VERDA MAXINE BECK CALVERT, 96, of Southlake,
TX passed away on Feb. 17, 2025, with interment at
Bullock Cemetery near Ranger, TX.
Verda, or also affectionately known as Maxine, was born
on Oct. 30, 1928 in Stephens County, TX to parents,
Charles & Lera Beck. She was a graduate of Ranger High
School in 1945, and attended University of Maryland
College Park, MD in 1969. She also attended two years
at Texas Christian University.
Maxine's first job was working behind the counter at the
soda shop in Ranger. She worked as cashier, bookkeeper
and secretary at JCPenney's in Ranger. For three years,
she kept books, correspondence in Spanish and English,
interviewing, pay roll and interpreting for the Spanish
laborers for The Biggest Little Rodeo in all of Spain.
She was a Secretary in Omaha, NE. She worked for an
Orlando, FL Office Supply requiring her to dictate and
type contracts & earned a GS2 while in Florida. Maxine
was also a secretary to the Registrar at TCJC Northeast
Campus and a secretary to the Registrar at the TCJC Main
office in downtown Fort Worth, TX.
She has also worked as a Sunday school teacher, children's
choir leader, sang alto in the adult church choir, and was
on many committees helping her churches in their endeavors.
Maxine loved to play the piano. She first played the Boogie
Woogie for the Ranger Lions Club. She played piano for several
of the churches that her family attended. She was also a very
good seamstress. Maxine organized a Women's Flag Team on
Horseback in Spain, where she sewed all 50 state flags for 50
women to carry on horseback. She rode her beautiful white
stallion named Regallo in the rodeos in Spain. She also sewed
her daughters' Seville Feria dresses for them to wear during
the ferias each year in Spain. She enjoyed gardening and her
lawn was lawn of the month in Riverside, CA. Maxine built a
Shaklee business with her husband, Jim, and daughters which
allowed her to travel to many places including Paris, Australia,
and Japan. She also enjoyed babysitting their grandchildren.
Maxine was preceded by her husband, James Calvert; parents,
Charles & Lera Beck; and her brother, Corvis Beck (RHS-1939).
She is survived by her daughters, Vicki Fischer and husband,
Gary and Becki Fowler & husband, Harley; grandchildren, Stephen
and Lisa Fowler, Lisa Kay Williams, Shari Adams, Wendi (David)
Conley, and Greg (Heather) Fischer; great-grandchildren, Jose
Veliz, James Fowler, Isabella Fowler, Spencer Ansell, Joshua
and Jade Evans, Cameron and Marissa Ansell, Autumn Ansell and
Nick Page, Drake Tidwell, Brandon Adams, Brooke Adams, Jacob
Sparling, Chloe (Chris) Sparling-Howeth, Kailey (Josh) Howeth,
Tanner (Tori) Conley, Chase Conley, and Mattie Conley; and
great-great-grandchildren, Juniper, Jack and Cordelia (Birdie)
Evans, Millie and Gavin Ansell, Legend and Valley Page, Josie
Howeth, and Wyatt Sparling-Howeth.
HUSBAND: JAMES ODLE CALVERT, 73, a self-employed
distributor for Shaklee Inc. & a retired U.S. Air Force
lieutenant-colonel, died in Bedford, Dec. 29, 1996 with
interment was in Bullock Cemetery near Ranger, TX.
Col. Calvert was born Sept. 8, 1923, in Ranger, Eastland
County, TX, and raised in Ranger where he graduated from
Alameda High School in 1941 & later graduated from Ranger
Jr. College. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He
was a veteran of WWII and served as a top gunner in a
B-26. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross,
Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart during his service. He
was awarded the Silver Anvil Award for producing and
participating in American rodeos under Ambassador Henry
Cabot Lodge People to People Program while stationed in
Spain. Having attained his doctorate of science during
his military career, he joined the faculty of Texas
Christian University. He was a member of North Richland
Hills Baptist Church and a 32nd degree Mason, Shriner,
and Knight Templar.
Survivors: his wife, Maxine Calvert of North Richland
Hills; daughters, Vicki Fischer of North Richland Hills
and Becki Fowler of Blue Mound; brother, Gerald Calvert
(RHS-1934) of Sun City, AZ; sister, Marj Lamb of Ranger,
and five grandchildren.