Jean Minter

Margaret Jean Luce Minter, lovingly known to her family and friends as Jean, passed away on February 21, 2026, at the age of 83. She was born on June 26, 1942, to George and Hazel Luce in Grapeland, Texas. She was the oldest of four daughters.

Born and raised in Grapeland, where her story both began and, fittingly, returned.  She met her beloved husband Julian Minter, on a blind date and they were married for 63 years.  Houston is where they raised their girls Gina, Stacy and Amy, the city where Jean forged a formidable corporate career at Coca Cola Foods balancing both family and career for 25 years. In 1998 Julian and Jean retired and returned to East Texas, her hometown, Grapeland. 

Jean was a faithful and active member of First Baptist Church of Grapeland, where her quiet strength and unwavering beliefs were evident to all who knew her. Her faith was not loud, but it was firm. It guided her decisions, shaped her family, and anchored her through every season of life.

She is preceded in death by her parents, George and Hazel Luce, her sisters, Nancy Lawrence, Brenda Mooney, and Patricia Stapp, and great granddaughter, Brennan Mae Smart.  

Jean is survived by her devoted husband, Julian Minter; her daughters, Gina Ballow and her husband Michael, Stacy Brown and her husband Braden, her very special niece Amy Lawrence, and nephew Chris Mooney. She also leaves behind a legacy in her grandchildren: Steven Ballow, Hallie Smart, Mackenzie Ramseyer, Myles Bearden, Stirling Brown, Sydney Brown, and Chase Brown. Jean was also the proud great-grandmother of Orion, Danielle, Draden, Caden, Rhett, Colt, Margaret Christine—her namesake—and Bodie.

Jean was known for many things. She was unwavering in her beliefs and steady in her convictions. She was an avid deer hunter and, by most accounts, a better shot than her husband Julian, a fact she likely would have confirmed with a small smile. She loved to hand embroider, creating pieces that will now be treasured reminders of her patient hands. She was an incredible cook, famous for “Mimi’s Red Beans and Rice,” a dish that brought everyone to the table. She delighted in playing dominoes, shelling peas and watching Law & Order with her grandchildren. Whenever telling a family story or sharing information she would always end the story with …. “That’s all I know.”

Her impact on our lives runs deep and will remain with us always. She taught us more by the way she lived than by anything she ever said. Her faith was steady, her convictions were firm, and her love for her family never wavered.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six o’clock until eight o’clock in the evening, on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in the Molly Ray State Room at Rhone Funeral Home, 3900 S. State Highway 19, Palestine, Texas 75801. 

Funeral services to celebrate Margaret Minter’s life are to be conducted at 1:30 in the afternoon on Monday, March 2, 2026, in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Grapeland, Texas, 408 W. Chestnut St., with Dr. David Bradley and Dr. Tim Smith officiating the service. Interment will follow in McCarter Cemetery.

Those honored to serve as pallbearers are her grandchildren.

Funeral services for Margaret Jean Minter are in care of Rhone Funeral Home, 3900 S. State Highway 19, Palestine, Texas. Please visit her online memorial tribute at www.rhonefuneralhome.com, where words of comfort and condolence may be shared electronically with her family.

We will carry her recipes, her embroidered pillowcases, her stories, and her sayings with us. And when we gather at the table or sit in a deer stand, we will think of her, smile, and hear her say, “That’s all I know.”

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