Lorene Lacer

Lorene Lacer, age 95, of Amarillo, passed away on March 15, 2026, in Amarillo.

Born on October 20, 1930, in Wewoka, Oklahoma, to William and Beulah Hopkins, Lorene was the sixth of eight children. She graduated as valedictorian from Wewoka High School in 1948 and went on to attend Amarillo College. On May 27, 1951, she married the love of her life, Orland Lacer, in Wewoka. Their marriage spanned more than sixty-two years until his passing on May 19, 2013. Together they traveled extensively, visiting approximately forty countries and forty-nine states, with Alaska remaining the only state they had not seen.

Lorene began her career with Southwestern Public Service in 1952 and served the company faithfully for forty years, retiring in 1992 as Corporate Assistant Secretary and Manager of the Investor Relations Department. A charter member of Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, she was actively involved in the prayer ministry and the Love Sunday School Class, and she served on the church’s 40th Anniversary Committee.

Deeply committed to her community, Lorene participated in numerous civic and cultural organizations, including serving as President of the Executive Board of Directors for the Lone Star Ballet. She was also involved with the Amarillo Symphony, Panhandle Geological Auxiliary, Amarillo Little Theatre Guild, Power of the Purse, Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation, Amarillo Republican Women, and the Amarillo Opera. Her dedication earned her many honors, among them the Woman of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of Texas-Oklahoma Plains in 2009 and recognition as one of the Amarillo Globe-News Headliners in the 2018 Amarillo Globe-News Man and Woman of the Year. Through all her accomplishments, Lorene remained humble and gracious.

She was preceded in death by her four sisters, Beatrice Terrell Harjo, Lucille Ross, Mildred Erwin, and Pat Shipley Coulon, and two brothers, Hubert Hopkins and Calvin Hopkins. Lorene is survived by her brother, Don Hopkins of Tulsa, Oklahoma; numerous nieces and nephews; a special niece, Brenda Davis and her husband Bob of Pampa; her dear friend Anne Thomas of Amarillo; and a host of other loving friends.