Marie Welsh Jager
Marie Welsh Jager
Marie Welsh Jager of San Marcos, Texas passed away at the age of 91 at Brookdale North Assisted Living facility on Friday, October 9, 2020, where she was living. Mrs. Jager was born on February 3, 1929, in Iowa to the late John Edward and Josephine Pearl Welsh. When she was a young girl, she and her family moved to Denton, Texas. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in elementary education, she began teaching in Eldorado, Texas. This is where she met the love of her life, Ronald Jager, on a blind date. Ron was geologist from Chicago, Illinois working for Sinclair Oil. They went on to be married for 64 wonderful years.
After marrying, the pair moved to League City, Texas where Mrs. Jager taught English and Drama at Clear Creek High School. While teaching a Clear Creek, she directed many one act plays and participate in UIL play competitions, winning the state title many times. Mrs. Jager and her husband were a great team, she would direct the plays and make their costumes and Ron was an incredibly talented set designer. They worked together to direct many plays at the Clear Creek Country theatre, where they made wonderful memories and relationships with students and families in that area. They were still connected to Mrs. Jager up until her passing. In 1963, the Jagers adopted their one and only child, a daughter, Dea Marie Jager who they brought along on all their musical theater endeavors. In the late 60s, the trio moved from League City, Texas to Austin and then again to San Marcos in 1972. Upon moving to San Marcos, the Jagers had a desire to create events with more community involvement. They created many memorable events in our community that are still being enjoyed today, such as Summer in the Park, Sights and Sounds of Christmas, and San Marcos Performing Arts Association. However, their greatest community endeavor was the renovation of the H. Y. Price Center. This is where the Jagers began a 20-year journey of transforming the dilapidated former church property into a vibrant community cultural and performing arts center after the property was purchased and donated to the city by H. Y. Price, Jr. in 1998. Room by room, they and a group of dedicated volunteers and donors renovated and re-purposed two former sanctuaries, a fellowship hall, classroom and administrative spaces into venues for banquets, performances, film showings, workshops and classes, visual arts displays and more. Their efforts were recognized with numerous honors and awards throughout the years, including the Texas Downtown Association’s Best Adaptive Reuse Award in 2004. After completing renovations by the mid-2000s the pair, then in their 80s, ran the Center operations on a strictly volunteer basis until retiring in 2017.
Mrs. Marie Welsh Jager is preceded in death by her parents, John and Josephine Welsh, her brother, Darwin Welsh, and her husband, Ronald Burke Jager.
She is survived by her daughter Dea Marie Jager-Perez, granddaughter Samantha Marie Myronenko and husband Graydon Myronenko, and her two great grandchildren, Charlotte Marie Myronenko and Nolan Samuel Myronenko. If you would like to make a donation to The Price Center in honor of Marie, checks may be mailed to 222 W. San Antonio St., San Marcos, TX, 78666; by calling 512-392-2900, or online at https://www.price-center.org/donate-make-a-payment Arrangements in care of Pennington Funeral Home, 323 N. Comanche St., San Marcos, Texas., 512-353-4311 ~ www.penningtonfuneralhome.com
