ELISE “ELYSEE” ELIZABETH HAMLETT PEAVY
04/23/1936 - 10/30/2022
Elise “Elysee” Elizabeth Hamlett Peavy commenced her life adventure April 23, 1936, in Baltimore, Maryland. During her early infancy, Elysee’s family moved to Brazil. As a result, her first language was Portuguese and first pet a spider monkey. Elysee’s extraordinary early years set the stage for a remarkable life.
After returning to the United States, Elysee spent most of her childhood in Baltimore, followed by her adolescent years in New Orleans, Louisiana. She married Charles, her husband of 70 years, and joined him in Germany for his military assignment. While living abroad, Elysee traversed Europe and pursued collegiate studies in Munich. During their marriage, Elysee and Charles visited over fourteen countries; Elysee enjoyed the people, food, and culture of each – hence her captivating tales of riding spitting camels, summiting pyramids, bridling stubborn donkeys, and enduring earthquakes.
Elysee’s love of language and literature is evidenced by her numerous academic commendations and endeavors. She was recognized as a Fulbright Scholar and a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. Elysee graduated from Newcomb College with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She earned her Master of Arts at Tulane University where she authored “An Examination and Evaluation of Criticism of Wuthering Heights.” Remarkably, she completed her thesis “The Philosophical and Dramatic Unity of George Farquhar’s Early Comedies” and earned her Ph.D. at Rice University while raising two daughters, teaching full-time, and preparing family meals every evening.
Elysee began her teaching career in New Orleans at the all-boy Alcée Fortier High School. After moving to Houston with her husband and young daughters, Elysee taught at Texas Southern University. She continued to educate and inspire young minds as a full professor at Houston Baptist University where she taught courses in English literature, developed and led a film studies series, held many leadership roles, and was an honorary “little sister” to a fraternity. She retired as Chairperson of the Department of Languages. Known for her rigorous curricula and elevated expectations, students either flocked to or fled from her courses. As a result, her classroom burst with spirited discussion, debate, and intellectual growth.
Memories of Elysee as wife, mother, and grandmother include her sitting in her blue chair grading papers; dancing with abandon with her young daughters; adoring cats; and thoroughly enjoying a good salad. Family dinners often ended with vigorous debate over the etymology of words and delving into Elysee’s thirteen volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary. Her voracious consumption of literature bore witness to her insatiable quest for knowledge, understanding, and intellectual growth. Just before her death, Elysee’s bedside table held five books of different genres she was reading concurrently.
Elysee was happiest with her grandchildren. Their childhood visits began with gingerbread men and iced cookies from Moeller’s Bakery and proceeded into curated activities designed for each grandchild’s interests. Their evenings ended with animated story time during which “Gran’mama” read stories and poetry. Elysee’s love for and pride in her grandchildren were boundless.
Elysee was a member of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, The Menil Collection, Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, The Ann Poage Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames, and Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Elysee passed away peacefully on October 30, 2022, with family. She is survived by husband, Charles Druery Peavy III; daughters, Valerie Vaughan Peavy Meek and Pamela Elysee Peavy Pierce; sons-in-law, Bill Meek and Timothy Pierce; grandchildren, Alexander “Buck” Meek and wife Germaine van der Sanden, Dylan Druery Meek, Lachlan Rafe Benford, and Ronan James Benford; sisters, Julia Hamlett Humphrey, Iona Hamlett Mensch, and Sally Hamlett Haggard; niece and nephew, Lara Humphrey Deatherage and Sean Humphrey, and their spouses Mark Deatherage and Teresa Humphrey; great nieces and nephews, Judy Elysee Deatherage, Finn Deatherage, Ashley Miller, and Brett Miller; many cousins; devoted housekeeper and helper Patricia Sarmiento; and devoted gardener and caretaker, Jody Berryhill.
She was preceded in death by parents, Julia Frances Frazier Hamlett and George Whitfield Deluz Hamlett; mother-in-law and fathersin-law, Mary Vaughan Peavy Fink, Charles D. Peavy II, and Paul Fink; brother-in-law, Ronald DeVere Humphrey; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.
A graveside service will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2022, at ten o’clock in the morning, at Brookside Memorial Park Cemetery.
The family looks forward to receiving Elysee’s friends at a reception following from noon until three o’clock in the afternoon at the BradshawCarter Home, 1734 W. Alabama St. Houston, Texas 77098.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Wildlife Center of Texas, 7007 Old Katy Road, Houston, Texas 77024.