Vena Hogsett

Funeral services for Vena Elva Hogsett will be held in Artesia, N.M. on Wednesday, April 27, at 2:00 pm at First United Methodist Church with burial to follow at Woodbine Cemetery. Pastor Lyman Graham and Pastor James I. Edwards will officiate at the services. Pallbearers will be her nephews J.W. Cox, Lonnie Hendricks, Larry Hendricks, Jimmy Harwell, Bobby Ledlow, Richard Ledlow and Austin Yearwood.

Visitation will be at Terpening Son Mortuary Tuesday beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Elva was born on a ranch near Elk, NM on March 13, 1907 and passed away some 104 years later on April 23, 2011 at Sunset Villa Care Center in Roswell, NM. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Austin Reeves and Eula Woodson Reeves, as well as seven siblings, Ottie McGuire, Letitia Beavers, Betty Ledlow, Truth Yearwood, Tempie Cox, Lonnie Reeves and Loren Reeves. Also preceding her in death were her beloved husband, Sie, and cherished son, Charles.

Surviving Elva are three sisters, Madie Teel, Eva Hendricks, and Thelma Harwell, all of Roswell. She also leaves behind a loving extended family and many special friends. Elva loved people, and people loved her back Nowhere was that more obvious than in the loving relationships that developed between Elva and her caretakers at Sunset Villa.

After graduating from college in Abilene, Elva spent her life in Chaves County, living at times in Roswell and at times in Artesia. She married W.S. Sic Hogsett at the Reeves ranch in southern Chaves County on October 25, 1931. At first, the young couple lived in Roswell, where Elva worked for several years at the office of the Chaves County Treasurer. Later, they moved to Artesia, where they worked sidebyside at the Artesia Locker Plant, which they owned and operated. Later in life, Elva returned to Roswell for several years to care for her aging mother. Then, after her mothers death, it was back to Artesia for twentysix years. Finally, at age 101, she once more returned to Roswell, this time to be near her sisters.

Elva was active in her community. At age eighteen, she was initiated into the Order of the Eastern Star. During her eightysix years with that organization, she held numerous offices, including Past Worthy Matron. She was also a charter member of White Shrine of Jerusalem and a fifty year member of Rebekah Lodge. A faithful member of the First United Methodist Church in Artesia, she was especially active in the Womens Missionary Society. In recognition of her contributions to the community, Elva was honored in 2008 by the Artesia Historical Museum and Art Center Foundation as a Living Treasure.