It seems all of Houston has a Bush story

PRESIDENT ABOUT TOWN

Terry Jeanes was making her way back to the Chevron Houston Marathon water station where she was volunteering when she saw someone who caught her attention. She felt a jolt of excitement.

There, in his wheelchair at 87 years old, was former President George H.W. Bush, cheering on the runners just like everyone else. With encouragement from a police officer, Jeanes, a 60-yearold Realtor, shook Bush’s hand and posed with him for a photo.

It was a treasured exchange for Jeanes, among the kaleidoscope of moments that Bush shared with everyday Houstonians over the years in the city he called home.

“He made you feel like you were part of his family,” Jeanes said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”

George and Barbara Bush ate fajitas at Molina’s, cheered at Astros and Texans games, and watched musicals at the Hobby Center. They attended shows at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. They prayed at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.

The former president left a lasting impression as gracious, humble and kind on those he met, including Leonor Mendoza, 65, who waited on Bush for many of the 45 years she has worked at Molina’s, a Tex-Mex restaurant on Westheimer where his photo hangs on the wall.

Always said yes

Always, Bush said yes to awestruck diners who asked to take pictures with him. He knew Mendoza by name. She knew he preferred Dos Equis. She felt proud to serve the Bushes, she said.

Once, he and Barbara took a picture with her and, to the surprise of the restaurant manager, mailed her a signed copy.

“You don’t think the president is going to remember to send someone who works at Molina’s a photo,” manager Maria Elena Sanchez said.

The stories of bonds forged are repeated across the city. Bush, a former U.S. envoy to China, loved eating Peking duck at Hunan, recalled Gigi Huang, whose father opened the Post Oak restaurant in the 1970s. He invited Huang and her father to spend a night at the White House. He later made a tradition of eating at Huang’s restaurant on Christmas.

At Christie’s, Bush frequently downed oyster stew with his close friend and former Secretary of State James Baker, who had oysters. They always sat at the same table in the no-frills bar room. Maria Christie, who now runs the restaurant with her brother, recalled how happy it made her father, an immigrant, to have them there.

The stew wasn’t on the menu the first time, but, of course, they whipped it up for Bush on request.

“He picked it up by the bowl and drank the last drop,” Christie’s sister Roula recalled.

Waitress Christina Merlan served Bush that first meal. She recalled his kindness — and also the oddity of holding a former president’s credit card.

And that was just it: In so many ways the president made people feel like he was anyone else, any other customer, or fellow Houstonian or friend. It could be startling to remember that he wasn’t.

“They act like they’ve known you for years,” said Lauren Liermann, who helped put on Bush’s 90th birthday party at The Palm.

In 2007, Jeremy McGill wound up behind the Bushes at an Astros game. McGill had reported for work doing security, found out he wasn’t needed and bought a lastminute ticket.

When he saw Bush arrive at the end of the aisle, McGill had no idea what to do. Spontaneously, he stood as Bush took his seat. He recalled that Bush watched the game with a smile on his face.

“To be able to sit and watch a ballgame basically with a former president of the United States, to me, it was just amazing,” McGill said. “He was a baseball fan. He was enjoying it as much as I was.”

‘Here we go’

When the Bushes attended a 2016 performance of “Carousel” by the Houston Grand Opera, Richard Bado, director of artistic operations, who conducted the show, recalled trying to calm the cast beforehand.

And as they geared up first to play “The Star Spangled Banner,” with the theater abuzz, Bado gave himself a pep talk. He looked up, saw the president wink at him and thought, “Here we go.”

Bush met the “Carousel” cast afterward backstage, just as actor Richie Mastascusa recalled he did after Theatre Under the Stars shows. It was riveting, Mastascusa said, recalling a particular conversation they had after his performance in “A Chorus Line.” The conversation felt genuine.

“He didn’t have to do that,” said Mastascusa, who now teaches pilates in New York. “He didn’t have to come backstage, and yet he stayed in the green room and talked to every single person.”

The tales go on. Scott Stephens, a 47-year-old military veteran, was struck by a greeting from him at the Shell Houston Open, a meaningful hello from the person he believed held the highest position in the world.

Eddie Fleshner, 67, years ago wound up in a conversation with him in the check-out at Sam’s Club, where Fleshner was buying candy and Bush pillows. Bush said Barbara had sent him in to get them.

Bryant Savage, the 46-year-old senior director of security for the Toyota Center and the Houston Rockets, told of driving Bush in a golf cart wherever he needed to go. It was a pinch-yourself moment with a man much different from celebrities who might not even say hello.

“He went out of his way to make you feel comfortable,” Savage said. “He wasn’t a celebrity. He was very distinguished, very presidential, just a real gentleman.”

‘Gracious to everybody’

Among the memories are those recalled by his staff in recent days. About the barber who stayed to watch a football game with Bush after cutting his hair at home. The taxi driver who got a surprise phone call after telling a friend of a staff member how much he loved the former president.

“He was gracious to everybody,” spokesman Jim McGrath said. “It was something to behold: kinder and gentler personified. Kinder and gentler, in action.”

There was another year at the marathon, in 2007, soon after Bush had hip surgery, when Philip Schneidau, president of a real estate management company, recalled his surprise at seeing Bush and his wife arrive to greet the final runners struggling to finish the race.

It was past the five-hour mark, and Bush planted himself with a walker where the runners couldn’t miss him. He greeted the sweaty runners who staggered across the finish line.

“We were just floored,” Schneidau said. “We were flabbergasted.”

The day Bush died, Schneidau said he thought back on the gesture. Aside from his co-chair, no other marathon officials had been there to see it, nor did the marathon send out any release afterward, as he recalled.

Now seemed like a good time to share it. The Bushes ingrained themselves in this city, and made many in the city proud. On their deaths, memories of meeting them become even more cherished.

We won’t be seeing them anymore.

“International exchanges are not a great tide to sweep away all differences, but they will slowly wear away at the obstacles to peace as surely as water wears away a hard stone.” – George H.W. Bush “To all who mourn a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a friend — I can only offer you the gratitude of a nation, for your loved one served his country with distinction and honor.” – George H.W. Bush

Courtesy, Terry Jeanes Terry Jeanes, 60, took a photo with President George H.W. Bush at the Chevron Houston Marathon. She recalled how he “made you feel like you were part of his family.”

Courtesy: Bryant Savage Bryant Savage and his daughter, Zoe Laws, posed with the Bushes at a Rockets game. Savage, who heads security for the Toyota Center and the team, recalled Bush as “the definition of grace.”

Jon Shapley / Staff photographer Bush’s favorite table at Christie’s, where he liked oyster stew.

Courtesy, Gigi Huang Gigi Huang and her father, James, at the White House. Bush often ate at their Hunan Restaurant.

Courtesy, Steven Giles Steven Giles, left, saw his “favorite president of all time” at a performance of “Jersey Boys.”

Jon Shapley / Staff photographer Maria Christie, left, and her brother, Terry, sit at the Bushes’ favorite table at Christie’s.