Jeannine Faires

Jeannine Wallace Faires passed away on Sunday, the 17th of October, 2021, at the age of 92. She was born November 27, 1928, to Joseph and Lila Clark Wallace of Gilmer, Texas. She attended Gilmer High School, where she met a young man named Gene Ray Faires, who became the love of her life. After they both graduated in 1946, Jeannine continued her education in Denton at Texas State College for Women, where she studied interior design, while Gene served in the Army Air Corps for two and a half years. But they reunited when he was at Southern Methodist University earning a degree in Finance, and in 1951, Jeannine and Gene married, a union that lasted 58 years. The next year, she gave birth to their first child, Raymond Alan Faires, in Dallas. Shortly after, the family moved to Longview, where Jeannine had two more boys, Kenneth Wallace in 1955 and Robert Lee in 1958. In 1965, Gene’s banking career led them to Beaumont, where they eventually saw all three sons graduate from high school and college, marry, and start their own families in other cities. No matter where she was, Jeannine was active in church and civic life. She served in and made valuable contributions to the Longview Women’s Forum, Longview Junior Service League, First United Methodist Church of Longview, Trinity United Methodist Church of Beaumont, United Methodist Women, P.E.O. Sisterhood, the Neches River Festival, Beaumont Art Museum, and Beaumont Art League.


Even as a devoted wife and mother, Jeannine never gave up her love of art. She took classes with prominent artists in Beaumont and exhibited her work in shows there and elsewhere in East Texas, earning awards for her paintings and pastels. In the 1980s, she won First Prize at the Beaumont Art League annual show for the Neches River Festival, had a solo exhibition of her work at the Beaumont Art League, and was profiled in the Beaumont Enterprise. Her work is proudly displayed in the homes of her children, grandchildren, and friends.


Perhaps because she was an only child, Jeannine developed close attachments to people that lasted decades. Some of her dearest friends were those she made in Gilmer, and she continued to attend the annual reunion of her classmates from Gilmer High 75 years after she graduated.
Following Gene’s death in 2009, Jeannine returned to Longview to be close to friends she had made there as a young wife and mother. But such was the strong impression that she made on people that when she went back to First United Methodist Church, members of the congregation who hadn’t seen her for 45 years approached her to ask, “Aren’t you Jeannine Faires?” She was remembered by them and will be long remembered by many.


Jeannine is survived by her son Ray, his wife Susie, and their children Jill and Christopher; son Ken, his wife Lauree and their children Taylor, Nolan, Clay and Claire; son Robert, his wife Barbara, and their daughter Rosalind; great-grandchildren; cousins; and many friends. She will be laid to rest on Thursday, October 21st. Following a period of visitation at Croley Funeral Home, 305 W. Harrison in Gilmer (just a block from Jeannine’s childhood home on Butler Street) at 10 in the morning, graveside services will be held at Gilmer Sunset Memorial Park at 11:30.


In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Beaumont Art League, 2675 Gulf Street, Beaumont, Texas, 77703; the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, 500 Main Street, Beaumont, Texas, 77701; the Trinity Foundation, 3430 Harrison Avenue, Beaumont Texas, 77706; and First United Methodist Church of Longview, 400 North Fredonia, Longview, Texas, 75601.