Jean Ann Willms Haws, 90, died at her residence on June 9, 2024, in Houston, Texas. She was born on August 14, 1933, in Sioux City, Iowa, the daughter of Ernest Frederick (E.F.) Willms and Alice Strivens Willms and raised in the nearby small farming community of Coleridge, Nebraska along with her beloved siblings Judith and Neal.
Although Jean left Nebraska in the 1950’s, Coleridge was always in her heart. She was forever grateful for having grown up in a small community that instilled within her a strong work ethic and high morals, and for the loving relationships she had with innumerable family and friends. Jean returned to Nebraska frequently throughout the years and passed on the small-town experience to her children.
After graduating from Coleridge High School in 1950, Jean studied nursing at Nebraska Wesleyan College in Lincoln, Nebraska; Kahler School of Nursing in Rochester, Minnesota; and Lying-In Hospital and Cook County Hospital in Chicago. After moving back to Lincoln in 1955, she met her future husband, William Haws. He proposed to her two weeks after they met, and they were married three months later, on October 15, 1955, in Seward, Nebraska. Bill and Jean’s marriage lasted nearly 51 years until his death in 2006.
During the early years of their marriage, Bill's career in construction management involved frequent moves to various locations including Fort Worth, Abilene, Albuquerque, Denver and Pueblo, Colorado. In 1960, Bill and Jean transferred, for the last time, to Houston where Bill was assigned to the downtown post office construction project. After settling in Houston, Jean was a stay-at-home Mom and raised three children, while actively engaging in PTA meetings and other civic interests before she resumed her nursing career in the 1970’s after having been away from the profession for nearly 20 years. Although Jean initially worked at the downtown Memorial Hospital location, she eventually moved to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital when it opened in 1977, where she became a hospital administrator in the 1980’s and retired in 1998.
Jean had a strong faith she shared with other members of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, and where for several years she volunteered with SEARCH Homeless Services. Her other volunteering ventures were at Caring Critters and the Houston Health Museum. She was always an avid reader and stayed active in later years by attending yoga classes and working out at the YMCA. She loved animals and could be seen every day walking her beloved collie Patsy or her terrier Ginger. In later years “Miss Jean”, as she was known, delighted the neighborhood with her ready smile and familiar wave. Everyone from the AC repairman to the smallest child adored the ever-memorable “Miss Jean.”
Jean was preceded in death by her husband William and sister Judith and is survived by daughter Lisa Mach (David) of Austin, Texas; son Jonathan Haws (Caprice) of Chattanooga, Tennessee; son Marc Haws (Judy) of Houston, Texas; grandson Stefan Mach of Houston, Texas; granddaughter Olivia Gorena (Dani) of Decatur, Georgia; and granddaughter Bianca Gorena of North Providence, Rhode Island. She is also survived by her brother Neal Willms (Sharyn), niece Tiffany Willms, nephew Clark Willms (Christie), all from Omaha, Nebraska, and extended family in Texas and Nebraska.
A memorial service for family members and friends of Jean will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the 18th of June at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 5501 Main Street, Houston, TX 77004. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be given in the name of Jean Willms Haws to SEARCH (www.searchhomeless.org), Caring Critters, LLC (www.houstoncaringcritters.org) or to a charity of your choice.
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