JOANNE ESKRIDGE
02/09/1939 - 12/29/2022
JoAnne Gates Eskridge passed away peacefully at the age of eighty-three on December 29, 2022, with family by her side at her residence in Houston, Texas. A gracious and gentle soul, she was a loving and deeply loved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and, to so very many, friend.
Born on February 9, 1939, in St. Louis, Missouri, JoAnne was the only child of the marriage of John Judd Gates, Jr., and Josephine Underwood Ireland. They loved their daughter very much but, sadly, were both taken far too early in the late 1960s, just before JoAnne turned thirty. This lesson in love and life caused her to hold family and friends all the more dearly to her.
Raised principally in St. Louis and Denver, Colorado, JoAnne graduated from Kenmore Senior High School in Buffalo, New York. She then graduated in May of
1961 from the Connecticut College for Women in New London, Connecticut. The dedication in JoAnne’s college senior yearbook captured perfectly that her life was, and would always be, “an excellent example of gracious living.” After praising her awesome cooking prowess and her fearsome organizational skills, it concluded, “JoAnne is ever eager to give of herself. Her friendship, warmth, and affectionate nature reach out to include all.” All of JoAnne’s many friends know these words to be true, no matter the decade she gave to them the gift of her friendship.
The summer before her senior year of college, she married her husband, Charles Robert Eskridge, Jr., having met on a blind date the year before. Charlie was then an Ensign in the United States Navy, to be followed by a career in the lighting and electrical business. Partners in life from the moment they married, Charlie and JoAnne were also partners in business later in life. More about that in a moment. Always together, and after a marriage lasting sixty-two years,
Charlie was with his beloved wife when she passed.
JoAnne had two children—Lisa, in 1961, and Charles, in 1963. Charlie was employed by General Electric Corporation in those early years, which meant almost annual moves for the young family, from New London, to Cleveland, to Atlanta, to Richmond, and back to Cleveland, all before arriving in New Orleans, where they lived from 1968 to 1974. That year then brought a last move to Houston, where JoAnne resided for the rest of her life— in Wilchester West in the Memorial area until 2000, then Royal Oaks Country
Club in West Houston until 2018, and finally Eagle’s Trace Senior Living Community.
JoAnne’s first career was, quite simply, total devotion to her family as a wife, mother, and homemaker without peer. She also directed much of her activity in the 1970s and 1980s to the Junior League of New Orleans and of Houston, epitomizing its mission of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities. Time with friends meant pursuits with Charlie of tennis, golf, bridge, bowling, hunting, fishing— you name it, with dinner and cocktail parties being a mainstay. Time with family meant dinners around the table every evening, long family road-trips to visit extended family, and many, many times welcoming her children’s friends into her home at any and all hours for school and recreational projects (with a seemingly never-ceasing supply of homemade cookies and yellow cake with chocolate icing). And wherever she was, JoAnne was always the organizing force behind—and frequent host of—the ladies in her book clubs, sewing clubs, and annual Christmas cookie exchanges.
JoAnne’s second career was no less remarkable; perhaps more so. With her children both graduated from college by the mid-1980s, JoAnne studied for and obtained her real estate license. She then established a trustworthy reputation in the residential real estate market on the west side of Houston for the next thirty-plus years, with Charlie as her partner in the latter half of those years after his own retirement. Nothing made her happier than finding families their perfect house—and especially helping young couples into their first homes. And she was good at it. Working with agencies such as House Hunters, John Daugherty Realtors, and Heritage Texas Fine Properties, JoAnne was annually a top producer in the Memorial, Royal Oaks, and adjacent areas. Truly, if all the families she helped were to attend her memorial service, the Toyota Center itself might not be large enough.
JoAnne was a person of virtue, grace, and good manners. She loved her country and her adopted state of Texas without hesitation or doubt. She was a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; in New Orleans, of the Junior League, Bissonet-Maned Downs Country Club, and
St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church; and in Houston, of the Junior League, the University Club, the Wilchester Club, Royal Oaks Country Club, and Holy Spirit Episcopal Church.
Left behind to cherish JoAnne’s memory are her husband, Charlie Eskridge, her daughter, Lisa Trahan, and her son, Charles Eskridge. Remembering with Lisa is her husband, Ken Trahan, along with his daughter, Lori Trahan Doran, her husband, Gordon, and their children, Olivia and Reeve, and his daughter, Stacey Trahan Matt, her husband, Chris, and their children, Audrey, Jude, Oliver, and Estelle. Remembering with Charles is his wife, Monica Eskridge, and their children, Amelia Eskridge Gier, her husband, Colton, Riley Eskridge, and Caleb Eskridge. JoAnne is also survived by her two adored and adoring nieces, Meg Griffiths Gillikin, her husband, Dave, and their daughter, Elizabeth, and
Ellen Griffiths Houts, and her husband, Tom. Also grieving the loss of JoAnne are her daughter-in-law’s family, Noi McMullen, David and Lisa Brewster, and Daniel and Stephanie Brewster, and their son, Lance.
JoAnne will be greatly missed because of the warmth and good will she brought to so many. A celebration of her life will take place at two o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, the 13th of January, in the Pecan Venue of Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, 13001 Katy Freeway, in West Houston, with a reception to follow. Interment will occur at a private ceremony on a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be directed to Houston Methodist Nantz National Alzheimer Center, Scurlock Tower, 6560 Fannin Street, 7th Floor, Houston, Texas 77030, (713) 441–1150.