Bessie Lorene Hopkins was born July 9, 1911 to Thomas Ewing and Harriet Ann Hopkins near Chillicothe, Texas. She had 11 siblings, 2 brothers and 8 sisters; and one brother who died in infancy. She was the youngest in her family. Her father was a farmer and the whole family helped on the farm. She once made a pet of a wild rabbit and after turning him loose he would come and sleep under the doorstep of the house. She nursed a runt pig until he was healthy. She liked to hunt; and one day while out hunting she outran a pack of wild dogs with a gun in her hands - because she had only one shell left. She loved horses and had her picture made sitting on the haunches of a mule. She was a good basketball player and played several musical instruments including: piano, guitar, violin, harmonica, or any other instrument she wanted to try. She was self-taught in her musical endeavors and learned to play the piano by the shape of the notes rather than the position on the scale. She could whistle any tune she pleased and was often heard whistling as she did her household chores. Lorene was an avid reader and loved poetry. Her favorite author of poetic verse was Edgar A. Guest. She wrote several poems of her own. She received the Lord as her Saviour during her early teens and endeavored throughout her life to live to please her Lord and help others. When she was 14 she met and started dating Winfield Samuel Herring. She was then living in Marshall community, where she was valedictorian of her graduation class. They were marred on August 6, 1931 and spent their honeymoon picking cotton in south Texas. Winfield and Lorene lived with her parents until after the birth of their first child, Ranelle. Then they moved to Quanah, Texas, where they farmed for 7 years on sandy farms near the Red River in north central Texas. She was a hard worker and a good mother. Her favorite hobbies were playing dominoes and gardening. She and Winfield raised a beautiful garden each year well into their 80th year. Her common expression was, ?Oh, tootle!? While on the farm her husband, Winfield, was called to preach. She traveled with him to Fort Worth for Bible College. At the back of the moving truck was the prized possession of a jersey cow named Old Bess. She supplied the family with milk to drink and sell. She returned with her family to Quanah where Winfield established the Bible Baptist Church. To supplement their income the family hired out to local farmers hoeing and pulling cotton. Several years later she traveled with her husband where he pastored churches in Texas, Kansas, and Colorado. She saw all five of her children come to know the Lord, graduate from High School, and 3 of them graduated from Bible College. She was preceded in death by her husband, Winfield, and one son, Bennoit Duane. She is survived by four children: Ranelle Foster Rex of Terrell, Texas; Dennis Herring Lois of Chemainus, B.C.; Winene Nimmo Fred of Pasco, WA.; and Sharron Lohkamp of San Diego, CA.. She is also survived by 8 grandchildren, 15 greatgrandchildren, and a host of nieces and nephews.