Elda "Lois" Elois Caddell's Obituary
Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown…
Elda (Lois) Elois Clement Caddell was born March 1, 1939 to Jesse Doyle Clement and Mayme Inez Campbell Clement in Electra, Texas.
Lois’ father worked the west Texas oil fields until finally settling the family in Big Lake, Texas where he owned and operated a café on the main road that ran through town. Lois had one brother, Don and two sisters, Phyllis and Patty.
Lois matriculated to Sul Ross College in Alpine, Texas in 1958. After completing secretarial training in 1961, Lois moved to Houston, Texas where she took employment in a small law firm as a legal secretary. While in Houston she met Leon (Lonnie) Jones Caddell Jr., a collegiate athlete who was pursuing his degree in accounting at Rice University. Lois and Lonnie were married on May 4, 1963, not long after Lonnie graduated. Lois and Lonnie continued to work in their chosen professions in Houston through the birth of their first son, Lyle Jeffery Caddell in November 1964.
In 1966, Lois and Lonnie moved to a suburb of Dallas, Texas where Lonnie took employment as an accountant at Texas Instruments. In May 1970, Lois and Lonnie welcomed their second son, Lance Jade Caddell. Needing a larger home, the family moved a bit farther north near Plano, Texas. There, Lois took up selling Tupper Ware and getting involved in the local PTA and Methodist Women’s organizations and winning Yard of the Year awards from the neighborhood gardening club. All while continuing to run the household.
In March 1974, Lois and Lonnie welcomed their third child, Leith Jesse Caddell. The spare bedroom was converted to a nursery and the family dog had to get used to a toddler pulling on his coat. In 1977, Texas Instruments relocated Lonnie to the office in Houston, Texas. Lois was first into the family station wagon with the kids and dog in tow. Now the boys’ sports schedule, gardening and the School Booster Club kept Lois pretty busy.
In December 1982, the family returned to the Dallas suburbs, to Rowlett, Texas. That has been where Lois and Lonnie have lived ever since. In a house with cranberry knobs on the all the kitchen cabinetry. Lois continued to ride herd on Lance and Leith, working in the High School nurse’s office and participating as Booster Club president, selling antiques and curios and oh yes creating award winning flower gardens in the neighborhood.
As the boys grew up, left the house and had families of their own, Lois settled into her new role and wife and Grandma. In June 1990, with the birth of Brandon, mom became grandma, and she met that challenge with gusto. She was a prayer warrior, praying for her kids and their families. Offering advice on raising kids when solicited and gentle jibes of her sons when her grandkids weren’t toeing the mark. In February 2015, wife and Grandma became wife and Great Grandma with the birth of Ryker. Child rearing advice was no longer needed,
but her intercessory prayer doubled and remained that way even as the insidious Alzheimer’s disease began to take its toll.
Lois is survived by her husband of 57 years, Leon J. Caddell Jr., sister Phyllis Crews, brother-in-law Ronald J. Caddell and his wife Betsy, son Lyle J. Caddell and his wife Cathy, son Lance J. Caddell and his wife Stephanie, son Leith J. Caddell and his wife Angi. Lois has eight grandsons and two granddaughters and two great grandsons and one great granddaughter.
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