Wanda Cleavelin

Wanda Highfill Cleavelin, 81, of Lorena went to her heavenly home on April 17, 2024, after her long battle with Alzheimer’s.  Services celebrating her life will be 11am, Friday, April 26, 2024 at Grace Gardens Funeral Home.  There will be a brief visitation after the service.  The burial will be at Waco Memorial Park.

Wanda was born June 16, 1942, in Waco to George and Mary Neal and resided in Lorena.  She was a graduate of Lorena High School and worked at the Alico building as an elevator attendant.  She met and married Jerry Highfill in 1961 and began their lives as an Airforce military family, with the addition of two beloved children.  After the loss of Jerry in 1985, she found love again with John Cleavelin in 1988.

Wanda was a fully present, loving, and devoted mother.  She always had after-school cookies and the best sun tea on the block.  She always had an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on, the very best kind of a mother.  As her children got older, she pursued her degree as a physician's assistant in Hawaii.  After returning to Texas she worked at a local surgical center and then at an OBGYN clinic where she helped in the delivery of her own first granddaughter.

Wanda enjoyed the beauty of this world had to offer.  She enjoyed growing an abundance of many varieties of beautiful flowers in her gardens.   She loved traveling, usually with her sister by her side, especially to Hawaii, where she enjoyed the tropical gardens and the spectacular beauty of the islands.  She enjoyed spending time visiting with her family and playing with her great grandchildren.  Family was so uplifting to her soul.

Wanda will be welcomed at the gates of Heaven by her mother, Mary Margarette Neal, her father, George Harold Neal, her brother, Billy Jack Neal, her first husband, Jerry F. Highfill, her second husband, John D. Cleavelin and her son, Scott Allen Highfill.

Those left to cherish her memory are her daughter Kelly James and Willie; her sister, Judy Chaney, and John; her brothers, Jerry Neal and Donna, Floyd Neal and Cecelia; her grandchildren, Morgan Fallis and Chris, Taylor James and Seth, Grant James and Jenna, Emily James and Steve; her great grandchildren, Johnathon White, Kynleigh Fallis, Garyson Fallis and Amory James; as well as numerous nieces and nephews, cousins and friends.

The family wishes to express their immense gratitude and love to Delois Jones who was Wanda's friend, confidant, and caregiver over the past decade of her life. Delois is an honorary member of our family.