Amalia Molly Wiederien

Amalia Molly Wiederien, born on June 16, 1946 in Odem, Texas to Erasmo and Maria Perez died on December 9, 2023 at the age of 77. She is preceded in death by parents Erasmo and Maria Perez, two sons Ricky and Robert Wiederien; brothers, Elias Perez, Juan Perez, Antonio Perez, Manuel Barrera, and Jose Castillo; sisters, Tomas Perez, and Noemi Lopez.

She is survived by her loving husband of 55 ½ years, Duane; daughters, Deri Ann and husband Larry Adair of Waco, Melanie and husband Daniel Lopez of Alaska, and Tina Wiederien of Austin; one granddaughter Sara Elizabeth, two grandsons Ramon Lopez of Oklahoma, and Raul Lopez of Alaska; and one great grandchild; sisters, Rebecca Bravo of Alice, Texas, Patricia Villareal of Odem, Texas, Elva Reyna of Odem, Texas; Several nieces and nephews, her church family, and numerous friends. Molly and Duane kept 83 foster children over a period of 20 years. One foster child became their daughter, Tina, and another one, Sara, called her “Grandmama”.

Molly’s number one priority in life was serving the Lord and always being in church services. On one occasion, with her children and foster children, her family would even park a travel trailer in the church parking lot to camp there for Sunday services and then head back home. Molly also loved her church family, especially all the children. She was known as the snack lady to many who attended church with her. At one point, when she was sick and could not make it to church or go inside the building, she said she would rather park outside the church and listen to services through the outside speaker system.

She loved singing gospel songs both in Spanish and in English. She even made her own songbook by taking page numbers from the English version and matching the song number to the Spanish version to be able to sing in her native language.

Molly knew the value of work. In her early years, her parents would take the whole family to pick cotton in the Texas and Oklahoma fields. Her mother would work long hours in the field and then come home to cook dinner and get ready for the next day. This work ethic taught her a lot about working hard and taking care of a family at the same time.

Molly was very particular about caring for her children as well as the 83 foster children. Even though money was sometimes tight, she would always be sure children had nice clothes to wear and three meals a day. She had a motto: Never leave home without breakfast.