Marilyn Laverle “Toots” Carpenter Hearrell

Marilyn Laverle “Toots” Carpenter Hearrell, died Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Born in Argo, Texas, on April 18, 1931. Toots was the first of five children born to Mildred Smith Vandergriff and Slim Vandergriff.

Jesus was one of Toots, or Gram’s, as she was called by many, favorite subjects. She spent much of her life spreading the good news of Jesus, singing gospel songs with her sisters and her two sons. In her younger years, she even preached at revivals.  She was also very talented, playing several stringed instruments, keyboard, and piano, as well as being an accomplished painter.

Feisty is the word most used to describe Toots.  Anyone who was around her for even a little while would agree.  While living at an assisted living home, she and a friend purchased rubber snakes and delighted in placing them in places to frighten the unsuspecting.  They even purchased a frog that would croak when you clapped and placed it among some plants in the hall where they would often clap just to get a laugh from someone.  In 2018, Toots moved back to Texas, after living in Oklahoma for about 25 years.  She might have lived in Oklahoma, but she loved the University of Texas Longhorns and never missed an opportunity to show her horns.  Watching the Longhorns and Dallas Cowboys play was something she enjoyed very much, but she kept a foam “brick” that she would throw at the TV when she found a game to be less than enjoyable due to the performance of her favorite team or what she perceived to be a “bad call”. Just before covid stopped the world, Toots took part in a style show put on by the assisted living home where she resided.  To say that Toots strutted her stuff down that runway is putting it mildly.  She was certainly one of a kind.

Toots is survived by her son, Jim Carpenter and wife, Trish, of Beaumont; grandchildren, Dana Landry and husband, Jason; Jimmy Carpenter; Michael Carpenter and wife, Rachel, of Austin; Elizabeth Drewett and husband, Randy, of Beaumont; Chad Creagh of Houston, Texas; Kristina Holt and husband, Jeremy of Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Brian Carpenter of Council Bluffs; sister Marie McDaniel of Alabama; and numerous great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Toots was preceded in death by her parents, Slim Vandergriff and Mildred Smith Vandergriff; husbands. Shorty Carpenter and Robert Hearrell; son, Tommy Carpenter; sisters, Mary Bazzell and Billie Brown; and brother, Kenneth Vandergriff.

Marilyn, Toots, Mom, Gram will be greatly missed and forever loved in our hearts.

A gathering of friends and family will be held sometime in the fall at Coopers Chapel Cemetery, Titus County, Texas.

Cremation arrangements were handled under the direction of Broussard’s Crematorium through Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont, Texas.