I would like to submit a Greathouse obituary. I'm sure you will have a need to shorten it. I did not realize it was so long when I started typing it. I also found this Greathouse in the 1930 Census of Rio Arriba Co., Tapiecitas, NM. I believe his mother was a Native American.
Greathouse, William 40 TX AL TX farmer
Alzina wife 29 CO ? CO
Herbert son 09 NM TX CO
Alice dau 08 NM TX CO
I have no idea where this Greathouse fits in; but I hope someone does.
Fern
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The following appeared in the Las Cruces Sun News dated 3 Dec. 2004, Las Cruces, NM.
GREATHOUSE
Herbert F. Greathouse, a fifty-year resident of Las Cruces, died 30 Nov. 2004, Born in a tent on Aug. 30, 1920 in the yard of the local doctor in Cuba, New Mexico. Herb was the son of Willie Smith Greathouse, a homesteader in Rio Arriba County, and his beloved wife, Alzina Crowfoot Greathouse.
Although education was hard to come by, Alzina valued it highly and saw her family through many hardships in order to assure that the children were educated. Herb and his sister Alice rode a horse many miles through harsh weather in desolate countryside to get to school. His father soon realized that they were wearing out the horse.
Their mother then moved into a little shack in Regina, NM so that they could continue to attend elementary school. Herb graduated from high school at The Spanish American Normal School in El Rito, during which time he won the state typing contest, was valedictorian and was a Golden Gloves Boxing champion.
On the weekends, Bill Greathouse, by then a widower, would fetch his children from school to help him with the work on the farm. Herb later graduated at the top of his class in organic chemistry at New Mexico A & M. Herb excelled at everything he did.
WWII interrupted Herb’s education; he participated in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and four other European campaigns including the Battle of the Bulge.
Returning to New Mexico to finish college, he met the love of his life, Patricia O’Donnell, to whom he was married for 57 years. They were the proud parents of four loving daughters, Patricia, Susan, Mary Beth and Betty Lou.
Herb retired after an exemplary 30-year career in the FBI during which he set a record in marksmanship that stood for many years at the training center in Quantico, Virginia.
Herb and Pat began raising registered quarter horses in 1977. In the 25 years that they raised horses, they produced numerous AQHA champions, futurity winners and World Show qualifiers. At the same time, he was teaching criminal justice at NMSU where he was known as an interested supportive professor whose classes were always filled. Students knew that he was always tough but fair.
Herb also gave his time as a leader to 4-H clubs in Las Cruces, coaching the first horse, judging team from NM to win the national championship. Herb was a respected woodsman and hunter and used his knowledge to introduce many 4-H members and NMSU students to the Gila Wilderness through horse packing trips. Herb was a past president of Rotary, Southwest Quarter Horse Association and the NMSU Alumni Association, and held several offices in the New Mexico Quarter Horse Association through the years.
Everyone who knew Herb knew him as a lively storyteller and a man of great character and integrity. He was always adamant about the necessity of a good education, and never failed to encourage and exhort his daughters and grandchildren in the importance of school. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends.
Herb was preceded in death by his sister, Alice Hughes and his brother Richard Greathouse. He is survived by his wife Patricia O’Donnell Greathouse, his daughters Patricia Greathouse and her husband Christopher Barnes, Susan Barrett and her husband Christopher Barrett, Mary Beth Britton and her husband William Britton and Betty Lou Valdez and her husband Robert Valdez. Grandchildren include Joshua and Angela Schriber and their children Isaiah and Jonas, Emily and Jasper Schriber, Marie and Andrea Britton, Sophia and Louisa Barrett, Erin and Matthew Little and Kelly Valdez. He is also survived by his sister Martha Lasater and her husband Roger, his brother, Ted Greathouse and his wife Annette, his brother-in-law, Newt Hughes, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was very close to his wife’s family, Charles and Louise O’Donnell and their children, Michael, Sarah, Kathy, Scott and Kenny and their children.
Cremation will take place. A service to honor Herb’s memory and significant to his friends and family will be arranged around Christmas time in order to allow the college-age grandchildren to attend. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Herbert F. Greathouse scholarship in Criminal Justice c/o The NMSU Foundation, P.O. Box 3590, Las Cruces, NM 88003.