Frances Loree "Sug" Hedgpeth

Frances Loree "Sug" Hedgpeth passed away peacefully on January 12th, 2026.

Sug was born on December 18, 1944, to B.M. and Pearl Westover. She was raised in Mathis by her mother, Pearl, and her aunt and uncle, Frank and Loree Russek. Sug's family was a branch of the Sutherland clan, a longtime and deeply rooted family in and around the Corpus Christi, Mathis, San Patricio, and Robstown areas.

Sug graduated from Mathis High School in May of 1962 and enrolled in a Beauty College in Corpus. Soon after, she met Don Hedgpeth at a dancehall in Orange Grove dancing to a performance by George Jones, and their first date was to see the movie "Hud." On November 25, they married in Corpus and honeymooned in Laredo. The young couple soon moved to Kerrville, a city that would serve as their home base throughout the decades despite stints in Oklahoma City, Cody, Wyoming, and Midland, Texas.

Sug is preceded in death by her husband of 55 years Don, her parents, her sister Mary Wade Henley. She is survived by her brother B.M. Westover, Jr., of Arlington, Texas, sons Cody of Houston and Clint (Julia) of San Antonio, and her five beloved grandchildren Jake, Cole, Gracie, Claire, and Clayton.

Sug and Don possessed a deep appreciation of western culture, art, and music. These led to them accumulating a network of friends, artists, and collectors, many of whom became as close as family. In his memoir "Remember Me to Them That Ride By", Don remembered Sug. He wrote how "during the boom time in Texas in the early 1980's, I remember how her eyes sparkled and how pretty she was all dressed up on an evening at the old Shamrock Hotel in Houston, or just us alone together on a small sailboat off the Florida coast....and dancing together to Bob Wills' music at a West Texas ranch house with an October full moon rising."

Sug will be buried next to her best friend and her companion in endless wonderful adventures, Don, in the Bandera Cemetery. If it were allowed, their beloved dog Bob would be buried there too.

Please visit Don and Sug in Bandera when you can. But don't stay too long.