Velma Mae Lore

Velma Mae Lore age 88 went to be with the Lord on Saturday evening, November 6, 2010. She was born Sept. 20, 1922 in Livingston, Texas, to Robert Austin Matthias and Addie May (Stokes) Matthias. Velma's family was very poor as most people were in the Depression days. Her father was a sharecropper, and the family worked many long days picking cotton and growing tomatoes and other vegetables. She told the story many times that if they could not grow their foods or go to the woods to hunt, they didn't eat. Her father died when she was nine, and she, her mother, and older sister had to live with various family members for a number of years. After Velma graduated from Livingston High School, she and two of her closest girlfriends went to Galveston in search of work. She worked as a file clerk for an insurance company, a sales clerk in a clothing store, a factory worker in a company owned by Howard Hughes, and her most satisfying work was with the Civil Service identifying aircraft entering the Port of Galveston airspace.
It was in Galveston where she met William Floyd (Bill) Lore of St. Louis, who was in the Coast Guard and was stationed in Galveston. The couple was married in Beaumont, Texas, and Bill was later transferred to the port of New Orleans where their daughter Phylis was born. Upon completing his tour of duty with the Coast Guard, the family moved to St. Louis where Bill's mom and dad were living. Bill's father William Warner Lore, was born and raised in Belle, Missouri, and most of his family still resided there. After a couple of years in St. Louis the entire family moved to Belle.
Velma worked in various shoe factories in the area, and had worked 30 years with International Shoe Company in Belle when it closed its doors. Velma was a member of the First Baptist Church of Belle, and the Order of the Eastern Star. She enjoyed TV soap operas, driving with Bill around the state to various fairs and festivals, and visiting with family and friends.
Velma had been in ill health for many years, and was residing at the Westphalia Hills Retirement Home. She was preceded in death by her husband, William Floyd (Bill) Lore, her father Robert Austin Matthias, her mother Adie Upham, her sister Bertha Freeman, and an infant sister. She is survived by her daughter Phylis Imler of Jefferson City, her grandson Clay Imler with wife Sheri, and great grand-children Halie and Ty Imler of Loganville, Georgia, a nephew Paul McCracken and wife Kathy and daughters of Houston, Texas, cousin Gladys Wyatt and family of Baytown, Texas and cousin Arthur Murray and wife Ann of Montgomery, Texas.