Eunice Gene Greiner Ward was born at home on June 27, 1927, in Moonshine Hill, Texas, to Eunice Leona Renfro Greiner and Edwin Otto Greiner. She died February 2, 2021, in Fredericksburg, Texas, of complications due to COVID-19. She had a twin brother, Edwin Eugene Greiner; an older sister, Betty Lou Greiner Carey; and a younger brother, Max Glen Greiner, all deceased. Gene is survived by her daughter Janice Ward Phelps (Robert) of Fredericksburg , Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and her son Jack Lee Ward, Jr. (Yolanda) of Temple, Texas. Four grandchildren and three great- grandchildren also survive her: Diana V.W. Dickschat, M.D. (Dustin) and Tyler Dickschat of Frisco, Texas; Jack Lee Ward III (Ashley), Jack Lee Ward IV and Matthew Ward of Round Rock, Texas; and Douglas Phelps and Marie-Page Phelps of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Gene was a fifth -generation Texan and one of those increasingly rare “native Houstonians”; she lived in or near Houston for most of her 93 years. When Gene was a girl, North Houston was still out in the country. She grew up with a cow, chickens, woods, a huge garden, a wood-burning stove, a well, a barn and a pond out back. An outdoorsy girl, she recalled being a little crestfallen when her brothers got a pony, and she and her sister got piano lessons. Her father built their house himself, starting with a kitchen and one room, gradually adding on as the family grew. Her grandparents lived across the street and her aunt and cousins next door, just through a patch of tall pines. Gene liked to recount that in order to get a little bit of privacy from her siblings, she would climb up on top of the outhouse and read. She also remembered the Sears- and- Roebuck- catalogue toilet paper inside it and the glorious day when she was a young teenager and the family finally got indoor plumbing! And she really did walk a few miles down a country road to Berry School (though not through the snow), where she loved learning and was an excellent student. She remembered the excitement of her family’s “vacation” to the Texas Centennial in 1936, a day trip to Dallas and back, because overnight lodging was not in the travel budget.
Because her father found work at the Beaumont shipyard during World War II, Gene went to high school in Beaumont. By her own description, she was grumpy for the next four years about being uprooted for high school, but she did well and went on to study Costume Design at Texas State College for Women (now TWU), graduating in 1948. She began her career in Dallas, designing children’s clothing and later worked in Houston.
By this time, Gene had also met Jack Lee Ward, an Aggie engineer from Dallas, on a blind date arranged by mutual college friends. Gene and Jack were married September 2, 1950, in Houston and soon began the nomadic “oil patch “ life of the 1950’s with their 3-week old daughter, moving to Hobbs, New Mexico, where their son was born a few years later. From there, it was Oakland, CA, then Midland, then Odessa, and finally Houston to stay, all in a decade. She was no fan of dust storms or tumbleweeds and was overjoyed to finally get back to the pine trees of the Gulf Coast. Nonetheless, she had made lifelong friends during those years on drought-stricken prairie. Gene took all the moving in stride, settling her family into each new home and town, supporting Jack as he built his career in the oil business. She was committed to her vocation as a homemaker, wife and parent, and held herself (and her children!) to high standards.
Design, art, and crafting came naturally to Gene. After marriage, she continued to make her college degree work for her: trading custom-made clothes for pediatric care in Hobbs, making elegant drapes for every house she ever furnished, and expertly sewing “cowboy outfits,” school clothes, tailored suits, wedding dresses, and everything in between, for her children and grandchildren. She shared her knowledge, love and knack for fashion with anyone who showed even the slightest interest in the subject. Her closet was a paradise for grandchildren of a certain age, especially the wall of size 7AAAA shoes and fancy purses. Through the years, she crafted elaborate, perfectly executed, handmade Christmas gifts for family members and friends: the lovable, green net tufted Christmas trees of the 50’s, the elegant gilded papier-mache angels of the 60’s, each one representing hours and hours of loving work, and an opportunity to teach her children (and sometimes everyone in the neighborhood) the joy of making and giving. For years, Gene drew floor plans and house designs on notepads and napkin backs, eventually designing and building two wonderfully livable, family- friendly homes in Houston. She was all about family and being together: her husband Jack, their children and grandchildren, kinfolk, near or far; church friends, neighbors and friends; friends of her children, friends of her friends. Christmas Eve, family wedding showers, friends and relatives visiting from out of town, youth group swimming parties, church study groups, family birthday parties: Gene made them all come together with warmth, style and always way too much food.
Gene loved to be active and outdoors, preferably with friends and family. She loved the woods, hummingbirds, winding country roads, hiking in the Appalachians, a full moon anywhere. Butterflies were special; they touched her artist’s soul, but she also cherished them as metaphors of her Christian faith. She loved the beach - Galveston, Padre Island, North Carolina, Eastern Shore —early- morning beach combing, flashlight hunts for hermit crabs, crabbing with chicken necks, fried seafood, “dribble” sandcastles, and frothy little waves rushing over her feet. She loved the Texas Hill Country and special times with friends along the Guadalupe River at Mo Ranch and along the Frio at Laity Lodge and the many, many special times with her children and grandchildren watersliding in New Braunfels and hiking (around) Enchanted Rock in Fredericksburg. Though not a “born” traveller, in traveling with Jack, she developed, she said, “a sense of curiosity about other places.” She enjoyed the many trips they made as a couple, and with family and friends, even the camping in Yosemite in the early 1950’s with two toddlers, an English cousin, and a bear, out of a wood-paneled Ford Country Squire Station Wagon. In the 1960’s, the family camped across the West, waking up to the grandeur of the Grand Canyon , and the ocean vistas of Big Sur. Gene did admit, however, that she got really tired of cooking in cast iron over a campfire on that trip, especially since even cooking over a stove at home was not her favorite domestic pastime. Most memorable may have been a summer trip in a borrowed pop-up camper to Padre Island and Big Bend, attempting to outrun Hurricane Celia. They didn’t, but the pop-up was the only tent standing in the Chisos Basin the next morning. That trip also involved driving around park barriers to cross rivers swollen to almost impassable and skunks with marshmallows. It probably wasn’t her favorite camping trip, but it was, hands down, her favorite camping story to tell.
Gene also loved tennis, which she took up in her forties. She enjoyed learning and playing tennis with Jack and her decades-long tennis foursome at the “bubble” –mainly for the enduring friendships forged there.
Although Gene was always active in her church family, first as a Baptist and later as a Presbyterian, in mid-life, her children now raised, more or less, and out of the house, she began to further explore her faith through extensive study and, importantly, through participation in the Bible Study Fellowship organization, first as a student and later as a teacher. She believed that her gift and her ministry was to continue to “be there” for the people around her, especially to listen and offer emotional support in a Christ-centered way— to be available, to take the time, to be invested, to nurture relationships. She lovingly fulfilled that ministry over the next fifty years. Her deeper understanding of Christianity also helped her navigate and grow through the substantial challenges that she and Jack faced later on. Gene was there for Jack through job loss, career changes, home loss, heart attack, financial challenges and declining health—bolstering his spirit, putting pencil to paper again to re-design their home, doing cardiac rehab right along with him, learning to cook “heart-healthy,” years before the term was invented. Gene remained fiercely devoted to Jack’s health and well-being through their almost sixty-nine years together, especially at the last. After his death, although she still loved to be with family and friends, time seemed to stretch endlessly, as she waited to rejoin him. Dementia was closing in quickly, but she bore the disruption, isolation, and sadness of the pandemic with a surprising degree of patience and understanding. She passed away peacefully, with the clear blue sky of the Hill Country just outside her bedroom window.
Gene loved Sonnet 43 of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, so much that it was read at her wedding. Throughout life she often quoted the first line spontaneously, to various family members, in various circumstances, possibly with irony on occasion, but usually sincerely. It perfectly captures her devotion to those around her. Had she us been able to leave us with a final word, it might well have been this:
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. “

Gene’s family so appreciates all the caregivers in Houston and Fredericksburg who gently, cheerfully, patiently, and lovingly made her life better in these last years and months: especially Sam and his team at Champions Homecare, and the staff at CelesteCare Memory Care, who also risked their personal safety to care for Gene as she fought COVID-19, to be the loving hands on her in her final hours.
The graveside service will occur in early March. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the service will be private. It will be recorded and available online for extended family and friends a few days after. If you would like to share a memory of Gene in a video clip, audio clip, written form or photo, your contribution can be included in the online memorial. Please email the file before March 1, 2021 to: jackleewardjr@comcast.net
In lieu of flowers, please consider a Memorial Gift to Windwood Presbyterian Church (Windwood Presbyterian Church, 10555 Spring Cypress Rd, Houston, TX 77070), designated for Children’s Education, or to a charity of your choice that supports the education and well-being of children.
And above all, to honor Gene, think like Gene: put others first! Wear a mask, social distance, avoid crowds and wash your hands!