Obituary of Louise Britt Carvey

Louise Britt Carvey, 97, passed away peacefully at home with family and caregivers on January 31, 2021.Vera Louise Britt was born February 18, 1923, in Wheeler County in the Texas Panhandle to Tom and Vera Britt of the pioneer Britt family. She attended a one-room schoolhouse built by her grandfather; graduated from Kelton High School; and following in family tradition, attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi and served as its president.While at Southwestern, Louise met Frank Carvey, Jr. In 1944, during WWII, they were wed in the Little Church Around the Corner in New York City, witnessed by a stranger they pulled off the street. They moved to Fort Worth and began their life together in 1947. They were successful both as a couple and in their individual endeavors: he in his business and golf, and she in her community support and artistic passions. They had two children, Doug now deceased, and Fran; and three grandchildren Navassa, Brittany and Zach, all adored and loved.Louise was guided by the quote, “The purpose of life is to matter—to count, to stand for something, to have it make some difference that we lived at all.” —Leo RostenShe valued and lived for music and the performing arts, social justice and community building, environmental conservation, and travel and adventure. She carried a strong moral backbone for what she saw as right and was a relentless negotiator in the pursuit of her values. When Louise found a passion, she developed it and fostered it in others.Louise’s childhood home was filled with music. Her love of opera began as a young girl listening to opera on the radio on the ranch. She studied music and drama at Southwestern. In early adulthood, she sang alto in the choir of First Methodist Church and joined the Fort Worth Opera’s chorus in its early first years. She hosted three Van Cliburn Competition contestants. Her greatest focus in her later years was the Fort Worth Opera, where she was an active board member and a staunch advocate of their contribution to Fort Worth.Through the church and by way of music, Louise began her work in social justice and community building. What started as her playing piano for children in a home nursery born out of the need for childcare for working mothers, led to her work in establishing the Bethlehem Center, which later evolved into United Community Centers (UCC), a United Way agency. UCC remained a primary focus in Louise’s life through all the years. She was a representative of the Methodist Church group that, in collaboration with other churches, began Meals on Wheels. She was also instrumental in the founding of The Women’s Center.Her lifetime commitment through her time and financial support was a constant enough force and influence that she has left a permanent mark and tweaked the turns that have helped Fort Worth become the city that it is. She rose to leadership positions in most organizations she was involved in, serving on numerous boards, too many to name here, but including Cooks Children’s Hospital, The Women’s Center, The Fort Worth Opera, and The Arts Council. She was recognized for her volunteerism, leadership and philanthropy many times and received many awards, again, too many to list, but including the United Way Hercules Award for Volunteer Services and the Citation of Merit from Southwestern University.Believing strongly in conservation and environmental issues, she was instrumental in the grassroots organizing of what became the Curbside Recycling Program in Fort Worth. She supported conservation agencies, organized litter pickups, and pre-ordered a Prius when they first came out.Louise loved travel and adventure. She visited every continent and explored many unusual locations. Perhaps her love of adventure developed in the years of canoeing with family on the Brazos River. She snow-skied several times a year and continued skiing well into her seventies. In her 90s, one of her last trips was on a small boat to the Galapagos Islands and up to Machu Picchu with her daughter and grandchildren.Louise Britt Carvey fulfilled the purpose of life as she saw it. She mattered. She counted. She stood for something. It definitely made a difference that she had lived at all.The expanse of her being and the number of you who she knew…every relation was of genuine interest to her. Whatever it is that you shared is yours to carry on knowing that she will always support you and what good work you are doing.The family would like to thank the loving home caregivers whose support made it possible for Mrs. Carvey to live these last 2 years as she wished in her home.She is preceded in death by her parents; her son, Douglas; her husband of 68 years, Frank; her brother, David; and her sister, Genevieve.Louise is survived by her daughter, Frances; grandchildren, Navassa and family, Brittany and family, and Zach and family; sister-in-law, Paula Britt; and numerous nieces and nephews, all who she adored.