Wanette Simmons Lakey

Wanette S. Lakey, 85, passed away at her residence on November 25, 2011. Visitation will be from 6 to 7pm, Thursday, December 1, 2011, at Robert Massie Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 10am, Friday, December 2, 2011 at St. Luke United Methodist Church, Bill Harris officiating. Burial will follow at Lawnhaven Memorial Gardens. Arrangements are with Robert Massie Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be Travis Simmons, Quade Siedell, Rusty Simmons, Joe Simmons III, Bill Feathers, and Weldon Riley. Honorary pallbearer will be Olivia Siedell. Wanette was born Estelle Wanette Simmons in Quail, Texas, to Frank Lee and Ada Lucille Newton Simmons on February 17, 1926. She grew up on a farm and graduated high school in Alanreed, Texas, then moved to Lubbock, where she met Gerry Lakey at a Methodist church social. They were married December 20, 1947, at First Methodist Church of Lubbock. The couple later moved to Dallas, where their first child, Denise, was born. In 1953, the young family transferred to San Angelo with General Telephone Company of the Southwest and in 1955, their second daughter, Melissa was born. Gerry and Wanette joined St. Luke Methodist Church when the congregation was still meeting at the old Parkway movie theater on Sherwood Way. Wanette remained a faithful member of that church, and the CIHU Sunday School class, until her death. Wanette resumed her working career in the mid-1960s and retired from GTE in 1987. She and Gerry were very active members of the San Angelo Square and Round Dance Club for more than two decades, dancing several nights a week. She was also a member of the Concho Valley Telephone Pioneer Association. Wanette maintained her friendships with her fellow GTE workers, lunching monthly with them. Her last lunch with her co-workers was in November of 2011. Wanette was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Ada; her only sibling, Granville; all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins; and her husband of 60 years, Gerald L. (Gerry) Lakey. She is survived by her daughters Denise Lakey and Melissa Siedell, her son-in-law Joe Simmons III, and her grandchildren, Travis Simmons, Quade Siedell, and Olivia Siedell. Memorials in Wanette's name may be made to St. Luke United Methodist Church, 2781 W Ave N, San Angelo TX 76904 or to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation, PO Box 515, Northampton MA 01061-0515 or www.macular.org.