Lorena Albrecht

Lorena “Sis” Mary Albrecht was born in Davilla, Texas on April 9th, 1915, near Holland, Texas and passed away Monday, August 5, 2013. Her parents were William Carl “Willie” and Lena Augusta (Spiegelhauer) Fischer. Lorena graduated from Holland High School in 1934 and it was there that she took normal academics as well as agriculture and sports. She was talented in tennis and was awarded First Place in Girl’s Doubles in the Bell County Interscholastic League in 1932. She was especially talented in math due to her first job after school and weekends at the Liles Grocery Store in Holland, Texas. Lorena’s Agricultural class took a field trip to Taylor, Texas, where she meet her true love Curtis Carl Albrecht. The Fischer and the Albrecht farms resided about eight miles apart, they both attended, were baptized, and confirmed in the St. John’s Lutheran Church. On October 11, 1936, they were married at the age of 21. The two headed south to farm in Taft, Texas, for a short time and onto Petronila where they farmed and lived for over seventy years. Lorena complimented Curtis by keeping farm records and truly enjoyed farm life as that was her families love as well. She and Curtis loved to dance and really enjoyed their travels with family and friends. She also was a beautiful seamstress, she sewed her own wedding dress and that of her bridesmaids. She continued to sew her children’s clothes all the way through high school and beyond. She spent quality time with her children and grandchildren, making sure there multiplications skills were memorized, playing games of dominos to sharpen their math skills, and she continued to excite her family with fun activities. One of the events most descriptive of her energy and pursuit of her life interests was her decision to revive her childhood interest in tennis. At age 80 she built a tennis court for the family and made personal use for play and practice, this led her to an 8th ranking in National Senior Women’s at age 89. She always had a full course home cooked meal at lunch for Curtis daily and during harvest she took home cooked meals to the field. Lorena participated in the Community activities; The Petronila School PTA, The Par Advanced Club, and The Cotton Wives of South Texas. Lorena is preceded in death by parents, three brothers; Ernest Gus, Henry Albert, Lorena is preceded in death by parents, three brothers:Ernest Gus, Henry Albert, and Arthur William Fischer, two sisters; Leola Ida Fischer (Gersbach), Lillie Lena Fischer, one daughter and son-in-law; Mary Ann (Wayne) Hurt, one nephew; Kenneth “Kenny” Gersbach, one niece; Genevieve Lorena Fischer. Lorena is survived by one daughter; Christine Caroline (Dewey) Smith of Corpus Christi and one sister; Leatha Ella Svadlenak of Houston, Texas. Lorena was lovingly known as “Grandma” to her grandchildren; Carolyn (Melvin) Burch of Petronila, Randy (Lori) Harwell of Robstown, Nathan (Becky) Hurt, Silas and Andrew Hurt of Houston. Lorena was blessed to have and love six great grandchildren; Courtney and Curtis Burch, Austin and Abigail Harwell, and Travis and Amanda Hurt. Two nieces; LaWanda (Wilbur) Ball of Waco, Texas, and Rita Kaye Angrisiani of Naples, Italy. Two nephews; Ernest Collis (Kathi) Fischer of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Joe Allen Svadlenak of Houston, Texas. Also, many great nieces, nephews, and cousins. Visitation will be on Thursday, August 8, 2013 from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. at Sawyer-George Funeral Home. Funeral services will be conducted on Friday, August 9, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. in the Sawyer-George Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Bill Simmons officiating. Memorial services will be conducted on Saturday, August 10, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. at the St. John Lutheran Church in Bartlett, Texas. Burial will follow in the St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers are: Randy and Austin Harwell, Melvin and Curtis Burch, Nathan Hurt and Joe Allen Svadlenak. The family would like to thank everyone at Mirador Plaza and Harbor Hospice of Gulf Coast for their special care and support. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to St. John’s Lutheran Church, P. O. Box 70, Bartlett, Texas, 76511 or your favorite charity. Curtis Carl Albrecht was born in the country near the farming community of Bartlett, Texas, on June 21, 1915 and passed away Friday, August 2, 2013. His parents were Martin Emil and Dora Freida (Friedrich) Albrecht. Curtis’s education consisted of normal Academics and Agricultural Classes. While on an Agricultural Class Trip to Taylor, Texas, it was there he set serious eyes on Lorena “Sis” Mary Fischer, even though they were familiar with one another since they both attended, were baptized, and confirmed in the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Bartlett, Texas. They attended different High Schools and Curtis graduated from Bartlett High School in 1934. The Albrecht and the Fischer farms were about eight miles apart. Curtis married Lorena in 1936, they were both twenty-one years old and they immediately headed south for the Coastal Bend to farm. Curtis and Lorena’s love of land and farming was instilled by their own family roots. Curtis was driven to conserve and accomplish his farming career by the determination of hard work after they both had experienced and seen the harder times of what the Great Depression had shown. They farmed in Taft, Texas, for a short time before moving to Petronila where they farmed and lived for over seventy years. Curtis learned quickly the difference of Blackland farming to that of his roots of Bell County. Curtis and Lorena were a team, their hard work ethic allowed them to always have time to work and a time to play, always looking forward to the next year’s crop. Curtis truly loved the land for everything it supplied; a wholesome living, vegetables, fruits, and crops. Curtis had an open mind to new farming innovations and techniques while holding onto the proven and adopting the new advancement in equipment and technology, it thrilled him to see change that helped improve the overall farming applications and production. He continued to look ahead to the future and always reading and educating himself on ways he could improve his operation. Curtis was a participant in many Community organizations and activities: serving on Board of Directors for 32 years of the Federal Land Bank (Capital Farm Credit), one of the first founders of the Petronila Grain Co-op and Gin, School Board of the Petronila School, Board Member of the Violet Water, City Councilman of Petronila, and advocate of conservation and preservation of the land. Curtis is preceded in death by his parents, one sister Edna Bailey, two brothers Oscar and Monroe, daughter and son-in-law Mary Ann (Wayne) Hurt, and one niece Delores Dusek. Curtis is survived by daughter, Christine Caroline (Dewey) Smith of Corpus Christi. Curtis was lovingly known as “Papa” to his grandchildren, Carolyn (Melvin) Burch of Petronila, Randy (Lori) Harwell of Robstown, Nathan (Becky) Hurt, Silas and Andrew Hurt of Houston. Curtis was blessed to have and love six great-grandchildren, Courtney and Curtis Burch, Austin and Abigail Harwell, and Travis and Amanda Hurt. Two nieces: Carol Martin (Brown) of Palestine, Texas, and Elizabeth (Walter) Geyer of Dallas, Texas. One nephew, Edwin (Vickie) Bailey of Houston, Texas. Also, many great nieces, nephews, and cousins. Visitation will be on Thursday, August 8, 2013 from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. at Sawyer-George Funeral Home. Funeral services will be conducted on Friday, August 9, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. in the Sawyer-George Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Bill Simmons officiating. Memorial services will be conducted on Saturday, August 10, 2013 at 10:00 A.M. at the St. John Lutheran Church in Bartlett, Texas. Burial will follow in the St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers are: Randy and Austin Harwell, Melvin and Curtis Burch, Nathan Hurt and Joe Allen Svadlenak. The family would like to thank everyone at Mirador Plaza and Harbor Hospice for their special care and support. Visitation with family will be at . Memorial will be on In lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to St. John’s Lutheran Church P.O. Box 70 Bartlett, Texas, 76511 or your favorite charity.