Mary Joan Baker Troegel

Mary Joan Baker Troegel, age 93, passed away on February 12, 2024 at home in Houston, Tx  with her family in attendance. Known to all as Joan, she was born on February 21, 1930 in Winkler, Tx to Glenn Courtney and Berta Mae Ferguson Baker.  She graduated as valedictorian from Streetman High School in 1947.  She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin and French at the University of Texas at Austin and later a Master of Arts degree in Classical Literature at the University of Houston.  Her first teaching position after graduation was in Port Arthur, Tx at Jefferson High School.  In 1954 she met her beloved husband of 55 years, Elton Frederick (Fred) Troegel, on an oil rig on family property and won his heart with a pineapple cake.  He captured her heart with many letters and endearing terms of affection in French. After marriage, they moved to Austin, Tx for Fred to attend the University of Texas where he graduated in 1958 while Joan taught Latin and French in high school.   Their first child, Cecilia, was born in 1955.  Upon Fred’s graduation, the family moved to Houston, Tx where Thomas Frederick was born in 1958 and Paul Courtney in 1963.Joan resumed her teaching career in 1975 with the Houston Independent School District where she taught Latin and was chairman of the Foreign Language Dept. at M.B. Lamar High School for 20 years.  During her teaching career she studied at the American Academy in Rome and with the Vergilian Society in Cumae, Italy.  As a recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, she studied classical political theory and the U.S. Constitution at Holy Cross University.    Joan planned and supervised 20 educational trips abroad for students and adults to countries such as China, Japan, Mexico and most of Europe.   This was followed by an exchange program Joan implemented to observe and stay abroad in Japan with fellow educators.  Her husband accompanied her eagerly on most of these trips.  Joan retired from full time teaching in 1994.   She continued to substitute at St. Agnes Academy, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, and Sacred Heart for ten years. After retirement, she immediately began the study of the decorative arts, especially antique furniture, and earned a position as docent and speaker for the historic Bayou Bend Collection of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts for 20 years.   She was a member of the Houston Genealogical Forum and in her spare time she did research at Clayton Library or on the internet to find ancestors and trace genealogy leads.  She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  Joan was an example to all of lifelong learning and acceptance of others.

Joan and her family have been members of St. Frances de Sales Catholic Church since its inception in 1962. She was proud to be a Texan, and enjoyed having her family gather on her Richland Chambers Lake property in Navarro County and celebrate what she called Camp David.

Joan is survived by her daughter, Cecilia Bowles, of Streetman, Tx., son Thomas and wife Maria of Houston, and son Paul and wife Holly of Houston. She also leaves behind grandchildren Courtney Powell and husband Matthew, Julie Troegel, Madeline Blalock and husband Darryl, Brittany Andrews and husband Justin, Carl Troegel and Rebecca Bowles. Great grandchildren include Caleb, Jonah, Priscilla, Olivia, Mary, Lucy, Genevieve and David Blalock; Liam and Wyatt Powell; and Cooper and Haley Andrews.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband Fred, son-in-law David Bowles, her sister Glenda Leah Scammel, and a baby brother, Ernie Peyton Baker.

Mater, pax vobiscum.

A rosary will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at 11:00, followed by a funeral mass at 12:00 p.m. at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 8200 Roos Rd., Houston, TX 77036

Interment will be on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Elmo Cemetery on FM 416 in Freestone County.

If desired, memorials may be made to St. Elmo Cemetery Assoc., P.O. Box 215, Streetman, Tx 75859 or Claytonlibraryfriends.org.  Flowers for mass may be sent to St. Francis de Sales Church.