Geraldine "Deanie" Wiant Willms, 90, of Los Fresnos, passed away December 9, 2009 in Freer, Texas. Deanie was preceded in death by her husband, Norman Frederick Willms, and her sister, Wilma Wiant Stepherson. Deanie was born Nov. 19, 1919, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Her family moved to Brownsville, Texas when she was around 9 years old. On August 10, 1941, she became the bride of Norman Frederick Willms. While being a homemaker and raising their four children, Deanie was a huge help to Norman in his farming and grape growing adventure. Sewing, crocheting and knitting was one of her passions and she spent many hours creating crafts and gifts for family and friends. Deanie was also actively involved with the United Methodist Women. After Norman retired from farming in 1979, she spent a lot of time helping keep records for him while he tested 300 plus varieties of grapes on six different root stocks and cross pollinated several verities to the Texas native mustang grape. At times their kitchen looked more like a laboratory. Another passion they enjoyed together was traveling. They traveled extensively in the continental United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as Europe, China, India, Bhutan, Japan and Australia. The Willms opened up their home to host three foreign exchange students, Sandi from Australia, for a short period of time, then Edith from Belgium for a year, and Anders from Sweden, for a year. Geraldine is survived by her three sons, Gary Albert Willms and his wife, Cheryl Gilliland Willms, of Los Fresnos, Texas, Henry Alan Willms and his wife, Gail Palmer Willms, of Harlingen, Texas, and John Norman Willms and his wife, Stephanie Webb Willms, of Waxahachie, Texas, one daughter, Myra Willms Foster and her husband, Radford Orlen Foster, of Freer, Texas, one sister-in-law, Ella Willms of Columbus, Texas, and fifteen grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the First United Methodist Church in Los Fresnos, Texas, at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in memory of Geraldine W. Willms to the United Methodist Women's Organization, P.O. Box 518, Los Fresnos, TX 78566. Words of Comfort can be sent to the family of Geraldine W. Willms at www.thomaegarza.com Funeral arrangements are under the care of Thomae-Garza Funeral Directors, 395 S. Sam Houston, San Benito, TX (956) 399-1331