Edith Lois (Vandruff) Priest, age 95, died on Thursday, January 9, 2020 in Clayton, New Mexico.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Monday, January 13, 2020 at the Church of Christ in Clayton, New Mexico with Michael Elrod officiating. Burial will follow in the Clayton Memorial Cemetery by Hass Funeral Directors of Clayton, New Mexico.
Edith Lois (Vandruff) Priest was born on September 8, 1924 in Clayton, New Mexico to Floyd Elmer Vandruff and Strawcy (Caudill) Vandruff. A lifelong resident of Clayton, New Mexico, Edith Lois graduated from Clayton High School in 1941 and received her Bachelors Degree from New Mexico Highlands University and her Masters Degree from Panhandle State University. She taught school in the Clayton school system for over thirty years. Edith Lois married Warren Leroy Priest on July 12, 1947 in Clayton, New Mexico and he preceded her in death on November 27, 1992. Edith Lois was a member of the Clayton Church of Christ, the Federated Women’s Club and the New Mexico Teachers Education Association and she served on the Herzstein Memorial Museum Board of Directors, the Library Board and the Mayor’s Advisory Council. In addition to her husband, Edith Lois was preceded in death by her parents.
SURVIVORS:
2 SONS: Van Priest and his wife Jeanne of Owasso, Oklahoma and William Priest and his wife Lola of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
5 GRANDCHILDREN: Morgan Kane and her husband Michael of Wilmington, North Carolina. Michael Priest and his wife Ashlee and Jonathan Priest all of Owasso, Oklahoma, Vanessa Thomas and her husband Mike of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and Connor Priest of Greensboro, North Carolina.
9 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN: Brixton Priest, Warren Priest, Ethne Priest, Abijah Priest, Solomon Priest, Charlotte Priest, Ari Thomas, Jude Thomas and Luca Thomas.
MEMORIALS: The family asks that memorials be made in Edith Lois Priest’s Memory to the High Plain’s Children’s Home, 11461 S. Western Street, Amarillo, Texas 79118 or to the New Mexico Christian Children’s Home, 1356 New Mexico 236, Portales, New Mexico 88130 or to the Clayton Church of Christ, 823 Oak Street, Clayton, New Mexico 88415.
