Mrs. Fannie Dyer Stretcher, 93, of Mount Vernon passed away in Beaumont, Texas on March 28, 2024, following a brief illness.
Mrs. Stretcher was born on March 6, 1931, in Franklin County to King David and Zettie Elliott Dyer. She was a descendant of the Keith family that helped settle the region during the time of the Republic of Texas and for whom Franklin County’s first community and post office were named.
Mrs. Stretcher resided in Mt. Vernon until she married Frank Stretcher on June 11, 1949. They remained married until Mr. Stretcher’s death in 1993. The newlyweds moved to Commerce so that Frank could complete the final year of his degree at East Texas State, while she completed the 12th grade at Commerce High School. Although she only attended Commerce High School for one year, she remained in contact with some of her Commerce classmates until late in life.
The couple moved to Purley in 1950, to Saltillo in 1952, to Millsap in Parker County in 1965, back to Saltillo in 1974, and when Frank retired in 1986, they relocated to their beloved cattle farm.
Fannie worked as a teacher’s aide at Millsap from 1970 to 1974 to help put her boys through college. She then worked as a teacher’s aide/librarian at Saltillo School from 1974-1996.
Fannie was a 65-year member of the Saltillo/Mt. Vernon Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star and served as Worthy Matron in 1961. In Eastern Star she received many certificates for ritualistic excellence and proficiency. She also was President of the Saltillo Parent-Teacher Organization and organized, and served as Den Mother for, a Cub Scout Pack in Saltillo.
She enjoyed the flowers and shrubs around her house and participating in the activities of her grandchildren. She spent many hours tracing the genealogy of the Dyer, Elliott, and Stretcher families and was a member of the Franklin County Genealogy Society. She also supported the activities of the Franklin County Historical Association as well as the Collier’s Chapel Cemetery Association—the ancestral resting place of many of her Dyer and Elliott relatives.
She was an ardent supporter of Saltillo High School basketball and achieved a dream of sorts when she watched her granddaughter Victoria play in the State Tournament in Austin in 2013. She once remarked that she supposed she had seen more Saltillo games than anyone, reaching back from 1952 through 2015.
She was preceded in death by her husband Frank Cyril Stretcher, her parents, sisters Oleta Stretcher and Allen Ruth Martin, and brothers J. D. and Bill Dyer. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law: Gary and Nancy of Port Neches; Keith and Sheryl of Midland; and Kelly and Patty of Dayton. She has six grandchildren: Jennifer and husband David Weber of Victoria; John and wife Laci of Midland; Amy and husband Jonathan Burkes of Midland; Emily and husband Scott Bonds of Katy; Victoria and husband Casey Swarts of Mt. Vernon; and James Frank of College Station. She has five great grandchildren: Betsy, Lacey, and Brecklyn Burkes of Midland and Brody and Brady Bonds of Katy.
Visitation will be on Friday, April 5, 2024, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Sam B. Harvey funeral Home and the Funeral Service will be on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at Sam B. Harvey Funeral Home. Interment will be in the Mt. Vernon Cemetery.
