Loraine Portele Bearden
Loraine Portele Bearden of Pearland, Texas passed away on November 22, 2023. As she always hoped, she passed peacefully in her sleep. She was the youngest of four children of Rudolph Eugene Portele and Celestine Demanche Portele, and the widow of her beloved husband Lewis Bearden Jr. who preceded her in 2004. She was 95 years old.
Born in the small central Texas town of Marlin, Loraine was the granddaughter of immigrants from Czechia, England and France. Baking was an important part of her early life, and she became not only an excellent cook, but a gourmand as well. She traveled to all 50 US states and several other countries during her lifetime, and especially enjoyed trips to Las Vegas with her husband and her children.
Loraine was a homemaker and mother of five children who survive her: daughters Kaye Vivian, Peggy Browne and husband Neal, Nancy Bearden, and sons Lewis Bearden III and wife Gayle, and Terrell (Terry) Bearden and wife Carol. She had 10 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and five great-great grandchildren who will miss her wit, her compassion and her wisdom.
A memorial service is planned for December 16. We invite you to leave condolences or memories of Loraine for the family at Crowder’s Funeral Home online (https://www.crowderfuneralhome.com).
I am 1 of 17 grandchildren, Jonathan, beautifully written obituary….
I love you Grandmother.
I know most deeply in my heart, that you are now in a perfect place, in the most gracious and loving hands, and you have reunited with family.
– Jonathan Lucas
When I was a kid, my favorite thing about Grandmother was how she would lift me off the ground when she hugged me – I thought she was so strong! I loved her spirit and her slightly sanded voice, her intelligence and her vocabulary, and her face when she smiled. She was fun to laugh with, and no matter how old she was when she died, she’ll always be 54 to me <3
Shelling peas at the table, the smell of the blue LTD, giant raindrops on the windshield, sitting behind her as we listened to elk calls one night in the mountains, her ready smile crinkled across prodigious cheekbones, her asperous chuckle, her spirited temper, her infectious love of words, the feeling that she was always delighted to see us. These are my favorite memories of Grandmother <3
I have always thought of my Grandmother as “spunky”. I love that I can close my eyes and hear her laugh and picture how she used her whole body to do so. It was the best! I am grateful for the memories of swimming in her pool as a kid and then coming into the cold air conditioning and putting on sweats. I love that when we go to Estes Park, I can hear her voice. As an adult, I loved the times that I got to sit at the kitchen table with her and drink coffee, play cards, and tell stories. She was such a smart lady with an extensive vocabulary too! And did I mention her smile?!?! I love very much that my mom gave me her name to carry and that my kiddo carries it too. What a privilege. I love you, Grandmother.