By Jeff Walker
Features Editor
San Marcos — Carol Grimm, a member of the national Presbyterian Women group, remembers well the first time she was impressed by the work of Marie Jager.
It was more than 20 years ago, and Jager was leading a group of second graders to the front of the church. Standing toward the San Marcos First Presbyterian Church congregation, they recited, very rhythmically, the names of every book of the Bible in order.
“I just thought, ‘that’s incredible,’” Grimm said. “The kids respected her and listened to her.”
Many years later, Grimm thought it was time that the Presbyterian Women honor their fellow member.
Jager was recently named an honorary lifetime member of the Presbyterian Women group. Grimm announced the accolade at last week’s service, and Jager was given a plaque and a pen that she now wears around her neck.
“This honor is for one of the Presbyterian Women who has meant a lot to our group, and who has given of her time and her effort to further the values that we hold dear,” Grimm said.
Marie and and her husband Ron moved to San Marcos in 1972, transferring their membership from Westlake Presbyterian Church in Austin. In addition to teaching Sunday School, Marie, along with Sue Rogers and Lydia Felter, organized a sewing club and helped create the church’s first Christmon tree, a symbolic, conveying the life of Christ and the meaning of Christmas through commonly found items .
For several years, Jager took table top Christmas trees to shut-ins and nursing homes, singing carols and leaving small gifts.
Marie and Ron have operated the Price Seniors Center for more than 10 years, renovating the old First Christian Church building into a gathering place for civic organizations and a popular venue for weddings, theatre performances and community concerts.
“To be honored with a lifetime of such remembrances has been a truly humbling experience, for which I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Jager wrote in a letter to the local Presbyterian Women.
