Elizabeth Anne McBride 1942 – 2009

More photos and details to be added asap. To inquire please email johnandlauramcbride@gmail.com

Most of us are either in town or will be arriving on Sunday for the service at Palmer at 2pm. If you need a map, here is one below:

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John and Laura have been busy working out all remaining details for both services.  Laura is arranging the Houston service and John is handling the details in Alpine.  It has been a few days since the last post, so it’s probably a good idea to update everyone with an outline of where things stand. Below is a quick rundown – hopefully the next post will provide answers to outstanding questions, if there are any.

Elizabeth, 1956

Houston Service – The June 14 date is confirmed at 2pm, with reception to follow on the premises at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church.

Photographs of Elizabeth – Do you have a photograph of Elizabeth that you are fond of?  Why not slip the photograph into an inexpensive frame (with a leg to stand it up) for placement on a table at the Palmer reception following the Houston service? The idea is to create a table with images of Elizabeth that celebrate her life, stimulate our memories and help all of us learn something about her that we may not have known. The image itself is more important than a fancy frame or a large blow-up. Feel free to put your name on the back of the frame and take it with you when you depart. While Laura and John also welcome you to email images of Elizabeth, they will be unable to make any prints before the service.

Flowers – For those wishing to send flowers (for either the Houston or Alpine service), the family respectfully requests that, instead, a donation of your choosing be sent to Elizabeth’s church in Alpine. We are making such a request because the church and it’s members in Alpine provided much love, caring and strength to Elizabeth in her years there and the family wishes to express its gratitude to the community. Also, as the service planned for Elizabeth in Alpine (see below) is being provided as a gift from the church to the family, we feel that donations are especially appropriate. Moreover, the Alpine church has its own silk flowers – a number of the town’s residents apparently moved to West Texas due to pollen sensitivity – so it is not advisable to send flowers to the church in Alpine. Checks can be made out to First Presbyterian Church. On the memo line of the check please write: Memorial Fund – E. McBride. The mailing address is: First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 1013, Alpine, TX 79831.

Houston Accomodations – Elizabeth’s sister Jerrie Lee Wilmore has been kind enough to arrange for a group rate at the Hilton Houston Plaza Medical Center Hotel at at 6633 Travis Street (convenient to the service at Palmer). Use the discount code “MCB” or “McBride Memorial” to obtain a rate of $89/night by calling either 800-445-8667 or 713-313-4000. A $20 surcharge is due if more than two adults per room, and we have been reminded that it is prohibited to bring in alcohol purchased outside the hotel. We have been told that the rooms are spacious with the possibility of connecting rooms but please confirm this when making a reservation.

Alpine Service – John has confirmed Saturday, June 20th at 1:00 pm with Rev. JoBeth McLeod of First Presbyterian Church for the service in Alpine. The family requests that donations to the church be sent in lieu of flowers – please read the “Flowers” paragraph above. There will be no service at the funeral home in Alpine as the memorial has been moved to Elizabeth’s church.

Alpine Accomodations – If you wish to attend the service in Alpine and are looking for a place to stay, we are told that the Alpine Texas Visitor Center website is the place to start.

Missing Information? – Please let us know if we are leaving out any critical information on the services for Elizabeth by emailing us at johnandlauramcbride@gmail.com. We’ll be happy to include any requested information in the next post.

Pigtails, 1944

John is currently in El Paso and expects to travel to Alpine on Friday or Saturday.

Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church has now informed Laura that there is a conflict on Saturday, June 13. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, but the service in Houston will now be held on Sunday, June 14 at 2pm.  A reception will follow the service in Palmer’s Fellowship Hall.

We kindly ask all of Elizabeth’s friends and family who have time to help spread the word to anyone who might not know about this change as we will probably be unable to create an email list – this website is for the most part the only point of contact for information on services for Elizabeth.

The original Saturday date might have more easily allowed friends and family members to have dinner together, if they wished to, that evening after the service without missing work on the following Monday. Laura and John will most likely be in Houston the day before the service, however, so it might be nice to have lunch or dinner together somewhere that could handle a larger group. If you’d like to do something on Saturday, or if you would like to meet for a late lunch/early dinner after the Sunday service, please post your thoughts or send an email to johnandlauramcbride@gmail.com.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience and we look forward to seeing you there.

Frances Wilmore holding a photograph of her daughter Elizabeth. Photograph by John McBride, 1988

This morning John spoke with Rev. JoBeth McLeod of First Presbyterian Church in Alpine.  Rev. McLeod was very gracious and knew Elizabeth well.  Although an Episcopal for much of her life, Elizabeth had formally joined the First Presbyterian Church.

Rev. McLeod will be in Austin from June 1-12, so we may postpone the Alpine service until mid-June or so.  John will be in touch with Rev. McLeod while she is away, so we should be able to finalize a date in a few days or so for a service in Alpine.  Also, depending on how things turn out, it might not even be possible to hold a service the weekend of June 6-7. However, there is a possibility that we might do something that weekend in Alpine at the funeral home. Things are clearly in a state of flux and John hopes to know more by Tuesday afternoon. Unless the course of events causes us to change plans (again), John will arrive in El Paso late Monday evening and be in Alpine/Marfa on Tuesday.

In the meantime, John asked Rev. McLeod to convey three messages from our family to the community in both Alpine and Marfa: The first is that the entire family is extremely grateful from the bottom of our hearts to all of you in Alpine/Marfa/West Texas for helping Elizabeth during her time there, no matter how great or small your assistance or contribution.  The second is that we ask that you please spread the word about this website to your friends so that they can keep informed with regard to memorial service plans for Elizabeth, and to check back frequently for updates.  The third is that all of you are encouraged to post your thoughts, memories, condolonces, etc. on this site – sharing your stories is what makes this site come alive for both our family and for your friends and neighbors who stop by to take a look.

We are not making any changes to the plans for the service in Houston at this point, described in the previous post below.

– posted by John McBride at 3:30 pm on May 31, 2009

We don’t have all the details yet, but we are working hard to establish target dates so that everyone can plan accordingly.  You may not want to purchase plane tickets or the like until we firm up the details just a bit further, however. Please spread the word to all of Elizabeth’s friends – we don’t have everyone’s contact info and we wouldn’t want anyone to feel left out!

Houston – Laura has just secured Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston for the afternoon of Saturday, June 13, 2009 (Has been changed to Sunday, June 14 at 2pm – please see post on June 1st) (click the link above to the church’s website for a map and parking info – find it on their webpage under the “Welcome” tab and navigate to “Map/Directions”). No other details have been worked out as of yet. We don’t have an exact time at this point, but we hope to make it late enough in the afternoon (but not too late) for those who may wish to drive to Houston the morning of. Laura will be making the arrangements for the service in Houston, and she will communicate further details asap to John, who will post them here without delay. Once again, this site is the fastest and most reliable way to get information on the memorial services and it will hopefully make things much easier for all of us. Of course, feel free to call/email us if you wish, but we won’t have any more info on logistics other than what you see here. If you don’t have contact info for us, you may drop both of us a line at johnandlauramcbride@gmail.com. Also, John and Laura might be in Houston for a few days before/after the service, so we may be able to attend some additional gatherings of family/friends if time and schedules permit. Suggestions? Write a comment on this site for all of us to see!

Alpine – John plans to travel to Alpine on or about Monday, June 1. He hopes to arrange a service in Alpine for all of Elizabeth’s friends in West Texas who may not be able to travel to Houston. John has not yet had any discussions regarding a service with anyone in Alpine, but he is thinking that it might be desirable to have a service sometime during the weekend of June 6-7, 2009. This website will be updated as soon as possible regarding this proposed service. Laura may not be able to attend such a service in Alpine due to her work schedule and travel plans.

Houston, late 1960s

Many thanks to all for the condolonces, memories and funny stories about Elizabeth that we have received. Don’t be shy about writing a comment here – we all know that Elizabeth would want you to.

– posted by John McBride 2:30 pm EST

Elizabeth McBride

John & Laura McBride are saddened to announce the death at age 66 of their mother, Elizabeth Anne McBride, known as “Anne” to much of her family, eldest child of John Henry Wilmore and Frances Willard Wilmore (maiden name Cox), both deceased. In addition to being a mother, Elizabeth was an author, artist, art critic and more. Her son John (born 1967) is a photographer living in New York City and her daughter Laura (born 1969) is an oncology nurse living in Honolulu with her husband Beau and their daughter Emma. Elizabeth is also survived by her six brothers and sisters: John, Salila (Jean), Cindy, Thomas (James), Ruth and Jerrie Lee. She will be missed by all who knew her.

Portrait of Elizabeth in New York, 1970s

Elizabeth’s father served in WWII and remained in the US Air Force after the Allied victory, and she was raised in a variety of countries including France, Germany and Kwajalein (Marshall Islands). Elizabeth attended Rice University and, later, the University of Houston where she received a master’s degree in creative writing. She married and later divorced Thomas McBride. Elizabeth spent most of her adult life in Houston (interrupted by five years in Poughkeepsie, NY) and then later moved to Marfa, Texas after which she settled in Alpine where she lived until her death.

Memorial arrangements and all other related information will be announced here on this website in order to more easily communicate with everyone interested and concerned. Please check back for the latest updates.

Feel free to contact either John or Laura as well if you desire. If you choose to call, please remember that Laura lives in Hawaii and the time zone difference means that she is often asleep when those of us on the mainland are awake. Hawaii is 5 hours behind Central Time, so if it is noon in Texas it is only 7:00 am in Hawaii.

Marriage to Thomas McBride, 1964

You are welcome to post comments so that you may offer condolences and also to share information as to your plans to attend or not attend service(s) for Elizabeth. Please do not post John McBride’s or Laura McBride’s telephone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses, etc.  as such information is often abused on the internet. If you wish to contact John or Laura you may do so using the contact information you already have. If you do not have contact information and wish to reach us please do so at the following email address that has just been set up for this purpose:  johnandlauramcbride@gmail.com

Tom & Elizabeth in Washington, DC, late 70s

At the moment, John and Laura are discussing whether to have just one service for Elizabeth, or whether to have a service in Alpine and then a following one in Houston as well. Once again, this information will be posted here first as soon as this has been worked out. A link to the funeral home where she is presently resting is shown on the right, but no plans have been made as of yet – please do not send flowers or make arrangements at this time.

Elizabeth with her mother, Frances, 1944

Houston, late 1960s

Elizabeth was a member of the Episcopal Church and we are sure that she would be happy to be mentioned in your prayers if you are so inclined. Finally, both John and Laura wish to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to all of you who have been a friend to Elizabeth and helped her along the way, no matter how small or insignificant it may have seemed at the time.

Photograph of John & Laura taken by Elizabeth, late 70s

John expects to travel to Alpine on Monday, June 1, but this has not yet been confirmed.

Will post again soon…

– John McBride posted May 29, 2009 at 1:30 pm EST