Lillian Carter Stevens

STEVENS, LILLIAN CARTER Lillian Carter Stevens, age 85, of Woodway died Monday, April 22, 2002 at a local nursing home. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Jerome Catholic Church at 10:00AM Thursday, April 25 with Rev. Don Loftin officiating. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in Waco. Rosary will be recited at 7:00PM Wednesday, April 24 at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Chapel, 6101 Bosque Blvd. with family visitation to follow. Lillian Louise Nicosia was born January 31, 1917 in Waco to Anthony “Tony” Nicosia and wife Carmela Montanio Nicosia, Italian immigrants from Alia, Sicily. She graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 1933 and later attended 4-C College in Waco. She was employed in the family shoe repair business before marrying Raeford J. Carter on February 11, 1943. Together they had four children and were married 48 years before his death on April 24, 1991. She later married Artie “Steve” Stevens. He also preceded her in death. Lillian considered her most important role in life to be that of a loving wife, mother and homemaker. She had an outgoing personality and was rarely seen without her beautiful smile. She loved to cook Italian food for her family, and she was an accomplished seamstress. Christmas will not be the same without the Sicilian woochidanti cookies she lovingly made for her family every year. She loved God deeply and was a dedicated lifelong Catholic, who took comfort in praying the rosary daily. She was a member of St. Jerome Catholic Church. She was preceded in death by her husbands, her father and mother, her brother, Eugene Nicosia and daughter-in-law, Theresa Bilski Carter. Surviving her are sons, Rae Carter and wife, Charlotte of Woodway, Jerome Carter of Cypress, and Ben Carter of Nacogdoches; daughter, Bernadette McQuaig and husband, Alan of Jacksonville, Florida, ten grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, brothers, Louis P. Nicosia of Woodway and R.T. Nicosia of Waco; and longtime friends, Shirley Fuller and Helen Allen both of Hewitt. The family wishes to thank the loving staff of Friends For Life Adult Daycare for making Lillian’s last two years full of joy and laughter. Pallbearers will be her grandsons: Brad Carter, Matt Carter, Jason Carter, Christopher McQuaig, Steve James, and Bryan Anderson. Memorials may be made to Friends For Life Adult Daycare, 2200 MacArthur Drive, Waco, Texas 76708. WILKIRSON-HATCH-BAILEY