Obituary for LaVerta Tilton Foust

LaVerta Tilton Foust was born June 16, 1944, to Ralph and Ruby (Mason) Tilton. She grew up in and around Saylorville, Iowa, where friends and family affectionately called her "Skeet," a nickname the Saylorville crew never stopped using.

LaVerta graduated from Saydel High School in 1962. Thanks to her joyful demeanor and sense of humor, classmates voted her Most Happy-Go-Lucky. After high school, she worked at the Des Moines Tribune and later Central States Theatres, where she enjoyed lunching with workmates at the Younker's Tea Room.

In 1965, LaVerta married Gary Foust and moved to Indianola. She continued to work for Central States until their daughter, Lisa, was born in 1972. In 1975, the Foust family moved to Shadehill, South Dakota, population 8, where they owned and operated Summerville Store for 7 years. LaVerta had many fond memories of fun times at the store with friends and family. The community became such an important part of their lives that the Fousts continued to visit in the decades that followed.

After moving back to Indianola, LaVerta worked as LIHEAP coordinator for Red Rock Area Community Action Program for more than 20 years. She enjoyed being able to help others in this role along with coworkers that became life-long friends. She also did the books for Gary's business, Foust Body Shop.

LaVerta devoted herself to her daughter, Lisa. She was a funny and supportive mother, always making Lisa feel like everything she did was the best thing anyone had ever done. The Fousts enjoyed many fun times together, from vacations to family picnics to Saturday night dinners out in Des Moines with extended family.

When Lisa married Jayson Prater in 1997, LaVerta expertly designed and sewed her stunning wedding dress, veil, and cape. She and Lisa had a wonderful time planning the wedding together, and it gave her a chance to put her two mottos into practice: "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing," and, "Planning a party is just as fun as having a party."

Lisa turned LaVerta from the world's best mother into the world's best grandmother when she had Jake, Luke, and Will. LaVerta and Gary spent a lot of time with the boys throughout their growing up years, hosting many a sleepover and becoming a home away from home. Grandma would make the boys whatever they wanted for every meal, even if they wanted three different things, but her specialty was blueberry pancakes. As the boys grew, she and Gary attended countless sporting events, concerts, and plays, always cheering on their grandsons in every school and Scouting activity. They made her so proud and she took so much pleasure seeing them grow into wonderful young men.

LaVerta was a talented artist, a skill she inherited from her mother and honed taking several classes. She painted dozens of oil paintings and watercolors, including many commissioned pieces. She put her final commissioned work in the mail just a few days before her death. In the last year of her life, she started to teach Lisa to paint, going to great lengths to demonstrate watercolor techniques and explain colors in a way that her colorblind daughter could understand.

She loved to read, and she and Lisa enjoyed swapping books and talking about them together. She was an enthusiastic fan of British movies and television shows, playing mahjong, and keeping up with friends and family on social media.

LaVerta will be remembered as supremely kind, uproariously funny, and a complete delight to be around. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, and will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her.

She unexpectedly passed from this life into the next quickly and painlessly on December 14, 2022, while texting Lisa, "We love you and yours." It was fitting that she spent the last seconds of her life chatting with Gary and showering Lisa and family with love.

LaVerta was preceded in death by her parents, uncle Robert Mason, brother Keith Tilton and wife Eleanor, sister Rita Brown and husband Harold, sister-in-law Mary Tilton, and brother-in-law Cleo Penfield. She will be deeply missed by her husband of 57 years, Gary Foust of Chariton; daughter Lisa Foust Prater and favorite son-in-law Jayson Prater of rural Milo; the lights of her life, grandsons Jakob, Lucas, and William Prater; brother Ned Tilton; sister-in-law Marilyn Kuhn and husband Joel; sister-in-law Carolyn Penfield; numerous nieces and nephews she adored; other family both by blood and by choice; and countless friends.

LaVerta did not wish to have a traditional funeral and chose to be cremated. Her family will host a celebration of her life in the spring or summer, complete with LaVerta's signature relish trays and cheese balls.