Julia De La Cour Hueske

She was preceded in death by her husband of sixty-three years, Ernest Hueske, her mother, Agnes Ahearn De La Cour, her father, James De La Cour, and her great-grandson, Breck Bednar.

Julia is survived by her sisters Mary Ellen Smith, her twin Agnes Conner, Ann Nixon, and Betty Fisher; her daughters Julia Bednar and spouse Gene Bednar and Patricia Coogan and spouse Bill Coogan; her grandchildren Barry Bednar, Bob Bednar, Susan Nayak, Jim Bednar, and Linda Paterson; and her great grandchildren Carly Bednar, Chloe Bednar, Sebastian Bednar, Anika Bednar, Lukas Bednar, Erik Rhodes, Bo Bednar, Josie Bednar, and Jacob Paterson.

Julia Margaret De La Cour was born in Pennsylvania. Julia’s father was a violinist with the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, and his influence fostered an early love of music. Julia’s mother was a baker and active volunteer with the local fire department. Julia’s father died with she was very young, and her mother worked hard to provide for Julia and her sisters.

Julia met her husband when her twin sister placed an ad as a joke in a romance magazine. Julia and Ernie married in October of 1943. They had two daughters and fostered many children while their own girls were growing up.

When the family moved to Bellaire Texas in 1962, Julia started cultivating her garden, which included beautiful azaleas, delicious grapefruit, and scrumptious peaches (or at least presumably so, since the squirrels stole all of them before anyone got a chance to try them).

Even though she enjoyed studying shorthand at school, spelling troubles got in her way, so Julia learned to type extra fast--120 words a minute with no errors. During her working career, Julia worked her way up from typist, to keypunch operator, to analyst and Shell Data Center librarian. She was proud to have worked for Shell Oil Company for over 25 years.

While at Shell, she volunteered with the Leisure Club, where she prepared the bulletin boards with imaginative and detailed collages, which she enjoyed doing in her free time as well. She also enjoyed making dioramas and costumes.

After retirement, she was able to indulge in her love of traveling, which she did both in the US and abroad. She also found time to volunteer at a hospital and with Wellsprings Village, dance with the Leisurettes, and socialize with numerous clubs including the Bellaire Women’s Club, the Grandmothers Club, and the Woman’s Stock Investment Club, for which she also kept the books.

She also enjoyed playing cards, games, and putting together puzzles – until she met her match when she was given a gift of a 10,000 piece puzzle.

She firmly embraced the computer age and spent hours on her computer, often late at night. Much to the chagrin of her family and investment counselors, she loved to play with stock options and checked the market several times every day. She loved getting all kinds of gadgets and thoroughly enjoyed her new iPhone.

She also enjoyed many gambling trips with her sister, Mary Ellen. They mostly limited themselves to the penny slots, but they often found big pay outs. She also enjoyed mystery trips and comedy improv.

Julia was among the first to move into the Eagle’s Trace retirement facility with her husband and her sister, Mary Ellen. While at Eagle’s Trace, Julia especially enjoyed choir, ping pong, and line dancing – including participating in flash mobs. She also loved walking to the gazebo with her sister and socializing with her extended family, the Mavericks.

Julia was an active supporter of the Catholic Church, both at home and abroad. She was a long time member of Holy Ghost Church in Bellaire and latterly a member of St Justin Martyr Church in West Houston.

Julia was a generous and loving mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She greatly enjoyed large family gatherings filled with laughter and love. Her Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were legendary. She delighted in playing with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, especially when they were young. She also loved driving at lightning speed to visit relatives after they moved to Austin.

The family would like to extend special thanks to the staff at Memorial Hermann’s Heart and Vascular Institute for excellent and loving care in the last days of her life.

Julia enjoyed a long full life filled with many sources of enjoyment. She will be deeply missed.

Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday, November 14, 2015 at St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church, 13350 Ashford Point Dr., Houston, TX 77082.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Julia Hueske to Wellsprings Village, a Residential Program for Women, P.O. Box 311017, Houston TX 77231. (713)529-6550