JOHN WEBB JENNINGS, JR.
1934-2021
John Webb Jennings, Jr., went home to Jesus unexpectedly, with a wrench in his hands, while attempting to save his home on Tuesday, the 16th of February 2021. He was 86 years of age.
Born on the 5th of December 1934, in Gladewater, Texas, John grew up in Kilgore and attended Kilgore Junior College before entering his beloved alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin College of Engineering. While there, John pledged Phi Delta Theta his junior year and had stories and friends he shared for the rest of life.
After graduation, John moved to Olean, New York, to work for Clark Brothers selling engineering services and compressors. He moved to Houston where he raised his family and pursued his passion for real estate development.
John joined the Houston Country Club in 1965 and spent over 50 years making lifelong memories with his regular golf game group and playing cards in the Club’s “Red Room”.
A true outdoorsman, John was most at home on any golf course, inshore fishing in Port O’Connor and Port Mansfield or bass in East Texas and chasing bobwhite quail in South Texas. Some of John’s best stories came from these pursuits, along with playing golf in nationwide golf events, including 20 years at the Bing Crosby Pro Am at Pebble Beach and the US Senior Amateur Championship. John believed the values instilled by the game of golf made him a better man, and he later became a director with the TransMississippi Golf Association to share his passion with younger generations.
John was the ultimate man’s man, he had a larger-than-life presence and possessed a magnetic, old Hollywood charisma that was impossible to resist. A prolific and natural storyteller, John was notoriously known for charming everyone around him. From humble beginnings in Kilgore to the city life in Houston, people gravitated towards this storytelling southern gentleman because he loved a good time.
John had fond memories of playing the piano alongside Van Cliburn; enduring pledgeship antics with Dabney Coleman; and hunting and playing golf with Bing Crosby, Craig Stadler and Fred Couples. Of course, all of these experiences were woven into his stories.
If you were in John’s capable hands, you knew two things for sure: he was a man of his word who would follow through on his promises and he was a man willing to share everything he had: his home, his time, his wisdom and an occasional off-color joke to expose his wit.
John was an irreplaceable patriarch to his family, particularly at family gatherings where he always led the family in prayer. His booming voice and “call it like you see it” persona were equally matched by his tenderness, depth, and loyalty to those he loved. He lived out his values more than he talked about them, but if you paid close attention, you would see a man who would lay down his life for his family and friends. John embodied the best in all of us with his unwavering integrity, quiet humility and deep-rooted faith in God. He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather.
Our elder statesman will be deeply missed.
John is preceded in death by his father, John Webb Jennings, and his mother Dessa Mae Jennings. He is survived by the love of his life and wife of 37 years,
Sara Foreman Jennings; his daughter, Laura Turner and her husband John; his son, Webb Jennings and his wife Christy; his grandchildren, John and Grace Turner, and Mary B. and Lila Jennings; brothers and sisters-in-law, Suzanne and Hart Schleicher, Kim and Ira Franks, Jim and Michele Foreman and Dan Foreman and Mike
Svat; mother-in-law, Anna J. Foreman; and nephews and nieces, Ryan Schleicher and Sara Schleicher, Beau Kaleel and Brooke Horlen, Callie Gaines, Michael Foreman, and Will Foreman, and Chase Foreman, Clark Foreman, and Carly Foreman.
Those who loved John are cordially invited to share their favorite stories and memories with his family during a visitation to be held from five o’clock in the afternoon until eight o’clock in the evening on Monday, the 1st of March, at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
Following a private interment at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, a memorial service is to be conducted at three o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 2nd of March, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road in Houston. Due to COVID and capacity seating restrictions at the church, virtual attendance is encouraged and may be accessed at www.JohnWJennings.com, or by visiting his online memorial tribute at GeoHLewis.com and selecting the “Join Livestream” icon in his Memorial Service information section. There, you may also share memories and words of comfort and condolence electronically with his family.
KINDLY NOTE: in accordance with current state health and safety protocols, and for the safety of all guests, facemasks and the practice of social distancing are required for attendance at both events.
The family may choose to celebrate John’s life with a reception at a later date.
In lieu of customary remembrances, friends and family are asked to direct memorial gifts to the Houston Country Club Scholarship Fund at 1 Potomac Drive Houston, TX, 77057; or to the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association at 13760 Noel Rd. #327 Dallas, TX, 75240.