Suzette Odom

Suzette (Ivan) Odom was born May 26, 1948 in Luling, Texas to parents Harold and Roy Jean (Denton) Ivan. She passed away October 14, 2018 in Plano, Texas.

She is survived by her husband Scott Odom, sons; Tim Kershaw and Michael Vaughan, grandchildren; Landen, Lauren, Logen and Landry Kershaw, Logan, Peyton and Lyla Vaughan, sisters; Sherry Slate and her husband Ken, Linda Whittney Avila and her daughters-in-law and mother of her grandchildren, Evelyn Kershaw and Amy Vaughan.

There will be an Afternoon of Remembrance to celebrate Suzette’s life on Sunday, October 28, 2018 from 3:00-5:00 P.M. with words of remembrance spoken at 4:00 P.M. at Allen Family Funeral Options.

Suzette Odom was a loving daughter, devoted wife, adoring mother, a Nutty Nana (as she liked to tell the grand kids), an entrepreneur and the best mother-in-law for 21 years a daughter-in-law could ask for. It is my honor and privilege to get to share a little bit of her amazingness with you! She wasn’t just an amazing mother-in-law, she was one of my best friends for 32 years. Suzette never saw me as the girl taking her son away, but as the daughter she never had. Our stories of growing up, may have been 20 years apart but it was like we lived them together. We both loved music and dance. For me it was Latin salsa and R&B for her big band and the jitter bug. We both grew to love country music and Michael Bublé. However, Frank Sinatra and Elvis would always rank number one in her book. One of our fondest memories was spending an evening dancing to Michael Jackson with her mother RoyJean and her best friend Sherry Slate (Aunt Sherry). We even took tap dancing classes together! Neither one of us could carry a note to sing but we both wished we could. She had so much fun leaving a voicemail singing “happy birthday to you” on our birthdays. We both married our first love right out of high school. For Suzette It was Jerry Upchurch the father of her two sons Tim and Mike. They were and will always be her pride and joy. For me it was her oldest son Tim Kershaw. We both had our first child at the age of nineteen and the second one 21 months later. Our parents disapproved of our young and reckless love and fought hard against it. Our mothers had very similar personalities and we were both daddy’s girls. Suzette would light up so bright when she would talk about her daddy Hal Ivan (Papaw). Our friendship grew to be so strong at one point we even shared a broken heart. She could empathize with me on so many levels and on so many occasions. We both loved big, loved deeply, loved unconditionally and were loyal to a fault. Especially, when it came to our children…. and her grandchildren. She was so proud to be called Mama and later Nana. “My name is Suzette Odom, but everyone calls me Nana” she would say, so matter of fact, in her Texas draw. The bond we had was much more than just sharing a love for her oldest son. The grandchildren made us family for life. She loved having the whole family together at Thanksgiving and Christmas. She was so proud of our multicultural family. It consisted of her sons Tim and Mike and her husband Scott Odom. My Colombian Parents. My Brother Paul and His half Korean wife Shelly and their kids. Our Godson Beto from El Salvador and at least one of our Sons best friends who all happen to be African American…David, Brandon and or Matt. There was never a dull moment. Michaels Kids came later. It gave her such joy to wrap gifts for Little Logan, Peyton and Lyla. She went absolutely crazy buying doll cloths and patterns for the American Girl Doll she bought Peyton.

I am a better person today because of her example of “can do and will do” when it came to her family and friends. She was our biggest fan. Anything we dreamed about doing she was right there dreaming with us. She would research information to help us and cheer us on. At the same time, she strived for her own dreams. She loved gardening and flowers so much, she received a degree in horticulture. She canned her own vegetables and made the most beautiful flower beds. She loved to cook and made the family’s favorite hot sauce. We call it Nanas hot sauce, of course. She loved really sweet tea and Hershey’s kisses. She loved to dig in the dirt but loved getting dolled up for a party too. If you needed to know how to build something, wrap something, make something, even spell something we didn’t ask google we asked Nana. Nana also had some strong opinions. Especially, when it came to her Country and her Politics. However, I think she would tell you she was a Texan first then she was an American. I can hear her saying “ you betcha ” as I type it. She really showed that passion when we started a small business together and our friend Amber Coker. We named it Family Design 1837. She and her husband Scotty, aka Smoke, made rustic home decor and she was so proud and quick to say “it was built by Texans.”

The name meant so much to her. It was a symbol of all of her the loves of her life. Her family, Texas, the cowboy era and the #37. The family football number. When her sons Tim and Mike were little boys she enrolled them in football. Long story short. After years of little league, middle school and high school football games and track meets. Tim was given the honor of wearing Doak Walkers retired football jersey from Highland Park High School #37. All three of our sons, Landen, Logen and Landry, played through High School and my daughter Lauren was a cheerleader. Currently, my brother-in-law Michael continues the legacy with his son. Whom we lovingly call little Logan. All the boys have worn the #37 at some point in their football careers. Even big Logen’s best friend David asked if he could wear the family number because Tim had been his coach and our family meant so much to him.

Suzette's influence, talent and creativity will forever run deep in our family. Suzette and her husband Scotty lived with me and the kids for six years. I am so grateful that we were blessed with that opportunity. I will miss our fun, family conversations at the kitchen table or in the workroom she had built in my garage. Together we dreamed of doing big things as a family and solving all the world’s problems. Her laugh was loud, raspy and contagious. However, most people will remember her for her talent with a needle and thread and her love of teaching. She delighted in sewing for the family and giving us handmade gifts. She made countless Halloween costumes for all the grand kids. She could make her own patterns and copy what you wanted from a magazine.

Suzette started her love for sewing at the early age of 5 with her paternal grandmother Granny Ivan. It all started with embroidering a little yellow duck in the water on a small pillow case. Finishing high school without taking Home Economic. Suzette proceeded to learn more and more from her Mother, Roy Jean and her maternal Grandmother, Mee-maw Denton. She started teaching herself more at age 22. Suzette started her first business specializing in Upholstered Walls. It began because she did one wall in her own home. When the next-door neighbor wanted her daughter’s, wall upholstered too. Suzettes husband at the time Jim Kershaw ordered business cards without her knowing and she was in business. By age 30 she was a dress maker, she had learned how to do counted cross stitch, and she could knit too. At 40 she became a quilter and a couture dressmaker through Richard Brooks dress shop in Highland Park Dallas, Tx. Still, for the most part, Suzette was self-taught. She could naturally figure out what worked and what didn’t work. “My love of puzzles has helped me figure out how to get the look and designs people want. My motto is if you can dream it…. we can make it.”

Suzette also had a passion for teaching. “When the light clicks on, and the student gets their ‘aha’ moment, it drives me to do more.” She taught several years at Joann’s and Hancock’s fabrics. It motivated her to learn even more. She then took her passion to the next level and she went to work in a large commercial workroom.  One of the things she learned was that the one on one contact with the client was very important and she wanted to incorporate that into her workroom.  She also knew that treating her employees with kindness and dignity helps to produce a better product. After 30 plus years she still enjoyed helping people put their designs in motion and finishing the home.  “My favorite part is seeing the smile on their faces after we complete the installation.”  Going from stitching ducks, to become a couture dressmaker, to a blue-ribbon quilter and running her own Drapery Workroom, Suzette has done everything from the small gathered valance in the laundry room to large stage valances of the entry way of the Malachite Room and large valance in the Crystal Ballroom at the Hotel Intercontinental on the North Dallas Tollway.  She also did the stage valance for the Jehovah Witness stage in New York City, which consisted of 5 full bias swags that were 15ft wide and 16ft long, plus the cascades.

Our family is still in shock and truly grieving the loss of our Nutty Nana. We will miss, as one of her good friends described so perfectly, her gentle but wild spirit. Nevertheless, we take comfort in knowing she is with our Lord Jesus Christ. I have this vision of her sitting with Jesus, Papaw and Cricket around a round kitchen table. She is wearing a beautiful yellow dress. She is telling them about all the things we did and the stories we tell. How proud she is of all of us and that we will be doing great things for the Kingdom. Humbly, leaving herself out, making it all about us. I like to believe Jesus is telling her how amazing she is and how her family is so proud of her. How her family is honoring her and that she mattered. He is telling her that she touched so many lives, he is proud of her and how she helped set the stage for the rest of us.

I know he has told her “ Well done .”

Words from those who love her so much

“Suzette Odom was my mother-in-law for 21 years. She was our family’s biggest fan and one of my best friends for 32 years. I pray you knew just how much you meant to me. You taught me so much. I learned to be a proud American and even more so a proud TEXAN. You taught me to appreciate the outdoors and it was ok to let the kids get dirty. You never saw me as the girl taking your son but as the daughter you never had. You stood by my side during the good times and the worst times. You so understood the meaning of unconditional love and it means so much. I love you and will miss you so much.” -Evelyn Kershaw

“I love you and will miss you so much! I will never forget all the times we spent together; Making clothes and my Halloween costume almost every year. I know you never liked making clothes, but because It was something I liked, you never said no... Just so you know, I still have everything we made! Thank you for teaching me so many cool things. 💙💙 I know the last thing we talked about was making my giant LOVE sign for my wedding. I just knew you could make anything. I'm still going to make it and I know you’ll be right there helping me! Don’t forget to look down January 19th to watch me walk down the aisle I know you’ll be smiling, crying and clapping your hands.  I love you!! Rest In Peace my beautiful grandmother!” -Lauren Kershaw

Nana never seen me any different from all of her grandkids. She accepted me, loved me, kissed me and made things for me. She was always a shoulder to lean on, someone to give a hug and kiss to. She was ALWAYS there for us. And just like you said, She was our biggest fan. -Beto Cortez

“My dearest, oldest friend, my sister from another mother. We began our relationship as high school best friends. I lived with her and her parents my last year of high school. We danced, we laughed, we slept in the same bed, we cried, we acted silly and crazy, we double dated and were engaged the same night. Through the years we would ebb and flow yet always knew we were there for each other. Always love and acceptance. Sunday morning the complications and damage of a ruptured brain aneurysm took her from this world. As I was looking for pictures. I saw and recognized her writing on an envelope. I opened it and found these words. Her words to me. Goodness, oh goodness I shall sorely miss her for she has made OUR days much warmer, much brighter and friendlier. Sunday was her great day! I will get my chin up and smile..for she is always with me...my Suz!!” -Sherry Slate

“Tears of sadness and happiness flowed at the same time as I read this, because I knew the great love of friendship that the two of you shared.It was really a bonding of your souls that no one else could understand. She was one of a kind and you had to really know her to love the 'real Suzette'. She had a heart for everyone but she loved her family more than life itself. There will be a big void where she used to be and I will miss her gentle yet wild spirit more than ever. Her memories will live on forever in my heart.” -Babs Seeger Crombie

“It was the Fall of 2010. Resource Designs had just been awarded a Huge Model Apartment Contract from one of the major players in the Senior Living Industry. They asked me which states I felt comfortable working in. Without any hesitation what-s0-ever, I said, “All of them.” I was not expecting 27 Models from the East Coast to the West Coast, all at one time!!! From Bakersville, Ca to the Big Apple, Resource Designs was officially “On the Road”. We appropriately called it “Model Mania”. It was Intense and Deeply satisfying as we made our way across the nation creating one “Must See Model” after another. We immediately had to step up our game and the right people came to us at just the right time to make it all happen. For many years I had a recurring dream where I would step out into the warehouse and watch yards and yards of fabric being fabricated to meet my vision. At just the right moment, Suzette handed me a scrap of paper with her cell phone number on it. She said, “I am opening my own workroom. I don’t have a space, yet! ...but I will sew for you! I am a Blue-Ribbon Quilter and a Coutour Dress Maker. I have made all of the window treatments for some of the major hotel installations. I have had a sewing needle in my hand since I was 5. If you can draw it, I can make it.” We had the Space and the Work to back it up! She followed me down The Yellow Brick Road and set up shop the next day in our warehouse! Through all of these years, neither one of us ever questioned the decision. For me, it was the dream come true! We made it happen Over and Over and Over again, across the Nation! Suzette, My Life is More because of YOU! Happy Transition Day!! You Were Amazing!!! I Love You, Sunshine!” -Kendra Lucas Favors