Vera Eloise Stafford Maude, 101, daughter of Collie and Luna Thomas Stafford (deceased) of Bonner Creek, Franklinton and Bogalusa, passed away on April 5, 2022.
Vera was born and raised, along with her six brothers, Denman, Voyd, Von, Earl, W.E. and Truitt (all deceased), on a farm on Route 25 near Bonner Creek, attended Bonner Creek Baptist Church and school, and graduated from Franklinton High School in 1937. She attended the Elizabeth Sullivan Memorial School of Nursing in Bogalusa and received her RN in 1943. Being war time, Vera joined the Army Nurses Corp. and was stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, achieving the rank of 1st Lieutenant. It was there that she met a dashing veterinarian from Canada, Dr. Stuart H. Maude, DVM, who was back from overseas duty and they were married in March, 1946.
Stu and Vera set up housekeeping in Rosemead, California where they opened Rosemead Animal Hospital in 1952, raised their three children, Susan, Patti and Stuart, and enjoyed an active life. Vera worked as a nurse until her second child arrived, then stayed busy with raising kids, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, PTA, and was a 50+ year member of the Masonic Order of the Eastern Star where she held many offices in the organization. Stu passed away in 1992 after 47 years of marriage.
Being a veteran, a local Veteran's Group performed a motorcycle drive-by parade on Vera's 100th and 101st birthdays at her Huntington Beach home to celebrate her service. Friends and neighbors attended and on her 101st birthday she was presented with a plaque made by one of the veterans. The group was planning to come back again in August, Vera's birthday month.
Vera is survived by daughter Patti, son Stuart, his wife and three children, Elliott, Adrian and Tony, and daughter Susan's children Daniel, David (Rondel) and Brian (Stephanie) Bezner, great grandchildren Connor and Luke Bezner, Brianna and Charlotte Bezner, nieces Lynn Stafford Fussell of Franklinton, Karen Stafford Smith of Atlanta, GA, and many more nieces and nephews in California, Mississippi, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Utah. Susan Bezner and her husband passed away in 2010.
