Jon and Jean (Little) Gear
This information furnished by Jean in 2021:
I was married to LeGene Gaylor for forty-five years. He had an accounting business. He passed away on January 20, 2003. We had three children, Rod, Cathy, and Kristi. I now have eight grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.
On October 9, 2004, I married Jon Gear, a fellow classmate. He lived in Denison, Texas, at the time and I lived in Waco, but after attending my church the first time he decided that Waco would be our home. He loved it. So until he retired at the end of that year Jon and I spent weekdays at his home in Denison and weekends back in Waco. After his retirement we settled into the house I had lived in since 1964, where I still live today. Jon enjoyed singing and playing the guitar, and I loved listening to him. I have lots of recordings that I still listen to. We loved to travel until he was no longer able to. Jon passed away June 8, 2016, much too soon. I still miss him.
I taught oil painting classes for twenty-five years and had a photography business, where I specialized in family/children’s portraits and weddings. I also did photo restorations. I loved working on the more challenging damaged pictures that were brought for restoration. The only one I ever had to turn away was a very old and very small picture of a cow. Obviously, someone was on the other side milking the cow, but only their legs could be seen. The lady told me that it was the only picture she had of her father when he was a boy. She asked me to remove the cow so she could see her father. Sure wish I could have done that for her.
After my son’s divorce in 2013, he and his daughter, now sixteen, moved from Lewisville to Waco. Jon insisted they live with us, which was a real blessing later during Jon’s illness. Rod and Yaleana continued to live with me until December 2020. My older daughter, Cathy, and her husband live on the Brazos River near Aquilla, TX, not too far out of Waco. My younger daughter, Kristi, lives in Waco. At one time Rod lived in Florida, Cathy lived in east Texas and Kristi lived in Turkey and then Oregon. I’m so glad to have all three nearby now.
My mother passed away on December 29, 2020, at age 108. She would have been 109 in April. I was so blessed to have had her for so many years. She was in good health mentally and physically until those last few months when her mind started slipping some.
I’m still in touch with one of Jon’s daughters almost every day, and the others on a regular basis.
I stay pretty busy with family activities. I also still enjoy photography and computer work, especially in Photoshop.
High School Memories:
My family moved to Pt. Lavaca the summer before our Freshman year so I started school knowing almost nobody. At the first class meeting to elect officers and student council members, Ernest Campos nominated me for Student Council. I was painfully shy so I was mortified hearing my name mentioned in front of so many people. I wanted to crawl under the seat there in the auditorium. Then to make things even more painful, those nominated were asked to step outside during the voting. I was sure most were wondering who Jean Little was, so that meant many eyes would be on me as I walked out. I just knew I would trip and fall before I got to the door. At least I could feel sure that I wouldn’t be elected because nobody knew me. To my horror, when we were asked to come back in they announced that Kathy Allen and I had been elected. For someone as shy as I was it was my worst nightmare. I spent that year going to Student Council meetings and saying absolutely nothing.
One year we were told in English class that if we went to see Gone With the Wind at the local theater we would get extra credit. Bernice and I went. There was an intermission that came at a really sad time in the movie. I was struggling to hold back the tears, but Bernice was sobbing uncontrollably when the lights were turned on. There were lots of people in the theater and I was sure everyone looked our way with all the noise she was making. I sank down in my seat hoping I wouldn’t be seen. 🙂
My senior year I enjoyed working for the telephone company. I was a long-distance operator long before direct dialing. One day a lady in Pt. Lavaca was calling her sister in Houston. I told her that her sister didn’t answer and asked if she would like me to try again later and call her back, which was standard policy. The lady said, “No, I’m sure she is there. Look in the backyard.” I don’t think she ever understood that I had no way of doing that. It was a fun and entertaining job.