order to give them to her. She came to have about 140 birds, kept in large cages in her back yard. When she moved 15 years ago from Claremont to La Grange, this large number was long gone.


Sue Carroll loved to play tennis. She belonged to the Claremont Tennis Club. The Club in the 1990's had a over 50 years of age women's team that won the national title competed for by such clubs.
She was a member of that team, small in size but very coordinated.

In her elderly years, she often complimented women she saw in public life for how they presented- the style and décor of their hair, of their eyes, of skin care, etc. Later, some of these women indicated that they had been influenced by her remarks and appreciated that they did.

She is survived by her loving husband, Jack C. Verheyden; son, Jack C. Verheyden, III of La Grange, TX; brother, Clarence "Butch" E. Brugier of Angleton, TX; niece, Lori Walters of Richmond, TX; and nephew, Ray Brugier of Needville, TX.

Funeral Services were held at Koening-Belvill Funeral Home & Cremations, 208 W. Pearl, La Grange, TX, at 2:00 p.m., on Friday, June, 2, 2023, with Rev. Andy Smith officiating. Burial will be on June 6, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. at Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery.