Laverne U Hagood

LaVerne Irene (Urban) Hagood passed peacefully at the age of 90 on September 17, 2026. She was born in Fedor, Texas on September 4, 1936, to Willie and Meta (Herzog) Urban. LaVerne resided in Hutto, Texas.

The family moved to Austin when LaVerne was 3 years old, and she attended Trinity Lutheran School, later graduating from Austin High School. As a junior at Austin High, she worked at Scarborough’s Department Store on Congress Avenue—beginning as a gift wrapper and soon moving into the business office—before eventually moving across Congress Avenue to Austin National Bank. Her family attended Trinity Lutheran Church and later became charter members of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Austin.

LaVerne married Donald Hagood on February 17, 1957, one of the first couples to wed in the newly formed church. They spent many happy years as part of the Redeemer congregation. LaVerne was part of the Walther League and a co-ed volleyball team, and she hosted small group Bible studies in her home just a few blocks from the church. She stayed home to raise her children until her husband started his own accounting and book keeping business, where they worked side by side until his death in 1991.

After Don’s passing, LaVerne moved from Austin to Hutto and helped start a new congregation at Point of Grace Lutheran Church. Her church life was deeply important to her, and belonging to a young congregation brought her genuine joy.

Along with her church activities, LaVerne enjoyed working in her garden, caring for her grandchildren, camping and fishing with her family, and working as a preschool teacher at The Fellowship of Forest Creek in Round Rock. She had a true gift with plants—any plant she had flourished—and she especially loved tending her flower beds and watching them bloom. LaVerne remained active and traveled throughout the United States and Germany into her early 70s. Though she faced many physical struggles as she aged, she continued to welcome others with steady warmth—making time for fresh cookies in her cookie jar and, now and then, a coffee cake for visitors.