Dorothy Jean Redman, a devoted matriarch who exemplified the Greatest Generation, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. She was surrounded by family and showered with love as she drew her final breaths. She was 95.
Jean, as she was known to many, was born in the farming community of Ballinger, Texas, just five months before the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Her earliest memories were through the lens of widespread poverty that marked the years that followed. Living through the Great Depression shaped Jean’s interminable work ethic, steady resolve and ability to persevere through arduous circumstances.
The experience taught her to appreciate prosperous times and never take good fortune for granted. She spoke of the era often and frequently sought to instill the lessons of her childhood in her children and grandchildren.
Jean was the eldest of seven brothers and sisters, each of whom she adored and helped rear. During her senior year of high school, family circumstances led her to live for a time in a duplex with two brothers and a sister – Weldon, Alton and Joyce. She kept the group clothed and fed so each of them could attend school and Weldon could work a newspaper route before dawn.
Most of her childhood was spent on her family’s farm, where Jean did all she could to help her parents. She sometimes spoke of wringing a chicken’s neck for Sunday dinner. She also ensured her granddaughters knew how to set a proper table, just as she had been taught.
For most of her life, she never left the house without lipstick and stuck to her assertion that, even in the most destitute of circumstances, “you didn’t have to look poor.”
Jean met the love of her life on a blind date in 1945. She was a high school senior and Gus Redman, Jr. was a private in the US Army, home on emergency leave. He had returned home temporarily from the Panama Canal Zone to be near his ill mother. The two were in love before the leave ended.
Gus soon returned to his post and Jean went on to graduate from high school in May of 1946. She went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Abilene, Texas, where she rented a downtown room with kitchen privileges. Being independent and on her own was a new experience and she relished it. Like most young people at the time, she got around by riding the bus and walking. Gus and Jean communicated by writing letters while they were separated.
While Jean was living in Abilene, Gus was called back to his family farm to be near his mother’s bedside as her illness grew terminal. At the end of his leave, he was granted a second leave, which lasted through the end of his enlistment.
They were married on a Sunday morning, December 22, 1946, less than two weeks after Gus was discharged from the Army. The wedding was performed by the minister of Ballinger’s First Baptist Church in his parsonage, the same room where her parents wed in 1927.
Gus began farming on various plots around Runnels County while their family grew. The couple welcomed son Michael and daughters Charlotte and Natalie. During this time, Jean began studying to become a nurse and became a licensed vocational nurse while in Ballinger.
In 1959, the couple moved to Sonora, where Gus had taken a job for Lone Star Gas, swearing off farming for good after a string of brutal winters and a particularly fierce drought. Jean worked nights as a nurse at the local hospital, while tending to her family during the day. Gus soon built a house on Allen Drive, where they would raise their family and live until their final days.
Jean was a devoted mother and grandmother and played an active role in her grandchildren’s lives. She was a talented seamstress and could often be found in her “sewing room,” working on one of her many flawless creations that would be gifted to a daughter or grandchild.
After the children had grown, Gus and Jean became avid campers, and traveled the country in their motorhome, often with an old Chevette nicknamed Humphrey hitched to the back. They especially loved driving the RV to Branson, Missouri, Texas’ Frio River or hunting springtime bluebonnets. The grandkids were thrilled to be asked to tag along.
After losing Gus to cancer in November of 1999, Jean was urged to join some friends in a local travel group. She joined grudgingly and the experience brought her cherished memories, new friends and strengthened ties to old acquaintances. The group traveled to Switzerland, Newfoundland and a cruise through the North Sea and English Channel, among many other destinations.
Jean was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church of Sonora and counted her church family as one of her many blessings. Her steadfast faith and reliance on God carried her through many trying times.
Jean is preceded in death by her great love, Gus; parents Jack and Ola Brookshire; and brothers Weldon Brookshire and Fred Brookshire.
She is survived by son Michael Redman (Doris) of Brenham; daughters Charlotte Castro (Alex) of Sonora and Natalie Dunnam (Richard) of Graham; grandsons Justin Redman (Brandie) of Brenham, Casey Redman (Lisa) of Brenham, Lance Castro (Shanna) of Sonora and Shane Dunnam (Lara) of Santo; granddaughters April Shockley (Chad) of Baton Rouge and Sarah McGonegal (Adam) of Abilene; sisters Joyce Snapp and Betty Barker-Callen (Dale) both of Midland; brothers Alton Brookshire (Joyce) of Midland and Halley Brookshire of Pecos; 16 great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and her beloved neighbors, who she considered family, Zeke and Lesa Gamez.
Services will be 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at the First United Methodist Church of Sonora. Burial to follow at Sonora Cemetery.
The family wishes to extend a special thank you to the Schleicher County Nursing Home for their unsurpassed care and love for Jean over the last two years and also to Kay Bosch, Diana Condra and Judy Friess for their unwavering love and friendship.
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