Jean Cecelle was the eldest of five children born in Kansas City, Missouri to James and Bessie Nelligan. Her twin brother, James Patrick died on February 15, 1930 from pneumonia during the Great Depression. Jean started first grade in Kansas City.
In 1939, her family moved to Austin where she attended Rosedale Elementary and Saint
Ignatius Martyr Catholic School. Jean started working at twelve years of age in downtown
Austin and one of her employers was Renfro’s Drugstore. She graduated from Saint Mary’s
Academy in 1947 and attended the University of Texas.
Jean met her future husband, Mike Hopkins, at the Austin Theater on South Congress Ave.
Mike and Jean were married in 1948 at Saint Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church. They raised
seven sons and one daughter.
Jean was the most efficient homemaker. She kept a tidy home, made home cooked meals, hosted family gatherings, helped her children with their homework as needed and decorated with pure passion. Jean was talented. She was good with crafts, gardening, singing and cooking.
Jean and Mike were the original house flippers. Jean would help Mike with his real estate career by organizing his listings in a binder and they would find houses to buy and refurbish. Jean would paint the houses as well as landscape the yards so the houses could be sold for a profit.
She believed in finishing what she started. She was very goal-oriented even into her nineties. Jean loved to travel and experienced her first flight at the age of sixty years. She especially loved to travel to Ireland and Europe with her sisters, Trish and Mary. She was a very loving wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend to many.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Mike and brothers, James and Thomas.
She is survived by her sisters, Patricia King and Mary Carson. Also survived by seven sons
James(Ann), Steve, Mark(Janell), John, Joe(Ronda), Bill(Marlene), and Michael, and her one
daughter Kathryn Murphy(Gary). She has 24 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
She will be Lying in State on Sunday, December 13, 2020 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Cook-Walden Funeral Home 6100 N. Lamar Blvd. The Rosary will be held on Monday, December 14, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. at Cook-Walden Funeral Home on N Lamar followed by the funeral at 10:00am at Saint Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church and then a graveside service at Assumption Cemetery.
Our heartfelt thanks to the wonderful nurses and staff at Texas Home Health for their love and tender care.
In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to Saint Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church,126 W Oltorf St., Austin Tx. 78704.
