Jo Ann Jones Koontz was born in her grandmother’s house near Seale, Texas on October 6, 1933.  She lived in New Baden and in Lake Jackson before marriage.  She met Buddy on a blind date, they married when he finished college and the next eight years she was the wife of an army pilot.  They settled in Houston and were married for 48 years until his death in 2000.

She did her best to raise her two children, but she never forgot about the two that she lost in childbirth.  She volunteered at the church, with Sunday School, with Cub Scouts, and with Brownies. We visited grandparents and cousins all the time.

In 1970 Jo Ann helped elect Eleanor Tinsley and the Citizens for Good Schools reform slate of candidates that worked to end school segregation.  She was always an informed, passionate voter.  She told me she read every editorial in the Chronicle, whether she agreed with it or not.

She worked as an executive secretary or a legal secretary for decades, the last 20 years at Houston Lighting & Power.  When her daughter started college, so did she, first at San Jacinto College and then at University of Houston – Clear Lake.  Jo Ann earned a BBA, a Bachelor’s in Accounting, a Master’s in Accounting, and her CPA.  Jo Ann ended her career as a Project Administration Manager at The Light Company.  She also taught accounting as an adjunct instructor at San Jac.

Her children did not give her grandchildren until she was 60, and then she had four of them in two years, and loved them all deeply.  In her retirement years she played nanny to two of her grandchildren.

She enjoyed traveling in her later years, and was passionate about genealogy. She was very proud to join both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of Texas.  Family gatherings were the most important of all.

More than anything else, Jo Ann treated everyone with dignity and respect.

Jo Ann is survived by her son, James Leon Koontz, Jr. and her daughter and son-in-law, Susan Diane Koontz. and Steven Douglas Smith, and four grandchildren:  Shannon Gayle Smith, Connor Delaney Smith, Chelsea Dawn Koontz Amador, her husband Jon and daughter Elizabeth Rae, and Janet Joanne Koontz Borland and her husband Jon-Michael.  Also by her beloved sister, Kathy Sue Jones Campbell and husband Robert Eugene Campbell, her sister-in-law Margarette Garner Jones, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held Thursday, September 20, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. with a service to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Crossroads United Methodist Church, 100300 Scarsdale Blvd, Houston, TX 77089. Burial will be at 1:45 p.m. at Seale-Round Prairie Cemetery in Seale, TX.

Pallbearers: Steven Smith, David Jones, Ryan Campbell, Larry Mack, Jon Amador, and Alex Avila.