Lola Mae Banta

Lola Mae Banta, 98, died peacefully in her sleep Wednesday, April 18, 2018, in Austin. Graveside services will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 21, at Oakwood Cemetery in Waco under the direction of Wilkirson-Hatch­-Bailey Funeral Home. She was born Nov. 10, 1919, to Philip and Norma Scherz in Mereta, Texas, and grew up in nearby San Angelo. She was a graduate of the University of Texas and was teaching school in Sonora, Texas, when she married John Banta of San Angelo, a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, their family moved to Waco, where John worked as a reporter and editor for the Waco Tribune Herald newspaper until his retirement. Lola was active in her women's class at the old St. John's Methodist Church, served in the Meals on Wheels program and was a volunteer at Providence Hospital. For many years she worked in the office of the late Dr. Ralph Coffelt. Lola was thankful for the wonderful neighbors and friends she had while raising her family on North 27th Street in Waco. Lola was preceded in death by her husband, John; and her two brothers, Otto and Harold Scherz, and their wives, of San Angelo and Austin. She was especially grateful for being able to live the latter years of her life with her brother, Harold, in Austin. She is survived by her son, Bob Banta and his wife, Barbara, of Austin, and daughter, Barbara Banta Dutton and her husband, Tony, of Water Mill, New York; four grandchildren, John Dutton and Christina Dutton of Water Mill, , and Lauren Banta Naylor and Renee Banta Kilpatrick of Austin. She had four great-grandchildren, Henry and Kate Naylor and Louise and Declan Kilpatrick, all of Austin. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.