Valerie Head
It is with deep sadness that my sister, Alicia Head and I tell you that our beloved mother, Valerie Head, has passed away here at her home in La Porte, TX. Valerie and my father, Charles, were in Saudi Arabia and worked for Aramco from 1976 - 2004. They lived in all four Aramco compounds in the Eastern Province during their tenure in the Kingdom, and were left with many cherished memories and friends.
Funeral Services for Valerie will be held at 10 am, 9 May 2013 at St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church, 3131 El Dorado Blvd., Houston, TX 77059. Reception will follow services.
Regards,
Suzanna (Head) Friedly and Alicia Head
3804 Cottonwood Dr.
La Porte, TX 77571
Full Obituary
Valerie Alexandra Head 23 April 1942 - 29 April 2013
Mom always liked to say, "I was born in a castle, and married in a cathedral…"
Born during the height of the German aerial bombing of the Newcastle shipyards, Valerie was born in a manor that housed women and children evacuated to escape the bombing. She grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne and Birmingham, England; Newcastle was where she felt most at home as a child.
Mom was never predictable, and she showed this trait early in her life when she joined the Royal Air Force and served in aircraft maintenance. Feisty and opinionated, she never took the easy way, only the most interesting way. Following her release from duty in 1960, she found her way to the US.
Interesting was one way to describe her meeting the love of her life…an US Air Force Sergeant in, of all places, Alpena, Michigan. Married in 1967, Valerie and Charles immediately experienced what all too many military couples experience - separation when Charles was sent to serve in Vietnam. Upon his return in 1968, they, now joined by their daughter Suzanna and soon followed by daughter Alicia, moved to New Carlisle, Ohio, where they lived while Charles finished his commitment to the Air Force.
Times, though, were hard, and jobs were scarce. Exhibiting the resourcefulness and wanderlust of her Norwegian ship faring forefathers, Valerie soon finagled Charles and the family the job opportunity of a lifetime - did I mention the job was in Saudi Arabia?
Valerie practically single-handedly picked up the family and moved them half way around the world to Saudi Arabia in July, 1976. Valerie and Charles lived in all four Aramco communities in the Eastern Province, and remained until Charles retired from the oil business in 2004. They then moved here to La Porte, where they settled into retirement with a small group of friends from Saudi Arabia, and their family.
Family was always the most important thing to Valerie. She was adept at creating a warm and loving home, a place where the neighborhood kids could gather and hang out after school, or a home away from home for those friends - she never met a stranger - who needed a place to feel welcomed. It didn't matter if it was a trailer or a mansion - she could make anyplace feel like home. Our home feels cold and empty without her now.
Valerie Alexandra Head is survived by her sister, Avril Knight, her husband Alan, and their children Adrian and Esther. She is also survived by her daughter Suzanna Friedly and her husband Donald and daughter Sarah; also survived by her daughter, Alicia Head and many nieces and nephews, as well as felines. She was predeceased by her mother, Jacqueline, and her father, Frank Robinson; her brother Paul Hibbons and her husband of 37 years, Charles.
A memorial celebrating her life will be held on Thursday, 9 May 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at St Clare of Assisi Catholic Church, 3131 El Dorado Dr., Houston, TX 77059.
Flowers or donations to either of Valerie's two favorite charities are welcomed. Those charities are the La Porte Animal Shelter, 1201 S. 4th St., La Porte, TX 77571 or the Houston SPCA, 900 Portway Dr., Houston, TX 77024.
The online memorial can be viewed at: http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Valerie-Head&lc=4608&pid=164572830&mid=5518101&cid=em.legacy.dm.4608.5518101