Valere Fuller Althouse

Feb. 20, 1926-Feb. 7, 2011

Valere Fuller Althouse said goodbye to this life on Feb. 7. A country girl who was comfortable with people of all walks of life, she gave freely of her time and love. She was born to the late Dennis and Eula Fuller on Feb. 20, 1926, and grew up in Buffalo Springs, Clay County, Texas. She was chosen to be the Texas Lone Star Girl at the age of 12.

Valere graduated from the San Francisco School of Fashion and attended Southern Methodist University. She did research work at Duke University with Doctors J.B. and Louisa Rhine. She worked in the field of fashion and modeling for several decades and for 30 years was the weekly lecturer and personal advisor at The Greenhouse spa in Arlington, Texas.

She was known widely as a counselor, teacher and lectured to a variety of organizations across the country. Still, she viewed being a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend as her most important roles. Her wealth lay in her love for and service to others.

In 1982, when it was virtually impossible to get a lumpectomy and breast irradiation in the Dallas area, Valere went to Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia for the new therapy under the eminent radiologist Dr. Luther W. Brady, who encouraged her and her husband, Rev. Larry Althouse (who authors the weekly column “The Bible Speaks” for Farm World), to write an account of her experience with breast cancer, You Can Save Your Breast (1982). Valere spoke of her experience across the country and Brady credited her with being one of a handful of laypersons to gain public acceptance of the new approach to breast cancer.

Books, some of which she co-authored with Larry, include What You Need Is What You’ve Got: Discover, Develop and Use Your Inner Resources, My First Eighty and Sixty Days With Luke:  A New Devotional-Study Excursion through the Third Gospel.

For several decades Valere was a member of St. Michael and All Angels Church in Dallas and was active in the leadership of some of its programs. After marrying Larry on May 29, 1976, she joined First United Methodist Church of Dallas. She was a member of its Aldersgate Sunday School Class, the church’s Prayer Ministry and active in many Dallas-area organizations.

Among those left to cherish her memory are devoted husband Larry; children Robert McNeill Willard Jr. and Tamara Winston Curry, of Dallas; stepsons Kevin Reid Althouse and Todd Eric Althouse and wife, Jan, of Reading, Pa.; grandchildren Hayley Winston Harrison and James Paul Harrison, and stepgrandchildren Tom and Hannah Clancy of Birmingham, England. She was predeceased by her parents, as well as four brothers and one sister.

On Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. a public memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church, Ross & Harwood Sts., Dallas. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts to the Aldersgate Class of First United Methodist Church, Dallas, 1908 Ross Ave., Dallas TX 75201.

(The staff of Farm World extends their deepest sympathies to Rev. Althouse and his family. –Ed.)