Jeanne Marie Minnick

Jeanne Marie Minnick of Dallas - beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and friend - died peacefully on Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Fort Worth, where she had been living near her son and his family the past two years.

Known for her wry sense of humor and fun-loving nature, Jeanne Marie was also deeply spiritual and a charter member of St. Rita Catholic Community. She was equally at ease among the lofty and the lowly.

She was born on Aug. 19, 1931, in Teaneck, N.J., to Arthur B. and Irene McLean Hill, and grew up in nearby Bogota, one of 10 children. The family moved to Dallas in 1945 when Jeanne Marie was 14. She attended Merici High School (aka Ursuline Academy) where she graduated in 1949. After a brief stint at Our Lady of Victory in Fort Worth, she returned home to work and soon began teaching at Christ the King Catholic School.

She married Robert James Uhler in 1951 and lived in South Bend, Ind., where Bob attended the University of Notre Dame. She gave birth to her first son, Robert Jr., later the same year, had another son, Thomas, in 1953, and a daughter, Mary Pat, in 1957.

It’s fair to say her children were her life and she raised them in Dallas as a single mother after her marriage broke up in the late 1960s. She loved family gatherings, feast day celebrations, dinner table discussions on matters large and small, wine and beer, oldies music (especially Frank Sinatra), football games and horse races. She loved all her brothers and sisters but had a special bond with her youngest sister, Mary Pat (namesake of her daughter), who she helped raise, and her oldest brother Dick, who was a big help and inspiration to her.

She worked as secretary to the principal at Ursuline Academy for many years, and then went into the oil and gas business where she worked as an executive secretary at Maguire Oil Company and later Roosevelt Resources in Dallas before retiring.

She married Walter G. Minnick in 1978 and enjoyed trips and spending time with Walt’s children, especially oldest son Chris and his wife, Penny. She also cherished her visits to Marbella, Spain where her daughter, Mary Pat, lives.

Jeanne Marie worked into her early 80s and would have happily worked into her 90s. She made friends wherever she went and always left ‘em smiling.

She is survived by her son, Thomas Uhler, and wife Mary Anne, of Fort Worth; daughter, Mary Pat Finnigan, and husband Kevin, of Marbella, Spain; grandchildren Joseph Uhler and wife Trisha; Andrew Uhler and girlfriend Kaitlin Hefner; Elaine Vaughan and husband Taylor; great-granddaughter Aliyah Vaughan; sisters Mary Pat Liggio and husband Charlie, of Virginia Beach, Va.; and Sister Peggy Hill, OSU, of New Orleans; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her son, Bob Jr.; mother and father, Arthur and Irene Hill; brothers Dick, Jerry, Billy, Jimmy, Paul and Art Hill; and sister Colleen Carmichael.

Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Rita Catholic Community, preceded by a rosary. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bob Uhler Jr. Scholarship Fund at Jesuit College Preparatory School or a charity of your choice.