EFFIE ANN PIWETZ
1924-2018
Effie Ann Piwetz passed away on Monday, the 1st of January 2018, at the age of 93. She was born on the 9th of December 1924, to William and Mary Jasek in Fayetteville, Texas. After graduation from high school as Valedictorian at the age of 16, she left home for Houston and enrolled at Southwestern Business University. By the age of 18 she was working as a bookkeeper for Hoelscher Furniture Company. Four years later, in 1946, she married Florian “Pete” Piwetz, also from Fayetteville who had recently returned home from the war in Europe where he served in the Army Air Corps. They would be married for 67 years before his passing in 2014.
A woman of great strength and drive, she would balance a life of work, service, and family. Effie was a dedicated mother, raising five children at their home in Houston, but the family’s roots were firmly planted in Fayetteville where Effie and Pete maintained a homestead. She loved the outdoors, and was an accomplished gardener. During the fall she and Pete could always be found in the Texas Hill Country hunting and enjoying the wildlife. Summers were not complete without the family’s annual trip to Rockport, where Effie loved to teach her grandchildren how to catch and cook crabs.
While raising her family, Effie continued to be very active in the Catholic Family Fraternal organization, the KJZT. In her many years of service she held multiple positions including Vice President, State Director, Treasurer, and Secretary. The Piwetz family was also one of the founding families for St. Cecilia Catholic Church, and they were active in many festivals including the St. Cyril and Methodius Heritage Day Celebration. Effie and Pete were proud of their ancestry, and were members of the Czech Heritage Society of Texas. She was known for her Kolaches and Klobasnikys which were devoured quickly at all family gatherings. Effie’s traditional Czech rohlicky butter cookies were renowned among the family and brought outrageous prices at every reunion silent auction.
She is survived by her daughter Jackie LeMoine (Michael), her sons Michael (Mary Jo), Mark (Eddy Kay) and Martin (Mary) Piwetz, her 11 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. She joins her husband Florian and daughter Janis Esenwein in eternal rest.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from one o’clock until five o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, the 7th of January, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, where the Rosary for Effie is to commence at four o’clock.
The funeral mass is to be offered at half-past ten o’clock in the morning on Monday, the 8th of January, at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 11720 Joan of Arc in Houston. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held at the church.
The Rite of Committal is to be held at three o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, the 8th of January, at St. John Catholic Cemetery in Fayetteville, Texas.