Individual Details

Burial

Obituary: HURST -- Jewell Putnam, 88, passed away Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. Service: 3 p.m. Monday at St. Paul UMC. Burial follows in Bluebonnet Hills. Visitation: 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Jewell Fern Perry Putnam was born on January 25,1928 in Crowley, Louisiana to Russell Clinton Perry and Mabel Gladys Perry. She graduated from Crowley High School in 1945. She married Rev. James William Putnam in 1949. They raised 8 ornery boys and 2 delightful girls. She is survived by her loving husband of 66 years, James, son Jerry and wife Becki, son Wesley and wife Felicia, son Jan, son Billy and wife Kelly, son Wiley, son Byron and wife Heather, son Don and wife Yolanda, son Ron and wife Vicki, daughter Dawna and husband James Jones, daughter Janine; 27 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; brother Calvin and wife Millie; brother Ronnie and wife Donna; sister Dee and husband Jimbo; and numerous nieces and nephews. “Forever Yours, Jewell". In young love, she wrote those words on a photo to my grandfather, with no way of knowing what the cost of that promise would be. What hardships and challenges would come, what difficulties and struggles would arise from raising 8 boys and 2 girls on a pastor’s salary, living in a 3 bedroom-1 bath parsonage in countless small towns. But if she’d known, it wouldn’t have changed anything anyway. She decided at the beginning that no matter what those things would be, she would face them at his side. I Jewell, take you James, to be my husband... The world doesn’t see many 65th Anniversaries. I realize how fortunate and blessed I am to see it in my family. And I know that someday my own parents will reach that milestone, if they are still on this earth. What a legacy to live up to. What an example to strive for. What a mandate to model for our own children. For richer or poorer, in sickness and health... And so, a few days ago, we heard that Nana was not doing well, and that this trip to the hospital may be her last. The family gathered. There were hugs and tears and hymns sung. A last-minute schedule change allowed me to catch an early flight back home, and I raced to the hospital. Until death do us part. And as I slipped into the hushed room, filled with family, there was my Papa, leaning forward in his wheelchair in spite of the back pain, so he could touch her. “I love you Jewell. You are precious to me.” He spoke these words over and over, as he tenderly stroked her hand, with 2 minute gaps between her breaths keeping her with us just a little longer. In her final moments, he was calling for the nurse because his beloved seemed uncomfortable. Forever is what they promised each other and their children, and it’s a promise they kept. It’s a promise she was able to keep because she made an earlier promise to God, to follow and serve Him all her days. She was first forever His. And that is how I know I will see her again. At the center of the Putnam Family there has been one heart. A heart that beat faithfully and steadily and purposefully. Every beat was intentionally aimed at loving her Lord and Savior, her beloved husband, her children, their spouses and all their family. She also loved all her family of origin. Every beat of that heart -Our heart - was all about the struggles, the hurts, the pains, and the hopes of her beloved family. If all the tears she shed on our behalf in our times of need were to be collected, the size of the container would be enormous. Such a grand heart, this heart of our mom. Such a loving heart, such a kind and listening heart always beating unselfishly with hope to strengthen and support her loved ones. Her heart is quiet now and its silence has left us stunned and filled with loss. Such a sweet heart... such a beautiful heart, the sound of which we never expected to be silenced. It is quiet within a family filled with tears. And yet I hear the last beat for her family saying learn, learn to beat as I did.Learn to love as I did...be alive my dear beloved family...I love you still. Love each other my beloved children and you will hear my heart beating again. I love you all still. I am telling Jesus how proud I am of all of you. I will see you in the morning. Forever yours, Mom