Celia Kocurek Milner, 66, passed away surrounded by her loving family on May 17, 2024, at her residence in Pearland, Texas. She was born on February 18, 1958, and was the youngest of three girls born to Lawrence James Kocurek and Elizabeth “Kitty” Keyes Kocurek.  She grew up in southeast Houston and attended St. Christopher’s Catholic School, and then Milby High School, where she graduated in 1976.  She took real estate courses at the University of Houston and then earned her real estate license while working in the title industry.  During the next nine years, she sold real estate on a part-time basis while working full-time.  In 1985 she started a full-time career working for Gary Green Better Homes and Gardens, where she was a top producer.

Celia purchased her first project house at the age of 18.  She designed and built a multi-family residence in the Hobby Airport area when she was only 25 years old.  Later, she designed and built the residence in Pearland that she has called home for the past 31 years.  Celia had an amazing talent for taking a piece of property and making it incredibly special by making it a reflection of who she was, while always being respectful of the natural surroundings.

In 2007, after being diagnosed with life-threatening cancer and undergoing cancer treatment and abdominal surgery, she set out to build a grand home in the mountains of southwest Montana. Visitors often say it is the most spectacular home they have ever seen, and it was featured in several prominent publications.  For the past seven years, she has been working on transforming a forgotten Texas Hill Country property into a beautiful oasis of plants and wildlife, a sanctuary worthy of a state park.

Through the last 17 years, Celia’s continuous cancer battle with non-stop treatments and multiple grueling surgeries never stopped her from amazing accomplishments.  She never complained, and just shrugged it off when anyone tried to sympathize with her, saying “I don’t have time for this”.  She even managed to help others while fighting for her own life.  She has left her beautiful handprint on everything she ever touched.

In 1981, she married the love of her life, William Barry Milner, and the two of them have been soulmates for the past 43 years and friends for 51 years.  Both agree, despite many accomplishments together, that their greatest and most rewarding experience was raising four beautiful girls, Kaitlynn, Kyleigh, Kourtney and Kassidy.  Her impact on them will live on into the next generation, as her monumental struggles never slowed her down from being a great teacher, mother and role model of what a beautiful, elegant and strong woman should be.

Celia’s love of nature and all of God’s creatures and creations made her have a deep appreciation of her surroundings, no matter where she was, and she was always able to find God’s beauty in everything.  This was especially true of the spectacular mountains and streams in her second home, Montana, where she has visited consistently for the past 40 years.

For the past 25 years, the University of Houston has been the recipient of the couple’s philanthropy, which has been mostly directed to athletics and has played a role in returning the athletics program to national prominence.  Celia loved attending games at home and away to cheer for her Coogs.  She could be seen courtside at basketball games, often getting a big, sweaty hug from her favorite players, and even hugs from the head coach. During these years she made many long-lasting friendships, and she will be sorely missed by her entire UH family.

While in their fifties, Celia and Barry decided to take up horsemanship as a hobby, despite her ongoing cancer battle, and this opened an entire new world of friends and adventures that forever changed their lives for the better, as well as the lives of the new friends she met.  Barry will easily admit that she could outride him any day.  She has ridden hundreds of miles across many states in some of the most beautiful scenery our country has to offer.  Of course, when selecting a horse, Celia chose one that most people were too intimidated to ride, and the two of them developed a remarkable bond.  His name was Pusher, and he became a source of peace and consolation for her, her ‘best friend’.  She claims her ‘big fire breathing dragon’ helped heal her and kept her cancer away.  After his death, she replaced him with an exotic looking mare with a saucy attitude and named her Mariah, which means ‘the wind’ in Native American language.  Watching her gallop Mariah along the beach, into the wind with her hair and Mariah’s mane flying, was always such a thrill.

Celia loved nature, kept peanuts for the squirrels, seeds for the birds, carrots for the horses, planted catnip for her cats, and loved to feed the foxes.  She also loved all types of music, especially old western tunes, and could play the piano by ear.  She loved photography and spent hours taking photos of nature, and she was fascinated by sunsets.  Celia was a giving, sharing person and gracious hostess who made everyone feel like family. She is irreplaceable and will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to ever meet her.  Earth has lost an angel and Heaven has gained one. She was truly, one in a million.

Celia is preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Elizabeth Kocurek, nephew Christopher Simmons and brothers-in-law James Wilkinson, Don and Randy Milner

She is survived by her husband W. Barry Milner; daughters Kaitlynn Chamberlain and husband Chamber; Kyleigh Pratt and husband Cody; Kourtney Simmons, and Kassidy Simmons.  Celia is also survived by her grandchildren Noah, Lily and Theo Pratt, and Myles, Madalynn and Marshall Chamberlain; her sisters, Cindy Wilkinson, Cheryl Simmons and husband Douglas; nieces Amber Simmons, Laurie Simmons, Natalie Milner; nephews Clayton Wilkinson, Cory Wilkinson, Ryan Butler, Kyle Butler and Don Milner Jr.

There will be a visitation on Thursday, May 23^rd from 5-7 p.m. at Crowder Funeral Home, 2422 E. Broadway St. Pearland, TX 77581.  The service will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 24^th at The University of Houston, A.D. Bruce Religion Center, 3841 Cullen Blvd. Houston, TX 77204, with Chaplin Mikado Hinson officiating, followed by a reception at the Milner Lobby at TDECU Stadium, then a private burial at Forest Park Lawndale.

Pallbearers serving will be Chamber Chamberlain, Cody Pratt, Cory Wilkinson, Clayton Wilkinson, Isidro Martinez and Cody Turner.  Honorary pallbearers will be Randy Ofczarzak, Ryan Butler and Kyle Butler.