Valera Chenoweth died June 12th, 1996, in Canadian, Texas, at the age of 79.

Valera was a Society for Louisiana Irises (SLI) member for more than twenty years and attended a number of SLI meetings in Lafayette, LA.  She developed an interest in Louisiana irises while living in Lemon Grove, CA.

A retired Master Judge of the American Iris Society, Valera was an active promoter of Louisiana irises for many years.  Her interest went beyond entering shows, although she loved winning ribbons, to hybridizing both in diploid and tetraploid Louisiana irises.  Her ‘Samurai Wish’ (Chenoweth, V 1986) is widely-grown and was a real color break in tetraploid Louisiana irises.  She introduced a total of 12 Louisiana irises.