Lela Mae Turnage Bowyer

Lela Mae Turnage Bowyer - Submitted for the USGenWeb by Richard P. Sevier 7-31-2023

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Lela Mae Turnage Bowyer - Madison Parish, Louisiana
January 2nd, 1938 - July 17th, 2023

From Harrell Funeral Home Austin, TX July 20, 2023

Our wonderful mother, grandma, and wife, Lela Mae Turnage Bowyer, was born January 2, 1938, in Tallulah, Louisiana. She had a little pig named Rumpy and had many escapades with her siblings-including walking with a peg leg to steal watermelons from her dad, and siphoning gas out of the car to joyride the tractor. By God's grace she was saved from a fire by her older sister Virginia.

She loved her parents and siblings, but she was always independent and struck out on her own at age 16. She worked as a soda jerk and waitress at various establishments, including one across from the famous Louisiana Hayride. There she met stars including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, and Andy Griffith early in their careers. Later Lela shared her love of Elvis by going to Graceland with her oldest daughter Debbie, and Lela shared Elvis's movies on VHS with her grandkids.

At age 21, Lela met her husband, George Sr., for the first time at the Glass Hat in Shreveport, LA. George was a young Airman First Class. Lela was pouring a beer at the time and was so distracted by George's handsomeness that she forgot to turn off the tap and beer poured over her hand. For both of them, it was love at first sight.

Shortly after they were wed, their first daughter Debbie was born, a miracle since doctors thought Lela would not be able to have kids. Lela was able to birth two more beautiful children: Nancy and George Jr.

While George Sr. was deployed in the Air Force, including overseas in Vietnam, Lela was a single mother to their three children and always made sure they were taken care of. She even bought them pre-mixed chocolate milk which was better than hand-mixing it from plain milk and Nesquik. When her sister Evelyn once called out that store-bought chocolate milk was too expensive, Lela said "They don't have their Daddy."

Lela also traveled alone with Debbie, Nancy, and George, by train or car, and made sure they all got safely to their destinations. At the train station, Lela would let them buy little combs or do-dads from the vending machine. Later, Lela would also let her grandkids get vending machine candy bars or sodas on road trips. Even on her second to last day, Lela was lightheartedly picking at Debbie for packing snacks for road trips instead of letting her kids buy vending machine snacks.

Lela and George Sr. moved across country with their kids, finally settling in Austin, TX, in the mid-70's. Here they welcomed their first three grandkids from Nancy: Misty, Jason, and Stephanie. Over a decade later they welcomed Debbie's children: Elizabeth and Jonathan.

Lela was blessed to share her later years with her great-granddaughters from Misty: Viviana and Victoria.

We all loved Lela's strong will and vibrant temperament, and she was colorful until the end, when the Lord called her home on July 17, 2023.

In her last days she was vividly remembering her time in England and Germany visiting Debbie, and various road trips in the early 2000's. She also recalled times when Debbie, Nancy, and George were young. Lela noted to Elizabeth on July 16th that George, Sr. would always flirt with her because he loved her so much.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, July 22, 2023, at the Harrell Funeral Home Chapel, Austin, Texas. A graveside service will be held at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.