Jo Tharp House

Jo Tharp House, born on the 23rd of November 1926, in Hugo, Oklahoma, died at the age of 97 on Tuesday, the 12th of March 2024, at Parkway Place in Houston. She was raised by Ralph Hubert Tharp and Edna Jane (Davis) Tharp, who were strongly driven by their faith and a belief in education and transmitted those passions to their children.

She grew up in a family of four girls - Eula Mae, Evelyn, Jo and Charlotte - and one boy, Warren. They grew into adulthood during World War II and there was a lot of healthy competition between the sisters. Competition tends to hone skills, and luckily each of them had strong offers of marriage from returning soldiers. They also had unique and complementary strengths, so they all remained steadfast friends right until the end.

Family was very important to Jo, and she had four children who survive her – Shelley (Smith) Mullins and her husband Marc of Gig Harbor, Washington, Gregg Kennedy and his wife Cindy of Marietta, Georgia, Carolyn (Kennedy) Shellum and her husband Marc of Houston, and Grant Kennedy of Houston. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Ashley (Mullins) Harbison and Shannon Mullins; Kate (Kennedy) Koch and Victoria (Kennedy) Klein; Ryan, Travis, and Foster Baird; and five great-grandchildren, Emily, Brynn, Kennedy, Tristan, and Colette.

She was a mathematically minded person who studied at Rice University, when there were very few women on the campus. Jo continued her studies at the University of Arizona when her father transferred to a church in Tucson, Arizona, where she met a pilot, Bill Smith. After the war ended, they married and moved to Tennessee, where she bore her first child, Shelley.

Things don’t always work on the first try, but that didn’t stop Jo, so she moved back to Texas where she met and married Don Kennedy. She had three children with him, first in North Dakota and then back in Texas. They had a menagerie of kids, animals and a jungle of tropical plants favored by Don, but not so much by Jo. Eventually after 21 years they decided to part ways, and as they say the third time is a charm which held true when she married Marvin House. They lived together and traveled together until he passed away in 1996. One of their very favorite places was Hawaii, where they were also married. Subsequent proposals were not taken seriously, and she enjoyed her independent life for many years, traveling, visiting family, and attending church, where she sang in the choir for many years.

She also loved her career, which drew on her numbers skills and organizational ability. She was one of the first employees of Fayez Sarofim & Co. and worked for the firm for 32 years. She enjoyed close relationships with her coworkers and is still fondly remembered by many who worked with her there.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family at three o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 28th of March, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston. The funeral service is to commence at four o’clock, where Rev. Dr. Duane Brooks is to officiate.

Following the service, all friends and family are invited to a reception at a location to be announced, to toast her memory and share stories about her beautiful life.

Interment will be in Houston National Cemetery at a later date.