TRIBUTE TO AN AMAZING WOMAN

Jean was born and raised on a farm, never obtained a college degree, but was much more capable than most college graduates

By Howie Katz

 

As the grim reaper gets ever closer, I thought it was time to pay tribute to my late wife Jean, a truly amazing woman.

Jean was born and raised on a farm in Oklahoma adjacent to the border with Kansas.  She never obtained a college degree, but she was much more capable than most college graduates.  After one year at Oklahoma A&N (now Oklahoma State University), Jean went to work at Boeing in Wichita, Kansas.  (I used to tease her by pronouncing it boing.)

 

 

 

 

When I was a cop in Galveston, Jean was the daytime manager of the Embassy Club.  I met my wife to be by stopping her for a traffic violation.  If you guessed that I did not write her a ticket, you guessed right.

When we decided to get married, Jean's mother and my mother each had a fit.  A close friend of my mother suggested we go to Father Dan, Galveston's beloved Catholic priest, for pre-marriage counseling because she was sure he would advise us not to marry.  Instead, Father Dan said, "I see no reason you two shouldn't get married."

In 1955, we moved to California where she got a job at the San Bernardino County Clerk's office where she obtained court case files for lawyers and legal secretaries.  Some legal secretaries from Riverside were so impressed with her work that they urged her to become a legal secretary.

She soon found work as a legal secretary at a Riverside law firm and before long she became the office manager of the firm which defended a number of crooks that I had arrested as a Riverside County Sheriff's officer.  By the time we returned to Texas in 1969, she was Riverside's most sought after legal secretary.  And Jean never had any training as a legal secretary ... she learned the profession on the job.

When we moved to Houston in 1970, my son Nick became an outstanding youth ice hockey player and my daughter Karen became Houston's most outstanding, at the time, figure skater.  Thus Jean spent a lot of time at ice rinks.  She was asked to run the pro shops when the regular workers were away.  When the Sharpstown Ice Center opened, she became the shop's manager.

She was also hired by Bobby Kinkaid, the equipment manager of the World Hockey Association's Houston Aeros to take care of the team's jerseys.  Thus she would go into the team's locker room right after the games to collect all the jerseys.  I am sure Jean was the first woman in the United States who was allowed to enter the locker room of a men's professional sports team right after a game.  The legendary Gordie Howe - 'Mr. Hockey' - always enjoyed popping her in the ass with his towel.  

During this time, Jean was asked to help out part-time for the Christmas shopping rush at the Sharpstown Mall's Houston Hat Company, a store specializing in cowboy hats.  As soon as the Christmas rush was over, Jean was made the manager of their store at the Almeda Mall.  And when the Houston Hat Company opened a new store at the Baybrook Mall, Jean became the manager of that store. 

When President Reagan and Nancy made an appearance at the Baybrook Mall, Jean presented the president with a cowboy hat.  Unexpectedly, Nancy asked "Where's my hat?"  Jean quickly blocked out a hat for her too.   

And despite all her activities, Jean always found the time to be a wonderful mother for Nick and Karen.

Sadly, Alzheimer's played havoc with the last five years of Jean's life.  She no longer recognized Nick and Karen as our children.  She no longer recognized me as her husband.  She thought I was just some man who took up residence in her home and called the cops twice to have me thrown out. 

She passed away on June 25, 2015.

Three of the luckiest days of my life were the day Jean committed a traffic violation, the day Father Dan gave us his blessing, and the day I married Jean.

We were married for more than 60 years.  I really miss my amazing Jean ... the one before Alzheimer's.