Alice LaVerne (Bradley) Welton

Alice LaVerne Welton, 94 of Smithville, MO passed away Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at Clinton Care and Rehab in Plattsburg, MO.

She was the daughter of George Elsworth and Beatrice (McHenry) Bradley, born on July 16, 1917 in Smithville, MO. She was the first of six children born to the Bradley family. She graduated from Smithville High School in 1935.

LaVerne met Claude White in Smithville when he was building culverts on 169 highway. They were both interested in music. Claude played string instruments and LaVerne played both string instruments and the piano. They hit if off right at the start and were married May 4, 1937. Four children were born to their union.

In 1954 LaVerne and Claude moved to Boise, Idaho with their four children, where Claude had been offered a job working for Nashua Manufacturing Company. Claude died in 1963.

LaVerne remarried and lived in Las Vegas where her new husband, Arthur Welton, was a cab driver. When he died in 1983 she moved back to Smithville.

LaVerne was a member of the First Baptist Church in Smithville where she was the organist until she retired in 2006.

She was preceded in death by two husbands, Claude White and Arthur Welton; one sister, Cleora Anderson and two brothers, Henry Lowell Bradley and John Carlyle Bradley.

LaVerne in survived by her three sons, Crayton White and wife, Jan, Trimble, MO, Bill White and wife, Barbara, Tyler, TX, and Bob White and wife, Carol, Irving, TX; one daughter, Anita Wilson, Des Moines, IA; seven grandchildren; ten great-grandchildren; one brother, Calvin Grayson Bradley, California; sister, Maudella Patterson, St. Charles, MO; several nieces and nephews, other relatives and many friends.

Funeral Service: 2:00 p.m. Saturday, March 3^rd at the First Baptist Church in Smithville with visitation one hour prior to the service.

Burial: Smithville Memorial Cemetery

Arrangements: Hixson-Klein Funeral Home, Smithville.