Marolyn Jonett Blair

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" –

Hunter S. Thompson.

This was Marolyn! She never met a party she didn’t love or help organize, and she was all about living life to its fullest.

Marolyn Jonett Walls arrived in this world on August 6, 1942, in Galveston, Texas. World War II was raging and her dad, William M. Walls, was serving in the U.S. Navy. Her mom, Adele Madoline Olsen Walls, along with dozens of other military spouses, set up house on the beach living in tents provided by the Navy. Even the beginning of Marolyn’s life was full of adventure.

Soon, Marolyn had a baby brother, William M. Walls, Jr., and then another, Van Martin Walls (Buddy-deceased). Shortly after Buddy was born, her father died overseas. Her mom remarried, Lawrence G. Trygstad, who was always called “daddy,” and who raised her and her brothers. In 1945, they moved to Houston in search of new opportunities for a growing family. Obviously, her mom was very fertile, and it wasn’t long before she had six more siblings: Nila (deceased), Marie (deceased), Diane, Larry (deceased), Shannon (Susie), and Mark!

The family of nine kids lived in a small house on the east side of Houston. Marolyn was the oldest, and she made sure EVERYONE knew. As the oldest, she had lots of responsibilities, but she didn’t always like it very much. There are stories of how she hated washing the dishes and would take forever to do them singing into the late hours of the night disturbing everyone’s sleep. She was always rebellious doing things on her own terms!

Marolyn started a family of her own with Sherri, Randy (deceased), and Summer. Those were busy years as she was mostly a single mom. Next, she had Darren, and then 46 years ago, she met and married the love of her life, Ed Blair. Together, they had Leslie! Just one and half years later, her first grandchild, Justin, was born.

Now with life a little easier than in her early years, Marolyn had more time to enjoy being a mom and a grandmother and enjoyed attending games and school activities. As a cheer mom, she was involved in fundraising, and in typical Marolyn fashion, she raised so much money she was told to STOP because it would have been a tax issue!

Marolyn was all about connections and making things happen! She was an organizer extraordinaire, and with help from and much gratitude to her friend Monica, they worked with the Astros enabling the cheerleaders to raise money by handing out giveaways at games. In fact, Marolyn duplicated it for the Houston Area Pods to raise funds to host the annual business meeting of Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI), called the Great Peppers Meeting.

Ed and Marolyn built a life together, enjoying chili cookoffs and rodeo barbecues. During this time, she worked as a restaurant manager, an administrative assistant, a florist (owner of Elegance in Bloom), a certified nursing assistant, and a travel agent. She loved to travel to chili cookoffs, competing and parting with her chili friends. Marolyn became a lifetime member of the CASI.

While Great Pepper (president) of the Houston Pod (the first Pod in CASI), Marolyn was voted to the Great Pepper of the Year in 1988. She is also the only person to win first place three times at the Houston Pod’s annual cookoff. Her parties and events were legendary from the Girls Gone Wild Party at TICC, to the 21 Bust Salute at Texas Ladies State, to the food served behind the stage at TICC. She placed sixth in the 1986 CASI Chili Championship in Terlingua.

When not cooking chili, she participated in various barbeque teams. The first barbeque team was the Goody Girls team, which she was an original member; the Sourkrauts Bar-be-cue Team;part owner of 1880-1980 Century Showdown Cookers with Bob Crane and Sherrie Davis; partners with her husband and Pete and Lil Drake in the Pearl Cookers; and finally, she became the heart and soul of The Original Pearl Cookers.

The Original Pearl Cookers competed for almost 30 years at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLS&R). Marolyn oversaw the decorations, and her team placed second placeseven times in the ‘Most Colorful Contest’. Over time, the team grew to three spaces and 52 team members, making it one of the larger teams competing. Marolyn was always so appreciative of the team members and sponsors that made it possible. In addition, the team’s cooks often placed in the Top 100 across the various meat entries. For years, Marolyn continued to be involved in the HLS&R, and served as a member on the Safety, Spring Branch-Memorial and Metro committees. She later earned Lifetime Committee Member status and retired.

Whether in her younger years or her “mature” years, Marolyn always loved a thrill. Once, she and a friend rode on the wings of a crop duster flown by a good, but unnamed friend, just in case the FAA reads obituaries. In Mexico, at the age of 50, she parasailed her one and only time, after convincing the boat captain to take her up despite an incoming storm. She even almost learned to scuba dive in Yap, Micronesia. However, she settled for snorkeling because she just couldn’t “slip over the side” to dive down into the deeper water. During one of the Great Peppers Meetings, Marolyn produced and directed a version of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and of course, she had to be the starring role of Miss Mona. Go figure.

Marolyn had many grandchildren, Justin, Shelby, Hannah, Blair, Kane, Zane, Damon, Colin, Caden, Kalee and Scarlett. Being the oldest of nine, there were also lots of nieces and nephews: Teri, Michelle, Mike (Bubba-deceased), Teresa, Dixie, Chris, Aric, Amber, Amanda, and Angela…and numerous great nieces and nephews! She enjoyed watching them all grow.

Marolyn especially enjoyed teaching all of her grandchildren how to cook chili and having some of them on the barbeque team. She also wanted them all to learn how to make her famous bread dressing and of course, her spaghetti. As often as she could, Marolyn attended many of their sporting or other events from baseball, track, football, barrel racing, Scouts, marathons, triathlons, junior chili cookoffs, and more.

In 2019, a stroke tried to curb her, but even it couldn’t stop her. She continued to live for her grandkids as best she could until she needed more care. She lived her last two years in Magnolia Cottages Memory Care Facility. Knowing how much his grandmother loved talking to her birds, her grandson, Kane, completed his Eagle Project of multiple bird houses on the property just a few weeks ago for her 84th birthday.

Sadly, she left her earthly home on August 20, 2026. She will always be remembered as Mom, Grandma, MaMaw, Big Sis, Mayo and as Marolyn "got to have a party" Moore.

This was Marolyn. She was a character. She loved hard, especially her grandkids, lived loudly, irritated her siblings occasionally, threw a good party, cooked a great chili, and left a whole lot of people with stories to tell. May she rest in peace at least for a few minutes before she starts planning to throw her first party in Heaven.

Please, in Marolyn’s honor do NOT wear black to the funeral, as she would like everyone to celebrate her life. To do so, she requested that everyone wears fun clothes, such as chili, BBQ, or western wear – or use your imagination.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making contributions to the CASI National Scholarship Fund, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, or a charity of your choice.