Bessie Lee Atteberry Slaydon
Bessie Lee Atteberry Slaydon, 67, of Lumberton passed away July 31, 2005 at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth. She was born on March 23, 1938 in Imperial, California and was a resident of the Lumberton area since 1976 and taught for twenty years at Lamar University and loved every minute of it.
Bessie was a graduate of DeRidder High School, graduated from McNesse State University with a bachelor of science in nursing and obtained a masters degree in nursing from the University of Texas in Galveston She was a member of Sigma Theta Tau, a national honorary society for nurses.
As a child growing up in California, she enjoyed many years of going to the beach and sand dunes before moving to Louisiana in 1949 where she got to see her first snow fall. Now she will be able to return to the California beaches and sand dunes that she loved so much.
She loved traveling the wondrous sites of the United States, from the east coast of Virginia, to the west coast of California where she will spend her well deserved rest. One of her greatest joys was her twenty years teaching the extraordinary nursing students at Lamar University. Her fondest memory was the sixty purple roses her students presented her on her sixtieth birthday. The greatest love of her life was collecting beautiful dolls. This love of collecting she passed on to her beautiful granddaughter.
Bessie is survived by her husband, James W. Slaydon, Sr. of Lumberton; daughter, Cathy Diane Slaydon of Lafayette, Louisiana; sons, James Webster Slaydon, Jr. and Dr. James Lee Slaydon and his wife Gina all of Lumberton; sisters, Joy Delzell and her husband Merle of Ojai, California and Kimberly Gayle Hollandsworth and her husband Jeff of Savannah, Tennessee; brother, Bob Atteberry and his wife Barbara of New Caney, Texas; nephew, Luke Armstrong and many nieces and nephews; very special grandchildren, Christopher Daniel Slaydon and Kaitlin Elizabeth Slaydon.
Memorial services will be 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A gathering of family and friends will be Wednesday evening beginning at 5:00 p.m. until service time.
Memorial contributions may be made to Lamar University Department of Nursing, P.O. Box 10081, Beaumont, Texas 77710 or Arthritis Foundation, 2209 B Seventh Street, Port Neches, Texas 77651.
