Tommie Dean Davis HerrenFuneral services for Tommie Dean Davis Herren, age 85, of Fellowship Community, Dubach will be held Sunday, February 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM at Fellowship Baptist Church outside Dubach, LA. Dr. Charles Foxworth of Ruston will be officiating and Bro. Connie Smith, pastor at Fellowship, will assist. Burial will follow in theContinue Reading
Tommie Dean Davis HerrenFuneral services for Tommie Dean Davis Herren, age 85, of Fellowship Community, Dubach will be held Sunday, February 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM at Fellowship Baptist Church outside Dubach, LA. Dr. Charles Foxworth of Ruston will be officiating and Bro. Connie Smith, pastor at Fellowship, will assist. Burial will follow in the Fellowship Cemetery.Mrs. Herren passed away on January 30, 2015 in Bernice, LA. She had been a resident at the Bernice Nursing & Rehab center in Bernice for the last 4 ≈í© years of her life. On August 30, 1929, Miss Tommie, as she was known to friends and neighbors, was born in the home of her parents, Beatrice Hogg Davis and Burl Marvin Davis in Fellowship Community. With the exception of six years lived in Ruston, LA, during the 1970 and the last 4 ≈í© years of her life, she was a life-long resident of that community.As a child of the Great Depression, she learned the values of a strong work ethic, resourcefulness, and planning for a rainy day. Miss Tommie lived her life by the philosophy, If it worth doing, it worth doing right.During her elementary and high school years at Dubach School, she excelled and was the Valedictorian of the graduating class of 1946.Shortly after graduating, she attended a wedding where she met Allen Fowler Herren. Despite the fact that he had grown up in Hico, LA, just a few miles from Dubach, and that his father had a shoe repair shop in Dubach, their paths had never crossed before. After a whirlwind courtship, they were wed on October 25, 1946, and began a marriage and partnership that lasted for more than 61 years. Miss Tommie had just turned 17, and her new husband was not quite 22.In August of the following year, eleven days before her 18th birthday, Miss Tommie rejoiced in the birth of their first-born, Allen F. Herren, Jr.; two years later, the young family moved into a house in Fellowship Community that Mr. Herren built himself on two acres deeded to them by Burl Davis. In December 1952, their second child, Julie Diane, was welcomed.The next years were busy ones spent raising two small children, cooking and caring for their home, and sewing for both herself and her daughter. In summer, the seasonal task of harvesting and freezing the peas, butterbeans, corn, squash that her husband raised, making cucumbers from the garden into homemade pickles, picking wild berries and making jams and jellies, freezing peaches from the local orchard, and making applesauce and drying apples from the family small orchard made her days full ones.Miss Tommie had always wanted to further her education and become a teacher. In 1963, in an era when it was highly unusual for a wife and mother to return to school, she enrolled as a beginning freshman at what was then Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, now LA Tech University. Several demanding years of being a full-time student in addition to her responsibilities of caring for her home and family followed.During those years she earned top grades, and in her junior year was selected for membership in the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In May 1966, she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in education; in February 1968, she received her Master degree in education.Shortly after receiving her B.A., Mrs. Herren was hired by LA Tech to serve as an acting instructor in the Education Department for the school year 1966-67. She joined the faculty of Dubach School as the fourth-grade teacher for the school year 1967-68. After teaching there for two years, she was hired as a sixth-grade teacher at Cypress Springs Elementary in Ruston, LA, for the school year 1969-70. In the fall of 1970, she rejoined the faculty of the College of Education at LA Tech as an acting instructor. From 1971-73, she served as an instructor, and in the fall of1973 was made an assistant professor. In November 1975, she received her Specialist degree in Elementary Education. She retired from LA Tech as a professor in 1983.During her tenure at LA Tech, Miss Tommie was recognized as the Outstanding Teacher in the College of Education for 1973. Also in 1973, she received a Certificate of Appreciation for Service to the Teaching Profession from the Louisiana Teachers Association of which she was a member. She also belonged to the Louisiana Association of Higher Education, and served for several years as the faculty sponsor of the Student Louisiana Teachers Association. From the year 1976-77, she was included in the publication Personalities of the South in recognition of past achievement and outstanding service to her community and state.Her faith in God and her faithfulness to her church were always top priorities. Much as she loved teaching school, much greater was her joy in teaching the story of Jesus and His love. That was evident throughout her life at Fellowship Baptist Church, Emmanuel Baptist Church of Ruston, and Sharon Baptist Church. Through the years, she taught G. A., Vacation Bible School, children Sunday School Classes, college age Sunday School and young married Sunday School classes. Her last years of teaching were for the Sunday School class of the Sharon Baptist Church group of senior adults whom she dearly loved.Miss Tommie always said, God called me to teach. That what Im supposed to do. Whenever someone was introduced to her as being a doctor or lawyer or CPA or engineer or judge, her reply was, Hello, Im a teacher. That exactly what Miss Tommie was, a teacher and an example for her children, her friends, her students, and her community. Miss Tommie was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years. Allen F. Herren, Sr.; her parents, Beatrice and Burl Davis of Fellowship Community, Dubach; a precious granddaughter, Mary Lee Herren of Dubach; a cherished sister-in-law, Sue Elkins Davis of Ruston; and a dear brother-in-law and friend, Doil Herren of Bernice.She is survived by her son, Allen F. Herren, Jr. and daughter-in-law Glennis of Fellowship Community, Dubach; her daughter, Julie Herren Kirk and son-in-law Don of Diana, TX; her grandson, Michael Allen Herren of San Diego, CA; her granddaughter, Emily Kathryn Kirk Bien and grandson-in-law, Jason of Tyler, TX; her great-granddaughter, Ella Noel Bien of Tyler, TX; her brother, Billy M. Davis of Ruston, and a host of nephews, nieces, and cousins.Pallbearers will be Richard E. Roberson, Clyde Colvin Green, Jr., Tommy Frederick, Kevin Herren, Loydean Colvin, Henry Watts, and David Green.Visitation will be Saturday, January 31, 2015 from 5-7 PM at Kilpatrick Funeral Home of Ruston, LA.Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.kilpatrickfuneralhomes.com
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