Alma Wells was born December 10, 1911, in El Campo, Texas and passed away peacefully in the Calder Woods Retirement Community in Beaumont, Texas December 22, 2009, at the age of 98.  She was the oldest of three children born to Charles Walter McFeron and Emma Zella Vandergrift.  Alma grew up along the Texas coast living in Hitchcock, and Galveston.  When she was about five, her father moved the family to a farm near York Nebraska.  His plan was to raise sugar beets for the war effort, but this venture was not as profitable as he had hoped so he moved the family back to Texas within a year.  When Alma was 14, her father was killed in an automobile accident.  This put the family under significant financial stress and Alma had to drop out of Galveston Ball High School to take on full-time employment.   She was never comfortable with the fact that she was unable to finish high school until many years later when her boss at Consolidated Steel explained to her that her professional accomplishments far and above exceeded any credential a high school diploma would have offered.  When she was in her early 20’s she worked as a night clerk at the new Jean Lafitte Hotel in Galveston. The duties of her job required her to make bus reservations for guests at the Greyhound bus terminal. She became friendly over the phone with a night clerk there named Hardy Clifton Hicks.  Finally after numerous conversations, they agreed to meet.  Many of their dates after that first meeting involved roller skating along the Galveston sea wall.  They married in 1933 in Hardy’s aunt’s home in Beaumont. Shortly after the wedding, Greyhound transferred Hardy to Pensacola, Florida and then later transferred him to New Orleans.   Wanda was born in New Orleans in 1935.  When Wanda was 5, Hardy became gravely ill from a heart condition that had been caused by childhood rheumatic fever.  His survival was doubtful and Alma closed the house in New Orleans and moved the family to Beaumont to live with Hardy’s brother Richard.  Alma reentered the workforce to support the family.  The only job she could find at the time during World War II was working as a secretary in the ship yard in Orange.  The family had to live with Richard for over a year until they were able to buy a house on the corner of Avenue A and Threadneedle.  Alma drove the long commute to Orange for several years until she landed a job in 1946 with Sun Oil in Beaumont.  She worked for Sun Oil for twenty-five years and took early retirement in 1971; she had worked her way up to be the executive secretary for the person in charge of worldwide acquisitions and mergers.    Alma’s strong sense of responsibility for her family that she demonstrated at 14 carried over throughout her whole life.  She helped ease some for the financial rough spots for her daughter and son-in-law as they both earned college degrees while raising three children. As her grandchildren approached and entered adulthood, they also knew that she was willing and able to back them up if the need arose.   Alma’s husband Hardy died of a heart attack in 1969 when both of them were sitting in their car about to back out of the driveway to go to church.  In 1970, Alma started spending some time with Don Wells who had lost his wife a few years earlier.  She and Don had known each other for many years since they both were members of Calvary Baptist Church with her membership dating back to 1940.  They married October 17, 1970.  The marriage was great for her, giving her a new burst of energy.  They traveled in the United States and overseas, participated in league bowling, played in a lot of bridge tournaments, hosted many 42 parties, and spent a lot of time at their beach house in High Island.  Don’s heart did not allow him to maintain such an active schedule for too many years and they adjusted to a slower paced lifestyle.  They liked to stay abreast of the national news and carefully followed the details of events like the Watergate scandal.  As Alma and Don aged, they each provided a lot of support to the other right up to Don’s passing in 1997.   Alma diligently kept up with the activities of her ever increasing family.  A phone call would many times take the format of her going down the roster to get an accounting of what each of the great grandchildren and great great grandchildren were doing.  She was proud of her family and missed the arrival of three new great great grandchildren by a few days.  While she never had the opportunity to hold them in her lap, she had already held them in her heart for many months.   Alma is survived by her daughter, Wanda Hicks Kelley and her husband Dr. D. Duane Kelley; grandchildren, Dr. Van Clifton Kelley and his wife Sue, Carolyn Barnes and her husband Lindsey, and Janet Ross and her husband Phil; twelve great grandchildren; and five great great grandchildren.  She also enjoyed her role as a stepmother for Don’s children, Dr. Donald C. Wells III and his wife Erin, Vivian Buehler and her husband Hans, and Robert E. Wells and his wife Anne; six grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.   Her funeral service will be 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 24, 2009, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont with burial to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. A gathering of her family and friends will begin at 1:00 p.m. Thursday at Broussard’s.  

Memorial contributions may be made to Lighthouse for the Blind, 214 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California 94102.