Jo Hedge

Jo Berna Coleman Hedge, family woman and small business owner, was born December 4, 1929, in Woodville, Texas, the daughter of Alma Jane Coleman and John Coleman. She passed away on February 15, 2017 - six months and a day after the passing of her loving husband, Jack. She was a beloved mother, daughter, sister, and wife.

Jo attended business school in Beaumont, Texas after graduating from Silsbee (TX) High School. Shortly after, Jo had a brief career as a flight attendant for TransTexas Airlines. She then began working for the Texas Highway Department in Beaumont where she met her husband of 64 years, Jack Darnell Hedge.

Jo and Jack started their family in the Woodlea neighborhood in Silsbee. Jo learned the insurance business there, working for The Silsbee Insurance Agency.

In 1974, the family moved to Lake Dallas, Texas. There, she was founder and owner of the Lake Cities Insurance Agency - the first insurance agency in Lake Dallas and one of the first female owned agencies in Texas, a male dominated industry. She grew the agency from its original location on Main Street next to the hardware store to a new building on I-35 she co-built and owned with a local businessman and close friend. After raising her family in the Lake Cities area, and sending her 2 sons off to college, she and Jack moved to Dallas. Jo worked for several years for the Arch Owen Insurance Company and Hedge Creative while managing bookkeeping and accounting for several small businesses like the Stephanie Anne Boutique and others.

A lifelong Baptist, Jo was a long-time member of the Park Cities Baptist Church in University Park. Jo was heavily involved in the communities in which she lived, for example founding the first Lake Cities Beautification Committee in Lake Dallas.

She is survived by her two sons, Jack Hedge of Los Angeles, California and Jeffrey Hedge of Dallas; two grandchildren, Jaclynne Hedge and Coleman Hedge, both of Seattle, Washington; and brother, John Coleman of Beaumont.

The family will receive friends on Monday, February 20, 2017 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 11:00 AM at Park Cities Baptist Church in the Ellis Chapel. She will be laid to rest next to her husband at DFW National Cemetery at a later date.