Velma Jean (Morrow) Fewell of Swisher Iowa formerly of Plano, Texas passed away on November 8, 2017 at the age of 84. She was born on December 31, 1932 to Everette James and Hazel Grant (Burns) Morrow in Boydsville, Arkansas. Velma married Henry Verl Fewell on December 2, 1955 in Kokomo, Indiana. She worked at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and Presbyterian Hospital in Plano where she retired after 20 years of nursing. Velma was a member of First Baptist Church in Plano since 1970.
Velma was known by many as one of the friendliest and kindest souls they ever met. She never met a person she didn’t hug. She was a devout Christian and loved gospel music. Any time someone was in need, she opened her home and her heart to them. She was a true testament in the way she lived her life.
She grew up in Arkansas from humble beginnings on a farm, where she worked hard every day, especially picking cotton. She moved to Indiana later where she met the love of her life, Henry. Just a short while after they married, they moved to Fort Worth, Texas. That was where their first son, Alan was born. A few years later, they moved to Plano, Texas and she had her second child, a daughter Karen, in Dallas, Texas. She was overjoyed to be a parent to her two children. Along with being a doting mother, she was also a preschool teacher, a Sunday School teacher, and she volunteered at her children’s school often. She decided to go to nursing school later in life, and she graduated with her nursing degree in 1976. She worked on several floors, but her main work was in the emergency room, both at Presbyterian Dallas and Presbyterian Plano. She worked nights mostly, so she was always home to take her children to school in the morning, and she was always there when they arrived home.
When her children married and became parents themselves, she could not have been prouder of each of her grandchildren. Her entire life was then devoted to each and every one of them. She would show pictures of them and tell stories about them to everyone she met.
After her husband Henry died suddenly in 1997, she made the decision a year later to move from Plano, Texas, to Swisher, Iowa to be with her son, Alan and his family. She spent the rest of her days there. She could not have been happier to share her life with her grandchildren there, helping them with everything from homework to driving them home from the bus stop, to sewing special outfits for them. While living there, she would also travel back to Richardson to spend time with her daughter’s two children. She never turned down an opportunity to babysit and spend time with all of her grandchildren.
Velma had many talents. She was an excellent seamstress, did amazing crochet, needlepoint, and cross stitch projects. She was a wonderful gardener, and there wasn’t a job she wouldn’t tackle for home renovations. Velma lived a life full of love with the kindest heart. When she left us, she took a piece of everyone’s heart with her, and that place will never be filled until we see her again.
She is survived by her son, Alan Fewell and wife, Sarah of Swisher, Iowa; daughter, Karen Schneider and husband, Brad of Richardson, Texas; grandchildren, Lucas Fewell and wife, Rachael of St. Louis, Missouri, Molly Fewell, Tess Fewell and Annabelle Fewell all of Swisher, Iowa, Kasen Schneider and Holden Schneider both of Richardson, Texas; sisters, Maxine Dyer and Patricia Watson both of Kokomo, Indiana; and several nieces, nephews and other loving family and friends.
Velma was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Henry Verl Fewell; her granddaughter, Halle Jamison Schneider; and her brothers, Billy Donald Morrow and Vealous Gene Morrow.
A funeral service will be held at 12:00 noon, Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas. Interment will follow at Ridgeview Memorial Park in Allen. The family will receive friends during a visitation on Monday evening from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home.