Myrtle Heard

Myrtle HeardMyrtle Virginia Heard passed from this life on June 12, 2012, following pneumonia. She was preceded in death by her parents, James Taylor and Charity Frances Ross; her husband, Troyce Alton Heard; her brothers, Alton, Carl, and Joe Ross; and her sisters, Jewel Ross Hickam and Bonnie Ross Powell. She is survived by her four children, Charley Heard and his wife, Linda of Castle Rock, CO; Troy Heard of Prattville, AL; Alvin Heard and his wife, Linda of Plano, TX, and Virginia Brannan and her husband, Gary of Shoreline, WA. She is also survived by her 9 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, 1 great-great grandchild, along with nephews, nieces, and several dear step-grandchildren, many of whom affectionately called her Grandma or Granny. Myrtle Ross was born in Lakewood, NM, on August 16, 1918. She attended Lakewood Grammar School and graduated from Artesia High School. She grew up on a ranch and worked hard, helping take care of the garden, the animals, and her younger brother and sister. On July 7, 1937, she married Troyce Alton Heard, also of Lakewood. They were married 63 years, until his death in April 2001. On the very afternoon of their marriage, they traveled to the small town of Datil, NM, where Troyce was working on a road crew. For the next couple of years, they traveled around to various towns, living in small hotels, while Troyce worked building roads. In 1939, they moved to Albuquerque and a few years later, they moved their growing family-three sons-to a home on Wildwood Lane, in Albuquerque's south valley, where they lived for the next 30 years. Myrtle was a homemaker and did her job well. She worked diligently, taking care of the house and maintaining a big vegetable garden and orchard. The house on Wildwood Lane was a gathering place for people. Myrtle enjoyed having friends and family over for cook-outs in the big back yard. Whether her sons were rebuilding cars in the driveway or building radios in the den, Myrtle was supportive of their endeavors. She welcomed Troy's band, who would come over and jam in the den. All the neighborhood kids, from toddlers to teens, came to hang out with the Heard kids, and Myrtle was always easy going, welcoming, and happy to see everyone playing together and having a good time.Myrtle was a member of the Railway Postal Clerks Auxiliary, later known as the Philanthropics, from the 1950's through the 1980's. They enjoyed meeting together to sew or work on other service projects for over 30 years. One of Myrtle's hobbies was making flowers from Formosa wood fiber. She learned to make many kinds of intricate, realistic flower arrangements. Through the years, she enjoyed making ceramics, hooked rugs, and other craft projects. She enjoyed playing Skip-Bo and dominoes. She and Troyce belonged to bowling leagues. She often had a jigsaw puzzle out for everyone to work on while they visited. She loved photography and preserving family history, not only in her photo albums, but also in giant scrapbooks made from wallpaper catalogues, where she collected newspaper articles, programs, invitations and other memorabilia to chronicle the milestones of her family and friends.Throughout their marriage, Troyce and Myrtle enjoyed traveling around NM on fishing and camping trips. Often, in the winter, they would drive their mini-motor home to AZ or CA to meet up with friends and relatives and spend a few weeks camping together. They also enjoyed traveling across the country to visit their children and grandchildren, or going to Mexico with a group of friends from church. Myrtle loved to drive her car. She always gave her friends rides, and even at the age of 86, she was still driving her friends and neighbors to church or to their doctor appointments. Myrtle always loved the church. She was baptized as a teenager at a gospel meeting in Artesia, NM. She had gone to a community Sunday School in Lakewood most of her young life, but in the mid 1930's, Myrtle's father hired a bus driver to drive the school bus to the Church of Christ in Artesia every Sunday, so his family and others from Lakewood could attend church services. After moving to Albuquerque, Troyce and Myrtle attended the 5th and Marble Church of Christ, where Troyce was an elder for many years. Myrtle enjoyed working in the kitchen at Sandia Christian Camp in the summer, taking meals to people who were sick, and teaching correspondence students in other countries through the World Bible School.Myrtle was a member of Netherwood Park Church of Christ from 1975 to 2005 and was present at every opportunity-Wednesday nights, twice on Sunday, fellowship dinners, ladies' Bible class, gospel meetings, thirty-niners, and many other occasions. She would arrive early, usually bringing her life-long friend Ruth Tucker, and they enjoyed spending time visiting with the people around them. Myrtle especially enjoyed seeing her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at church, and knowing they were faithful and involved.In January 2006, Myrtle was no longer able to live alone and went to live with her daughter, Virginia, and her family in FL. She lived with them six years until her declining health made it necessary for her to have full-time care. Virginia's family moved to WA last summer, and Myrtle lived in an elder care home near them in Seattle until her recent illness.What was special about Myrtle? She was quiet and a good listener. She liked to be surrounded by people who took turns telling stories, while she contentedly listened. She was a wonderful grandmother. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were always welcome in her home, and she loved to watch babies and small children playing around her. The children loved her collection of miniature objects. She collected salt and pepper shakers from every state she visited, and a variety of tiny tea sets, musical instruments, and doll house furniture, which she displayed in printer boxes and on her kitchen shelves. She was always happy to take down her collections to allow the children play with them, to their great delight.All the little grandchildren-boys as well as girls-loved playing with the costume jewelry in Granny's jewelry box. Wearing large, colorful pins, clip-on earrings, and layers of necklaces, they became colorful pirates or princesses or kings. Growing up, she was painfully shy to the point of staying home from school on book report days. But to her family, she was a wonderful storyteller, automatically giving each character a unique voice. She encouraged her grandchildren to sing songs, recite poems, tell jokes and stories, and be prepared to entertain others. She supported the children in their musical pursuits, and many of her children and grandchildren grew up loving music. She was proud of each of her children and loved to hear about their accomplishments in school or at work. She loved to attend their concerts, plays, and other performances. She was always looking for ways to serve others. She had her mother come and live with her for several years after her mom was badly injured in a car accident. She had her mother-in-law come and live with her when she needed care. She often went to stay with her grandchildren when their parents were ill, traveling, or needed extra help. In short, she exemplified this passage from Thessalonians: "Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before others and be dependent on no one."