Lena Faye Tacker

Lena Faye Tacker, 85, died Jan. 20, 2026, in her home at Legacy Oaks Senior Living in Azle, Texas.

Graveside Service: 10:00 a.m., Friday, January 30, 2026 at Springtown Cemetery, Springtown, TX.

She was born Sept. 27, 1940, in Colorado City, Texas, to Herman Leon Harper Sr. and Melvia Eulalia Harper, nee Haltom.

Lena was practically born dancing. Her mother recalled her balancing on her tip toes from the time she could walk. She also excelled at sports, particularly tennis. Lena was a member of the first class to graduate from San Angelo Central High School, where she won multiple athletic awards.

Lena attended San Angelo College (now Angelo State University) and moved to Fort Worth to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts, from Texas Christian University. There she studied all forms of dance and worked for the Fort Worth Recreation Department. One day, a reluctant young man named Frank Derwood Tacker attended a couple’s dance class at his sister’s behest, and soon he and the teacher became inseparable. Lena and Derwood were married Nov. 13, 1964, in San Angelo.

Derwood worked as a subway driver for Leonard’s department store and later joined the Fort Worth Fire Department. When he wasn’t fighting fires and Lena wasn’t teaching dance classes, they worked together to build their own home in Springtown, Texas. It included a large dance studio where Lena taught local children ballet, tap, and jazz dance as well as baton twirling for two decades. Her annual recitals became a cherished tradition in Springtown.

Lena loved animals and always shared her home with a menagerie of pets. She named her, and Derwood’s first dog Pavlova after her dance heroine, the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.

Her niece and nephews hold many fond memories of visiting Aunt Lena and Uncle Derwood that included visits to Six Flags, the Fort Worth Zoo, and the original run of Star Wars, as well as passionate conversations about any topic that came up.

Lena is preceded in death by her parents; her beloved Derwood; sister, Sylvia Green and brother, Herman Leon Harper, Jr.

She is survived by nephews, John Harper and wife Jennifer of Benbrook, who helped and cared for her for many years; Paul Harper and wife Toyha of San Angelo, Michael Green and wife Sherri, of Sugar Land, Texas; niece, Kimbra Lee Johnson and husband Brian, of Ennis; three great-nephews, and four great-nieces.