Laveda Wright Obituary

Laveda Wright, 93 years old, formerly of Hale, MO passed away on April 29th, 2025, a granddaughter by her side at Morningside Center in Chillicothe, MO. She was born on August 11, 1931, in Pattieville, MO during the depression in the back room of the store owned and operated by her Grandparents, Carl Eugene and Bertie (Sanders) Pattie. Pattieville was located in Carroll County eight miles east of Carrollton on the north side of present 24 highway. She was the daughter of Lewis (Bud) Thomas and Evelyn (Pattie) VanDeventer. She attended the Carroll County one room Crispin school from 1937-1945 and from there, attended the Carrollton High School.
She was proceeded in death by her daughter, Gayle (Tietjens) and Gayle's husband, Robert Welchon of Boworth, MO, her parents, Lewis Thomas and Evelyn (Pattie) VanDeventer of DeWitt, MO, her brothers, Lewis Richard VanDeventer and his wife Cleta of Sibley, MO, Wilford Ray VanDeventer of DeWitt, MO, and nephew Terry Joe VanDeventer (Navy).
She is survived by four children. Patti (Tietjens) Burton (Steve) of Hale, MO, Jay Tietjens (Helen Story), of Holt, MO, Sarah (Wright) Bell, of Americus, KS, and David Wright (Verna) of Bosworth, MO, her only sister, Bertie A Sewell (Richard) of Houstonia, MO, one sister-in-law, Virginia VanDeventer of DeWitt, MO and several nieces and nephews. She is also survived by ten grandchildren: David Burton (Shannon) of Lenexa, KS, Kevin Burton (Adrienne) of Lee's Summit, MO, Kyle O'Dell (Connie) of Lenexa, KS, Patrick Kirk O'Dell (Billie) of Carrollton, MO, April (Tietjens) Jenkins (Craig) of Tina, MO, Lora Jo (Tietjens) Hatcher (David) of Kansas City, MO, Sarah I (Tietjens) Goodman of Lathrop, MO, Laveda Dawn (Broyles) Grant (Jeff) of Hale, MO, Jessi (Bell) Alvarez (Brian) of Americus, KS, Waylon Wright (Haylee) of Bosworth, MO, and Peyton (Wright) Harbert (Craig) of Hale, MO. Several Great Grandchildren and four Great Great Grandchildren.
She married Walter Wesley Tietjens. To this union three children were born. The first was Patti Jo born in the Staton Clinic in Carrollton, MO. They lived in rural DeWitt, MO for a short time. They then, with Patti, took their 20 ft. camper and followed work with family in Texas and Colorado. This work, among other things, was using bulldozers to turn under farm land. Walter Wesley took great pride in the fact Laveda could operate the bulldozers. During this nomadic adventure, the second child, Laura Gayle, was born in Wray, CO and then back to Texas. Ending their nomadic and wanderlust travels, the four of them returned to rural Triplett, MO, farming in Chariton and Carroll Counties. Here she was a devoted Mother and housewife. She cooked meals and made pies daily for the hired hands and family. Living here, their third child, Cecil Jay, was born in the Staton Clinic, Carrollton, MO. Her sister, Bertie was great help to her during this time. Following a divorce, Laveda, moved with her three children to Brunswick, MO. She survived with the help of her brother, Lewis, and taking in ironings. Sometimes, she would iron way into the night. Next, she
married, George Ernest Monroe Wright. They, and the three Tietjens' children, moved to DeWitt, MO on the MO river bluff just off 41 Hwy. To this union, two children were born, Sarah Ann first, and then David Monroe. They were both delivered in the Staton Clinic at Carrollton MO, by cousin Dr. R.H. Staton. Shortly after David's birth in 1960, they moved their family to 410 acres recently purchased by Ernest's folks in rural Dawn, MO. It is now known as Bunch Hollow Wildlife Area. This old home had no running water (unless the kids ran and got it) or indoor plumbing. It did, though, have plenty of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and an occasional scorpion and black widow spider. In fact, the first night they had moved in, she was putting a June bug that was trapped in the screen door, outside, when she saw what she first thought was a stick one of the kids had drug up on the porch. Even with little light, after spending time in Texas, she quickly realized the welcoming committee was a very large timber rattler. He would be one of the many (7-8) each summer that would greet her in the yard, cellar, chicken house, etc. She became quite the expert at killing them. A #2 long handled shovel was her weapon of choice. It stood at the SE corner of the house from June 1st through Labor Day. Every child knew where it was and to bring it to Mom when needed. Here she took on the duties of not only a mother, but a farmer's wife. She planted and harvested crops, tended cattle, hogs, fryer and layer chickens, a variety of pet dogs, a large garden, canning, cutting wood for winter, and putting up hay. The neighbor who baled for them would always set the bale weight to the lowest, as he knew she and the children would be bucking the bales. After chores were done, she found time to take the kids fishing and she would dress even the smallest ones they had caught to eat. She was also good at dressing rabbits and squirrels. She found time to be the President of the PTA of Tina-Avalon school where the children attended. They made and sold cook books, still being used today. While living at Bunch Hollow she found another passion. She was a self-taught original fixer-upper. She refinished and reupholstered furniture, remodeled a home, added on additions, put together cabinets, sheet rocked, painted, and once, sided the addition to the house with only a keyhole saw. She always said "you've got to make do with what you got" and "poor people, have poor ways". From Bunch Hollow, the family moved to the Jenkins place south of Tina on WW Hwy, for a short time. The family then moved to a house in Bosworth, MO. Shortly, she and Ernest divorced. Laveda was involved with the Bosworth PTA, helping with another cook book, where the kids attended school. Some time later, she married Jack Wright. She and her children then moved to his home on J Hwy in Hale, MO. Jack owned the Hale Locker on Main Street and she joined him in the business. She fit right in, with her hard work ethic, her ability in keeping the slaughter area, gut barrels, coolers, freezer, and processing area spotless and clean. She had a good business head on her shoulders and was good at dealing with the customers and USDA inspectors. For awhile, Laveda operated a small restaurant on Main Street with ice cream, sandwiches, and meals served. The fixer upper bug had followed her and Jack, was a willing partner. From then on, every home they bought there was a pattern. Today, they would call it flipping- purchase, make nice improvements, live there 5-7 yrs, sell-repeat. After several years, Jack and she sold the locker and their home and bought the Jim Broyles' homestead south of Hale, MO. They farmed, raised hogs, sheep and of course, remodeled. During this time, her daughter, Gayle, owned the Bosworth grocery store. It was at this time Jack and Laveda took over the store, due to Gayle's illness. They sold the Bosworth grocery store and the Broyles farm. They then bought a home with several lots on Sycamore St in Hale. While there Laveda worked for Betty Ponting at the Sumner Honey House. She cleaned, scrubbed, cooked, and waited tables. They next bought a mobile home and moved it to a site they leased on Cochenour Lake, in rural Bosworth. When the lake sold, they moved their home to one of their lots in Hale. They then bought Wooden's 40 acres south of Hale on Hurricane Creek, and moved their mobile home there and started another hog floor business. They sold this place and bought a home in Bosworth. Here, again, they made several improvements. Following her and Jack's divorce, she stayed in the home. Later, she sold her home and bought another located on the east side of town. She also worked for Sue Shields in her restaurant. She was on the Bosworth City Council and her proudest accomplishment was that she had a huge role in getting the BNSF railroad to fix the tracks and crossing on Main St, Hwy 139. Following a fall and bad shoulder break, she decided to sell her home and move to the Sunset Apartments in Hale, MO. She enjoyed her many friends there in the apartments. She stayed there for many years until dementia and a broken hip moved her to Morningside Center in Chillicothe, MO. There she received excellent care. She belonged to the Bosworth Christian Church. She always felt she and her children were so blessed to live in the U.S.A. She was American born and a true PATRIOT by choice, and knew freedom was not free. She lived through the depression era, WW II, with family members in the war and rations at home. Her Mother's sister was a Rosie Riverter. Her brother, Lewis, had been in the Korean War and seen the worst of it. This all had affected her. She believed in hard work, no matter what it was and never shirked from it. She instilled that in her children and grandchildren-laziness, backtalk, cheating, lying or whining was not tolerated. Never idle hands. Always take pride in your work no matter the job. She was a very strong, proud, independent woman. She loved hosting large family dinners and was an excellent cook, with homemade ice cream and pies being her specialty. She was short on patience, but when it came to her favorite pastime, fishing, she seemed to find the patience of Jobe. She loved playing cards with friends and family, country music and dancing. She loved quilting, tanning hides and furs, crocheting, crafting, making stuffed animals, reading, wiener roasts, sled riding, macrame, laughing, and having fun. She loved family history and was the keeper of the VanDeventer and Pattie histories. She was proud of the fact that her Grandmother Bertie (Sanders) Pattie's father, Killus Sanders, was a full blood Indian. She was an immaculate housekeeper, almost to a fault. She always decorated her home for the holidays and had earrings for every occasion. She loved to travel when she could, visiting her sister in Wyoming when Bertie's husband was stationed there. She would drive to her daughter Sarah's in Kansas and spend time with her and her granddaughter, Jessi and husband Brian. They would do some sightseeing. She enjoyed driving to Buckner to house and dog sit, and took good care of the two coon hounds for her brother, Lewis, while he traveled. There was never any trouble, as it was known locally that Lewis had loaded guns and Laveda knew how to use them. Why she used a #2 long handled shovel to kill rattlesnakes instead of a gun is still a puzzlement to her family. Her Mother Evelyn was also an expert marksman. I guess you could say Laveda came from good ole Pioneer stock! She will be fondly remembered and sadly missed by her family and many friends. The Lord's dance floor is waiting.
Graveside services for Laveda will be at the Evergreen Cemetery, DeWitt, MO, May 31st, 2025 at 11:00am.
Celebration of life will be at the Bosworth Christian Church basement from 2-4pm.
In lieu of flowers, Memorials can be made to American Cancer Society, Wounded Warriors, Evergreen Cemetery, Bosworth Christian Church or Shiners.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Bittiker Funeral Home.