Emma Jean Goodrich

Emma Jean Lange Crier Goodrich, Jeannie to her beloved friends, passed into God's hands Sunday, January 25, 2015. She was born Emma Jean Lange on October 9, 1907, to parents Gottlieb Lange and Anna von Krause in the German community of Walingen, located in an area claimed at one time by Germany, then Poland, and ultimately Russia. In 1910, her family came to America and settled in the North Texas German community of Krum.

Her primary education began in classrooms located in a church between the Lange home and the town of Krum in an area known as "Blue Mound." Jean later attended the John Brown School, class of 1926, at Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, now the John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Jean's childhood memories of the area north of Denton, Texas were of rich fertile fields and old Victorian homes. She recalled the Lange home was a beautiful old two-story house with a basement. Adjoining were vegetable gardens, a smokehouse, and vineyards. Beyond the family compound were barns and cotton fields. The home's highlight was the presence of an artesian well, which like a fountain perpetually flowed cold water into a large tank.

Following the early deaths of her parents, Jean alternately lived with older married siblings and family friends. As a young girl, she studied ballet and performed on the stage of Dallas' Majestic Theatre and in professional productions elsewhere in Texas.

In 1929, she met and married West Texas rancher and oil man, William T. Crier, of Midland and Abilene. They settled in Abilene and had two sons, William Thomas Jr., and Jack Stanley. Widowed in 1951, Jean remarried in 1956 to Eugene N. Goodrich and lived in Austin prior to locating in Round Rock in 1960. Eugene N. Goodrich died in 1971.

Over the years, family, home and friends were Jean's first loves. She devoted countless hours to her children's Parent-Teacher school activities and to her membership functions in the Saint Paul Methodist Church and the Abilene Women's Club. She was later a member of the Round Rock Women's Club.

Talented as both a fine artist and sculptor, pieces of her work have resided in both private and corporate collections. She studied with famous Russian painter, Peter Plotkin, during the 1920's, and later with artist Elsie Palmer Payne, wife of famous California impressionist artist, Edgar Alwyn Payne. As a past member of the Poetry Society of Texas, she also loved composing poetry and writing children's stories. Her other interests were collecting antiques and objet d'art, and restoring and preserving 19th century architecture and artifacts.

Predeceased by parents, siblings, spouses and friends, Jean observed Texas' transition from a largely self-sustaining agrarian society to one in which daily survival depends on the local supermarket or restaurant. Her father cured his own hams, made sausage, and bottled wine from his own vineyard. During her more than a century of life, she exercised her talents to create a home ambiance conducive to artistic expression and harmony, and largely insulated from the frantic pace of technological and social changes.

Though time dimmed Jean's eyesight and hearing and impaired her mobility, her mind remained sharp and her sense of humor intact. She frequently observed that her undoing was not so much a long life, but rather ignoring the law of gravity. She noted, "When I contest the floor, I always come away second best." Her day never started without consideration of what she could accomplish that would add to the beauty of the environment and inspire others to do likewise.

In Round Rock, she was early on a supporter of the community's Sam Bass Theatre, the Round Rock Public Library and the city's Palm Museum, and in Austin, the Zachary Scott Theatre.

She is survived by her sons, William T. Crier, Jr. and wife, Ann, of Dallas, and Jack S. Crier and wife, Nina, of Austin; six grand-children, Catherine Jean Crier of Katonah, New York, Cynthia B. Crier of New York City, Jack Ruick Crier and wife, Natalya, of Austin, Dee Andra Jean Crier of Austin, Lynda Ruth Crier of Austin, Nina Marie Crier Helburn and husband, Graham, of Austin, and three great-grand-children, Audry, Regan and Garrett Helburn of Austin. She was predeceased by her grand-daughter, Carolyn Ann Crier.

The Crier family wishes to express sincere appreciation to Zynthia Zertuche, and the numerous other care-givers over the final years.

Interment will be in the Jackson Cemetery in Krum, Texas at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, January 31. Rev. Christy Thomas, retired pastor of the 130-year old Krum United Methodist Church, will be conducting gravesite services.

Memorials may be made to one's charity of choice.