Lana Joy (Dehnel) Fricke, was born July 18, 1950 in Bellville, TX, the oldest child of Fred and La-Verne (Peschel) Dehnel. One of many fond memories she often shared of her childhood was going to the theater and watching movies with her dad as he ran the projector. She attended school in Bellville her entire childhood and graduated from Bellville High School in 1968. She excelled in many things, including home economics, especially sewing as she sewed many of her outfits, and music. And it was her passion for music and band that provided her an opportunity to attend Blinn College on scholarship. One of her most enduring memories as a member of the Buccaneer Band was playing on live TV for the world, as she knew it, to see. She also was a proud member of the Blinn College Chorus.

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But life called and whisked her away after that first year of college when she began working for Houston Lighting & Power in downtown Houston. Starting in the mailroom, she quickly advanced to supervising a pool of stenographers and clerks whom transcribed senior officials' cor - respondence and oversaw typing, filing, and mailing bills and other corre spondence to customers. For a young lady at the age of nineteen from the little town of Bellville, she thought she had it all. A budding career and active social calendar kept her busy. And after a few short years on a fateful evening that found her with her Chevrolet Impala wrecked after hitting a cow, she met a highway patrolman who would become her husband of 15 years. Married in 1971 at St. John Lutheran Church, they welcomed the first of their two children, April, a year later. Rhett followed soon after.

Lana was a dutiful wife and devoted mother. Though she left her career at HL&P when she married to become a homemaker, she put her business office skills and attention to detail to good use by working part-time from home as a typist and proofreader for the Bellville Times and later for Sauls & Pechacek, CPA. The later requiring a special typewriter to fit the abnormal sized paper required of audit reports of the day that the Pechaceks allowed her to keep at home while pregnant with Rhett. Lana would occasionally reminisce being a proofreader and typist during this time was challenging considering it was long before grammar and spell check software we take for granted today and typewriters of this period she had access to did not have correction ribbon. As April and Rhett became school aged, she was able to partially live out a childhood dream and entered the world of education as a teacher's assistant. As a child, you see, Lana often would take her dolls and situate them to resemble a classroom and teach them what she'd learned that day or week in school. Often imitating her teachers she so admired.

Lana often said her most important role in life was being a mother and loving and caring daughter to her parents. She excelled at both, though Lana often doted she was most proud of April and Rhett and being their Mother. However, that dream of being a teacher remained unfulfilled. So with all of her courage, a leap of faith, and supportive parents, Lana returned to college after so many years. She picked up where she left off at Blinn for her Associates, then Prairie View A&M University where she earned a Bachelor's in Early Education. She often voiced her sincere thanks to Dr. Bob Neely for allow - ing her a work schedule in his business office that allowed her to be both mother to two active children and student, as well as the professors at Prairie View A&M allowing her to bring her children to class now and again provided they were well behaved. Her dream now realized and after a few years of teach ing fourth grade at Selman Elementary in Sealy, she felt called to help students even more through counseling. She left teaching for a few years and worked nights so she could attend Prairie View A&M full time to earn her Master's in Counseling. All the while, she always found the time to help her children with their schoolwork and projects, watching movies with them, especially old ones, and never missed even one of their extracurricular events. With her roots firmly planted in Bellville and no counseling positions open, she once again entered teaching at Royal Elementary in Brookshire that soon evolved into becoming a Certified Reading and Dyslexia Specialist and is credited with starting these programs at Royal Elementary School. At this time, schools had little to no funds to allocate for continuing or specialized education for teachers. But given the importance she placed on education and the ability to have and use this knowledge to help others, Lana paid for these courses out of her pocket, many times on credit, despite no additional income promised or ever received. Though the cost of the programs was a barrier she broke through, at this point in her life, the drive in to Houston to attend the required courses was even more daunting despite her making a similar daily commute in her younger years. But she overcame her now fear of driving in large cities and persevered, sometimes even bringing her children along for the experience. These experiences often led to the one special treat she allowed herself now and again that she was able to share with her children…a fountain Coca-Cola from Sonic. It was through these shared experiences her children got to see their Mom's passion and dedication for learning and teaching others and her kindness on full display even beyond the love and kindness she provided them. Because even outside her time as a Reading and Dyslexia Specialist, she often tutored children with these learning challenges at no costs to their parents both from her home or at the Public Libraries in Bellville and Sealy. She'd even purchased books and learning materials for these parents and children so they would have one less barrier to accessing education that usually wasn't available through the local school districts at the time. Even after retiring, she began helping the next generation of reading and dyslexia specialists by giving them advice and guidance, along with her treasured education materials.

As a lifelong member of St. John Lutheran Church of Bellville, she attended church regularly, even watching and participating remotely in her final months, and participated with the Care and Share Bible Study Group. She was also active in the Austin Count Retired Teachers Association. She credited God's blessing, a life of being kind and giving kindness, and the fellowship and love of her family and friends for keeping her going despite her many health challenges later in life.

Lana was called to be with the Lord on December 14, 2024, at the age of 74. She is kept in loving memory by her CHILDREN: April Fricke of Taylor and Rhett Fricke of Ballinger; SISTER: Sharon Stanford and husband Clayton Stanford of Bellville; NEPHEW: Clint Stanford and wife Savanna of Sealy. Also included in her family are many cousins. Lana was preceded in death by her PARENTS: Fred and LaVerne (Peschel) Dehnel.

The Family sincerely thanks Dr. Bradley Bundrant, Dr. Don Bosse, and everyone at Ballinger memorial Hospital for their tremendous and compassionate care Lana received throughout her life and especially in her final months.

Memorials may be made in Lana's name to: Ballinger Memorial Hospital Health Foundation, 608 Avenue B, Ballinger, Texas 76821 or to the: St. John Lutheran Church, 520 North Holland, Bellville, Texas 77418.

Honorary Pallbearers were Darcy Dehnel, Gene Hoffmeyer, Glenn Kaase, Jeanette Norris, and Turea Routt.

A visitation was held from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Friday, December 20, 2024, at Schmidt Funeral Home in Bellville.

Funeral Service was held at 11:00 AM, Saturday, December 21, 2024, at St. John Lutheran Church with Dr. Jay Grave officiating.

Interment was held in the Oak Knoll Cemetery.

Arrangements under the direction of Schmidt Funeral Home, Bellville, Texas. – (979)865-2424 – ww.schmidtfunerals.com