Heritage Association honors Jager as Arbor Day Recipient

The Riverwalk Committee of the Heritage Association has selected Marie Jager as the recipient of the 2021 Heritage Association Arbor Day Tree Award. This award honors individuals who have made outstanding and enduring contributions to San Marcos. Nominees must have lived in the area for at least five years. To be eligible for this award, death must have occurred between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of the previous calendar year.

Marie Jager was born Feb. 3, 1929, to John Edward and Josephine Pearl Welsh in Iowa. After a few years, Marie’s family moved to Denton where she attended school.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in elementary education, she began teaching in El Dorado, Texas. This is where Marie met the love of her life, Ron Jager, on a blind date. Ron was a biologist working for Sinclair Oil. They went on to be married for 64 years.

After marrying, they moved to League City, Texas, where Marie taught English and drama at Clear Creek High School. While teaching at Clear Creek, she directed many one act plays and participated in UIL play competitions, winning the state title many times. Marie Jager and her husband were a great team, as she would direct the plays and make their costumes, while Ron was a set designer. They worked together to direct many plays at the Clear Creek County Theater, where they made lasting memories and relationships with students and families in that area. They were still connected and kept in touch with Mrs. Jager until her passing.

In 1963, the Jagers adopted their one and only child, Dea Marie Jager, whom they brought along on all their musical theater endeavors. In the late 60s, the Jager family made several moves, returning again to San Marcos in 1972, with a desire to create events with more community involvement. The family joined the Presbyterian Church. Some of the events are still being enjoyed today, such as Summer in the Park, Sights and Sounds of Christmas and San Marcos Performing Arts Association. Marie directed many plays, such as “Falderol” (which was performed in UPAC), “Les Miserables,” “Grains of Sand,” “Babes in Arms” (which was performed in Lamar Auditorium), “Tintypes: a Summer Musical,” “110 in the Shade,” and many more too numerous to mention. Marie asked for donations to underwrite many plays.

Their greatest endeavor was the renovation of the H. Y. Price, Jr. Seniors Center, in 1998. Room by room, the Jagers and a group of volunteers renovated and re-purposed two former sanctuaries, a fellowship hall, classroom and administrative rooms into venues for banquets, performances, film showings, workshops and classes, visual arts displays and more. Their efforts were recognized with numerous honors throughout the years, including the Texas Downtown Association’s Best Adaptive Reuse Award in 2004. After completing renovations by the mid-2000, the Jagers, then in their 80s, ran the center operations on a strictly volunteer basis until retiring in 2017.

The Price Center offers the people of San Marcos a place for all types of gatherings and meetings, such as Texas State’s Friends of Fine Arts, Supple Folk Music Series, instructed classes and civil court trials. Weddings and receptions are held there as well. Marie arranged for Joyce and Roger Kidd to open the Price Center and Tea Room where many people met for lunch, followed by a piece of Joyce Kidd’s meringue pie. Eventually, more groups began meeting regularly, such as garden clubs, friendship groups and service clubs like the Rotarians and Kiwanis.

In 2011, Marie received the honor of being Woman of the Year by Beta Sigma Phi and was awarded a Key to San Marcos for efforts related to rebuilding the Price Seniors Center.

There were quirks and turns throughout their career, but none were as unanticipated as their involvement with the Senior Price Center. The building was donated by late philanthropist H. Y. Price, Jr.

Through petitions, letters to local paper, and the founding of The Greater San Marcos Area Seniors Association, the Jagers won a long-time lease for the renovation and maintenance of H. Y. Price Senior Center in 1998.

Many may remember dining at the Price Center when Marie would come to your table and invite people to take a tour of the newlyrenovated rooms 1910, the 1893 parlor, entrance room and the balcony tea room 1893. After these rooms were completed, the emphasis was to renovate the upstairs. Gwen Smith, in her will, left money for an elevator be installed in 2011, and Marie and Ron Jager had a group of volunteers who worked to help complete the upstairs project. There were also people who gave funds to complete the projects.

The Heritage Association feels Marie Jager deserves the Heritage Association Arbor Day award. Because she directed many plays starting out in Lamar auditorium and different stage locations, including the Senior Price Center Theater, it has now been renamed the Ron and Marie Jager Theater.

Marie passed Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at Brookdale North, where she was living. Marie will be remembered for the many contributions she made to the performing arts in San Marcos.