Florence Foley

Florence Elizabeth Brown Foley of Alpine passed with peace and grace on Sunday, February 26, 2017. She was 95 years of age. Viewing will be at Alpine Memorial Funeral Home (209 W. Sul Ross Ave.) from 6-7pm Friday, March 3. Funeral service is planned on Saturday, March 4, at 10am at First Baptist Church, (203 N 4th St.) Alpine, Texas with graveside services to follow at Elm Grove Cemetery.
Mrs. Foley was a longtime resident of Alpine and was a Baptist by faith. She will always be remembered as a caring mother, grandmother and great grandmother whose greatest passions were love, service and hospitality to others.
She was born December 17, 1921 in Del Rio, Texas to Allen DeWitt and Lillie Christina Andersen Brown. She and her older brother Herbert were the third generation of a Texas ranching family. She grew up in and around Sanderson, Texas, and was 8 years old when agricultural prices began to crash downwards into the Great Depression. She learned to drive at a young age and loved to chauffeur her father out to the ranch. In high school, she especially enjoyed elocution classes and serving as a cheerleader with her future sister in law, Chich Canon. Following graduation as Valedictorian of her class of 14 from Sanderson High School in 1939, she enrolled at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Elizabeth completed her Bachelor's Degree in Business at Baylor in 1943, amidst the turmoil of WWII. She "ran" the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in San Antonio, and El Paso, Texas, while many of their male employees were fighting overseas. Later she worked various jobs in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, Evergreen, Colorado and New York City. Her desire to work as a professional woman around the country rather than marry at an early age was a strong indication of her adventurous spirit. She loved experiencing new cultures and had traveled to Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.
She also worked for several petroleum companies in the Permian Basin, and met Edward Foley, an International Petroleum Geologist for Standard Oil of New Jersey in Roswell, New Mexico. The two were married in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1954, when Elizabeth was 33, and over the next several years resided in Jusepin, Caracas, and Maracaibo, Venezuela.
In 1959 the family moved back to Texas and established their family home in Alpine, where Elizabeth lived until her death.
Elizabeth was a member and officer of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (for which she received a 50-year service award), an active volunteer with the Girl Scouts, Alpine Public Library, Sunshine House, Big Bend Regional Medical Center Hospital Auxiliary. She was a longtime member, teacher, leader and supporter of First Baptist Church in Alpine, and was also a founding member of one of the first Baptist churches in Venezuela. Elizabeth had attended Paisano Baptist Encampment since childhood, and was a lifelong benefactor of Baptist ministries. She continued to support Baylor University, and subtlety influenced all of her children to enroll at that same Baptist college.
Elizabeth's faith was extremely important to her, and even in her last few years while suffering from dementia, she was able to voice a daily prayer of thanksgiving reflecting the deep seated belief that she held in God. She also continued to sing along with favorite hymns and "I've been working on the Railroad" (because she had).
Elizabeth is survived by three loving children; Denis Foley and wife Rozolen of Alpine, Nina Foley of Alpine, and Patrick Foley and wife Lisa of Plano; 8 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, 2 nieces, and her loving caregiver of many years, Teresa Morgan. Elizabeth also had many, many friends throughout Texas and the United States.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward; her brother, Herbert Brown; and 1 niece, Diane Brown Ketzler.
In lieu of floral arrangements, memorial donations can be made to: the Alpine Public Library, Paisano Baptist Encampment or the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute.
The Foley family has entrusted Alpine Memorial Funeral Home with arrangements.
Online condolences may be made at www.alpinememorialfuneralhome.com

Visitation

Public Visitation

Alpine Memorial Funeral Home - Geeslin Chapel
209 West Sul Ross Ave.
Alpine, TX  79830
Friday, March 3, 2017
6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.

Service

Funeral Service

First Baptist Church
208 East Sul Ross Ave.
Alpine, TX  79830
Saturday, March 4, 2017
10:00 A.M.

Cemetery

Elm Grove Cemetery
East Ave. I
Alpine, TX  79830