Elizabeth Julia Coleman

Elizabeth Julia “Beth” Pechacek Coleman, 90, joined her beloved Leonard the morning of September 13, 2018, just 20 days after Leonard went to be with the Lord. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, September 18, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 9656 Elk Road, Elk, Texas, with the Rev. Walter Dhanwar officiating. Visitation will commence at 6:00 p.m., followed by Rosary at 7:00 p.m., on Monday, September 17, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, 6101 Bosque Blvd, Waco, Texas. Beth was born November 11, 1927, in Elk, Texas, to Fred Pechacek and Mary Peters Pechacek. The second youngest of five daughters, Beth learned the value of hard work and thrift and leaned heavily on her Catholic faith after her father was killed in a farming accident during the height of the Great Depression, when Beth was only 5 years old. Beth attended La Vega schools and graduated from high school in 1945. After graduation, she started work for Southwestern Public Service in Dallas, Texas, commuting from Waco to Dallas on the Texas Electric Interurban Railway. She met Leonard while he was attending Texas A & M University, and she was a frequent visitor to the A&M Campus prior to Leonard’s graduation in June 1949. Leonard started a job with the USDA Soil Conservation Service in Tulia, Texas, immediately after graduation and Beth joined him in Tulia after they were married in Tours, Texas, on October 23, 1949. She and Leonard moved from Tulia to Muleshoe and then to Brownfield, Texas, where they were joined by their son, Richard, in November 1954. In 1955, Beth and Leonard moved to Morton, Texas, where they would spend the next 40 years. They were joined by sons, Leonard Orville Coleman, Jr., “Junior”, in 1955 and Malcolm in 1958. It was Beth’s strong Catholic faith that gave her strength and courage when Junior lost a year-long battle with brain cancer when he was only 4 years old. Beth was always busy. Whether it was tending to Richard and Malcolm, supporting Leonard in his businesses and service as a County Commissioner or her service to St. Ann’s Catholic Church, she was always working hard. Beth was also moved to further serve the community by being elected to the School Board of the Morton Independent School District for several years. However, Beth’s passion was gardening. She only stopped planting her own garden in 2017, having planted her own garden for the better part of 60 years. She was an “environmentalist” long before that was a fad, using cotton burs, compost and manure as fertilizer and never using any herbicides to control weeds. Only a hoe. Beth and Leonard retired in 1996 and moved back to McLennan County and the Elk community, where she and Leonard built their retirement home on the Pechacek family farm. Beth continued her gardening and spending time with her four sisters and extended family, playing a lot of dominoes and staying active at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Beth was preceded in death by her soulmate of 68 years, Leonard; and their son, Junior. Beth is survived by her sons, Richard Alan Coleman and wife, Adele, and Malcolm W. Coleman and wife, Kerri; grandchildren, Tyler J. Coleman and wife, Jessica, Margaret Elizabeth Coleman, Alexander J. Coleman, and Casey Coleman Goforth and husband, Michael; brother-in-law, Robert Coleman and wife, Laverne; and sister-in-law, Nancy Coleman. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 9656 Elk Road, Elk, Texas 76624. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.