Eddie Deems Sr.

GRANBURY – Eddie Deems Sr., a renowned 100-year-old dance instructor, cha-chaed into Heaven on New Year’s Day. He passed away peacefully at his Granbury home on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, with his wife, Louise, by his side.
Graveside service: 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 7, 2017, at Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth, Texas.
Visitation: 6-8 p.m. Friday at Wiley Funeral Home, Granbury.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice.
Born on October 6, 1916, in Fort Worth, Eddie became fascinated with dancing as a teenager, but shyness kept him off the dance floor. Finally, at age 21, he scraped together $10 for 10 dance lessons and fell in love – not only with dancing but with his stunning instructor, Lavonia Bellah.
They married three months later, on New Year’s Eve in 1938. Together, they opened the Lavonia Bellah Dance Studio and made a name for themselves teaching thousands in North Texas to ballroom dance. At their peak, they had four dance studios in Fort Worth and Dallas.
Along the way, they raised three children – their son, Eddie Deems Jr., and Lavonia’s nieces, Lavonia Lou and Sharon Owens. In 1988, the couple retired and, four years later, Lavonia died of cancer.
Devastated by the loss of his wife of 54 years, Eddie eventually started to teach dance again as a way of coping with his grief.
“When Bellah died, I almost didn’t make it,” Eddie told the Star-Telegram in 2001. “Dancing kept me going. It gave me something to look forward to.”
Louise Ratliff was one of his first students. They formed a friendship that eventually led them to the alter on Dec. 27, 1997.
For the next 20 years, Louise and Eddie built a wonderful, joyous life together that revolved around dancing. For years, they taught ballroom dance together at Fort Worth’s posh Petroleum Club. By this time, Eddie was well into his 80s. Eddie also taught private lessons in Granbury where they lived, first at the Center for Health and Wellness and later at the YMCA.
At age 99, he was still wearing his “uniform” ― a dark suit, crisp white shirt and ascot ― and teaching students to cha-cha, rumba and swing. On April 15, 2016 ― just six months shy of his 100th Birthday ― Eddie finally hung up his dancing shoes due to respiratory issues.
Still, he had dance in his heart and enjoyed reminiscing about the old days when he was Fort Worth’s Fred Astaire of sorts. There’s no doubt that this centenarian’s longevity was due to dancing. He lived to dance and danced to live.
Now, he’s dancing with angels.
SURVIVORS: wife, Louise (Ratliff) Deems; son, Edward Hughes Deems, Jr. and wife Adrea; mother of grandchildren, Kathe Jicha; grandchildren, Christine Durko and husband Fred, Ellen Guerrero and husband Daniel, Monty Deems and wife Laura; 8 great grandchildren; nieces, Lavonia Lou Bailey and husband Dan, Sharon Owens; and his precious baby girls, Jitterbug and Susie Q.
Eddie’s wife, Louise, would like to thank a very dear friend, the Hiram Smith families, and special caregivers Dr. Bhatti, Marce, Angel, Melissa, Tye, Cora, Roy, Hayden, Elizabeth, Shannon, Bryan and Linda.