Schmucker

Ethel Schmucker of Nazareth, Texas, lived faithfully and courageously for 82 years and then died even more faithfully and courageously on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, May 18 at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church in Nazareth with the Rev. Bhaskar Adusupalli, Deacon Bob Birkenfeld, and Deacon Joe Hochstein as celebrants. Burial will follow in Holy Family Cemetery under the care of Colonial Funeral Home of Dimmitt. Rosary/Vigil services are scheduled for Tuesday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Family Church in Nazareth.

Ethel (Drerup) Schmucker, the second-born of identical twin daughters, entered the world in Dimmitt, Texas, on July 15, 1939, to parents Ed and Lucille Drerup. She attended elementary school and high school in Nazareth, where she played sports and excelled in math and bookkeeping. She loved to play games and cards with her friends and family, and she enjoyed sewing and dancing in her teen years. Following graduation, she went to work at Pioneer Natural Gas in Dimmitt.

On Oct. 25, 1960, she married Dan Schmucker at Holy Family Catholic Church. Together they acquired land southwest of Nazareth and built their home, where she resided until the time of her death. Dan and Ethel had been married for 59 years when Dan died in December 2019.

While her children were enrolled in school, Ethel was considered a stay-at-home mom and was often seen volunteering as a member of the Nazareth School Parent/Teacher Organization. She attended football games, basketball games, baseball games, track meets, spelling bees, FFA and FHA banquets, stock shows, cross country meets, graduations, and UIL academic contests. She ran concession stands, worked bake sales, assisted in organizing class fundraisers, helped decorate for proms, and cooked or baked for banquet meals. Meanwhile, at home, she worked alongside her husband, where she planned and organized, she budgeted, she sewed, she baked, she cooked, she gardened, and she served.

Ethel returned to working outside the home once all her children had started school in Nazareth. She eventually retired from the Hart Banking Center (a division of Hale County State Bank) in 2013 after having worked there for more than 25 years as an officer and Assistant Cashier. In her retirement, she perfected her sewing, her gardening, her grandparenting, her spiritual life, and her volunteering.

Ethel was born to be an organizer. She had a servant’s heart and she loved people. She believed with her whole heart that she was so blessed in life and thus she needed to be a blessing to others—and so she was. Ethel had been a member of the Christian Mothers Society in Nazareth since 1960. She was a member of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW), serving as Deanery Treasurer at the time of her death. She was a member of the Nazareth Senior Citizens organization, and she was a dedicated volunteer for the Holy Family Food Pantry. She was a member of the Plains Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. She had likewise served as a religious education teacher for many years. Most recently she had started and hosted a regular “coffee and conversation” event for the residents of the Nazareth apartments.

Everything Ethel did, she did with great love. She was very intentional in what she wanted to accomplish and then set out on a mission to succeed. Each decision she made was in check with the teachings of the church. She thoroughly believed that your mind, your emotions, and your decisionmaking should be aligned with God’s will. In all ways, she lived a Christ-centered life. She did everything she could to be the hands and feet of Jesus by reaching, touching, and teaching by example.

Ethel loved and appreciated life, and it loved her right back. Among the things she loved the most were Sister Days, watching her grandchildren excel in school and sports, spending time with her family and friends, and serving others.

Ethel was preceded in death by her parents, Ed and Lucille Drerup, her husband, Dan, and her older brother, Joe Drerup. She is survived by son, Jeff, and wife Debby of Rockwall; daughter, Danelle of Amarillo; son, Marvin and wife Gwen of Nazareth; daughter, Annette Loflin and husband Brent of Friona; and son Brian and wife DeeDee of Lubbock. Her grandchildren are Collin, Candace, and Cameron Schmucker, Carson and Bailee Barber, Abby and April Schmucker, Mason and Logan Loflin, and Presley and Mason Eaker. She is also survived by twin sister and best friend, Evelyn Ball of Plainview, sisters Grace Collander of Point, Texas,

Nancy Drerup of Fort Worth, and Carol Gary of Lubbock.

St. Francis of Assisi once said: “Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received—only what you have given: A full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.” Ethel lived by this truth.

As much as she loved flowers, Ethel preferred memorials to the organizations she loved the most: The Future of Nazareth Fund, Box 182, Nazareth, Texas, 79063, or Nazareth Senior Citizens, Box 241, Nazareth, Texas, 79063.