Carol Jane Van Ert, loving mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, joined her beloved husband, Jess, in Heaven on November 16, 2020. Carol was born on April 7, 1930, in Elmhurst, Illinois. She was an excellent student, attending Immanuel Lutheran School and graduating from York High School in Elmhurst. Carol was an accomplished clarinetist and proudly was able to enjoy her clarinet in her later years. An academic scholarship enabled her to attend and graduate from Northern Illinois University, where she was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority. Carol waitressed and worked throughout high school and college and she was the first member of her family to graduate from college.
She met the love of her life, Jess, on a tennis court while visiting her sister L.V. in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the summer before her senior year of college, and Carol had a job in a department store selling umbrellas. Jess came to see her at work, bought an umbrella, and she kept that umbrella her entire life! After their wedding, Carol and Jess lived in Kansas City, and Carol taught school until their daughter Jill was born. They later moved to Oklahoma City where their son Jay was born, and then to Houston, Texas. They lived in Houston for twenty years before building their dream home on a golf course in Panorama Village, Texas. After Jess’ retirement from Exxon, they had many good years playing golf, attending their beloved First United Methodist Church, visiting their grandchildren, going to Branson, Missouri with friends, and traveling the world. Because they loved golf and lived on the golf course, they chose the grandparent names “Birdie” and “Bogey”. There were many fun times at Panorama. It should be noted that, with the help of their family, Birdie and Bogey were the first place prize winners in the Panorama 4th of July Golf Cart Parade for eight consecutive years!
Carol felt incredibly thankful for the beautiful life that she shared with Jess for 55 years. She was incredibly thankful for her children, her beloved grandchildren, her precious great grandchildren, her faith, and her very dear friends. She loved playing golf, making jigsaw puzzles, playing bridge, Scrabble, and Rummikub, keeping score for Astros baseball games, eating shrimp quesadillas from Los Cucos, and drinking chocolate Frosty shakes from Wendy’s. However, most of all, she loved going to the beach to look for sand dollars. She shared the Legend of the Sand Dollar story with her children and grandchildren, and with the Gathering Place group at her church. She loved the way the sand dollar symbolized the story of Christ. After Jess passed away, Carol moved to Houston to be closer to her daughter Jill and family. Her beautiful apartment had a balcony that overlooked a lake, and she decorated her new home as if it were a beach house, with more than a few sand dollars! Carol was the matriarch of her family, and she loved and prayed for each family member every single day. She was preceded in death by her husband Jess W. Van Ert, her parents, Edwin and Paula Reinke, and her sister L.V. Wade. She is survived by her daughter Jill Windle and husband Dan, son Jay Van Ert and wife Jeanette, grandchildren Jessica Stone and husband Nathan, David Windle and wife Amanda, Lauren Brown and husband Josh, Sarah Stotz and husband Adam, and Ryan Van Ert. She was overjoyed and proud to be a loving great grandmother to Hunter Stone, Savannah Stone, Hudson Stone, Scarlett Stone, Shepherd Stotz, and Carson Brown.
A family graveside service has been planned for immediate family, to be held Monday, November 23 in Conroe. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Gathering Place, First United Methodist Church, 4308 W. Davis, Conroe, Texas 77304. You are invited to view our webpage and leave written tributes to the family at cashnerconroe.com
