Jean Entrikin Harwell

Jean Marie Entrikin was born on the 21st of October 1928, in Iowa City, Iowa, the first daughter of John Entrikin, Ph.D., and his wife, Minnie Sue. With her parents, she moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. There, she graduated from Byrd High School and Centenary College, where her father was Chair of the Chemistry Department. Jean sang in the Centenary College Choir and it was in the choir that she met her future husband, William Harwell. Jean and Bill were married in Shreveport on the 30th of June 1949, following her graduation. Following several moves, the family settled in Houston in 1958, where Jean and Bill lived for the rest of their lives. She passed away on Thursday, the 28th of November 2019.

Jean was very active in Chapelwood United Methodist Church, serving in the Women’s Society of Christian Service and as a member of the Women’s Study Group, where she made many of her best friends. She also served on the Board of Directors of Holly Hall Retirement Community. Jean and Bill were also active in the Houston Audubon Society and the Houston Ornithological Society and enjoyed volunteering at the Audubon sanctuary in High Island, Texas for many years.

In retirement, Jean and Bill built a vacation home in Buena Vista, Colorado, where they spent many days enjoying the mountains and wildlife.

Jean’s family remembers her as encouraging, kind, and patient, and as someone who always placed her husband and children first. She had a gift for making her home a welcoming place and always had time to listen to, and be present for, others. Jean had a special talent for making her children and grandchildren feel special and loved. She was able to recognize and encourage character strengths and believed great things for all her family. With Bill, family, and friends, Jean enjoyed travel, The Houston Symphony, and the Houston Astros.

Jean was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Dr. William S. Harwell. She is survived by her sister, Connie Gibson of Sewanee, Tennessee. She is also survived by her children, Bill Harwell and wife Sara Rider of West Lake Hills, Texas; Susan Knipe and husband Dr. Ken Knipe of Palmyra, Pennsylvania; and Sarah Mills and husband John Mills of Georgetown, Texas. Additionally, she is survived by grandchildren Zachary Knipe, Austin Knipe, and Ashley Commissiong and her husband Gerald of Palmyra, Pennsylvania; Tracy Mueller and her husband Travis of Tucson, Arizona; Mallory James and her husband Nathaniel of Keller, Texas; Joseph Frewer of New York, New York; and Andrew Frewer of Houston. Jean is also survived by eleven great-grandchildren; nephew Larry Gibson of Santa Fe, New Mexico; niece Katie Morris of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; niece Louise Rogers of New York, New York; and nephew John Rogers of Sunland, California.

The family would like to thank Mary DeAnda for her devoted caregiving during Jean’s final years, as well as Paige Prokop of Houston Hospice, and the staffs of Evergreen Private Care and The Plaza at The Buckingham.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until seven o’clock in the evening on Friday, the 6th of December in the drawing room of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

Following a private burial, a memorial service is to be conducted at one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 7th of December, at Chapelwood United Methodist Church, 11140 Greenbay Street in Houston, where Dr. Wick Stuckey, Senior Associate Pastor, will officiate.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests that memorial contributions be directed to The Chapelwood Foundation, Chapelwood UMC, attn: Accounting Manager, 11140 Greenbay St., Houston, TX, 77024; Houston Hospice, 1905 Holcombe Blvd., Houston TX 77030-4123; or to Alzheimer’s Texas, 7719 Wood Hollow Drive Suite #157l, Austin, TX, 78731.