Jere K Waggoner

Jere Ann Kitzmiller Waggoner, age 83, was born at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, Texas, on July 16,1942, and passed away after a long illness on April 14, 2026, at St. Francis Hospital in Monroe, Louisiana.

Born to Dorothea Jane Brophy and Keith Jordan Kitzmiller, Jere Ann lived a life defined by resilience, unwavering devotion to her family, and service to her community. Jere Ann, along with her parents, older sister Martha Lee Kitzmiller Smith, and younger brother Thomas Edward Kitzmiller, moved to Deer Park, Texas, where they lived on the Shell Oil Refinery grounds. Jere Ann attended San Jacinto Elementary, Deer Park Junior High, and Deer Park High School, where she excelled at tennis, basketball, and volleyball in 1960.

She spent her first semester at Southwest State College after the Texas College Entrance Exam suggested a career in forestry and perhaps indicated that the University of Texas was not the school for her. She went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, where she served as the Delta Gamma house manager and earned a degree in Education in 1964. Prior to graduation, Jere Ann took a two-week trip to the Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. This trip turned into a three-month European holiday with her good friend from Camp Waldemar, Jill Harrington. As a freshly minted educator, Jere Ann taught at Lakeland High School in Denver, Colorado. She and her friends could be found on the weekends snow skiing and enjoying the Howdy Doody Special at the Edgewater Inn on Wednesday evenings. She returned to Texas and married her high school sweetheart, George Martin Waggoner, on June 26, 1965, in Pasadena, Texas. Jere Ann taught English and physical education at Memorial and Westchester High Schools in Houston, Texas. She often said she loved teaching P.E. because she was able to play all day.

After moving to El Dorado, Arkansas, she completed her master’s degree in education from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. Their first daughter, Lee Ann, was born in 1973. They later moved to Monroe, Louisiana, where their second daughter, Katie, was born in 1980.

In addition to caring for her family, Jere Ann devoted her life to the service of others. She volunteered at Covenant Presbyterian Church for decades. Jere Ann also volunteered in the Monroe City Schools and at Covenant Presbyterian Day School years after her daughters attended. She served as treasurer for the Monroe Junior League. Outside of caring for her family and community, Jere Ann loved being active outdoors, which is why she was not surprised that the TCEE suggested forestry—though it did make her giggle. She could often be found playing tennis, fishing at the camp, working in her yard, or walking with friends. Jere Ann was always the first to arrive at tennis games, making sure to reserve the shady court at the Monroe Athletic Club. If you lived on Herbert Cole Drive in the 1970s, she likely taught you how to ride a bicycle without training wheels. In her later years, she loved watching her grandchildren participate in football, basketball, acting, cheerleading, dancing, baseball, wrestling, and tennis.

She is survived by her husband, George Martin Waggoner; daughter Lee Ann Waggoner Gullett and her husband, Gregory Mason Gullett, of Austin, Texas; and daughter Sara Katherine Waggoner Dean and her husband, Benjamin Bryan Dean, of Monroe, Louisiana. Jere Ann is also survived by five grandchildren: George Mason Gullett, John Waggoner Gullett, and James Montgomery Gullett, all of Fort Worth, Texas, and George Walker Dean and Virginia Ann Dean of Monroe, Louisiana. She is further survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Martha and Charles Weldon Smith of Richmond, Texas, and their children and grandchildren, as well as her sister-in-law, Kathy Lynn Maxwell Kitzmiller, of Yukon, Oklahoma.

Jere Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Jane and Keith, and her brother, Tommy. Jere Ann will be remembered for her adventurous spirit, her deep love for family, and her servant’s heart. Her legacy lives on in the hearts of those she touched, and she will be dearly missed.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” A private family celebration of life to follow at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to onelovetennis.org, Covenant Presbyterian Church or a philanthropy of your choice.