Jewel T. Wisner born in Denham Springs passed away December 12, 2023 at the age of 91. She loved to spend her time outdoors gardening and watching the squirrels and birds. She cherished the time spent with her family and friends and she will be missed dearly by all those who knew and loved her. She is survived by her children Brenda Williams and husband Randy Williams, Ronald Harris, Michael Ray and wife Susan, Terry Carpenter and husband Jeff. She is also survived by numerous grandkids and great grandkids. She is preceded in death by her husband Willie J Wisner, her parents Johnnie and Norma Tate, Daughter-in-law Jane Harris, granddaughter Delaine Jarreau, and numerous brothers and sisters. A graveside service will take place Friday December 15, 2023 at 2:00pm at Hebron Baptist Church in Denham Springs. Please share your condolences at www.sealefuneral.com
2 comments
Andrea McBride
December 15, 2023 at 9:09 pm
I don’t know if there is a character limit, but here’s what I wrote for my maw maw..
First of all, this will not be just my words. I’ve gathered a lot of memories and moments from family so I’m going to share some stories that are not just mine—and if it’s yours, I may be asking you to verify facts and help fill in details. We all know we can’t help but talk over one another anyway. I can’t include every age and stage and story and detail of her life either. So if I leave out something important, please know I don’t intend to slight anyone and I only want to celebrate this amazing woman I call maw maw.
So one of my favorite things about our family is how we are when we gather. Visiting is something our family is SO GOOD at. We know how to be a GREAT family because of the strong roots of togetherness that Maw Maw laid down for us. My mama said “She definitely didn’t spare the rod and spoil the child. We toed the line. She made sure we learned about Jesus, respect, being polite, and behaved.”
—And that is where this all begins since we don’t have time to really start at the very beginning. She was 92 (I know officially 91 but I’m giving her that last year y’all—time is a thief and so I’m rounding up and giving her the W on the last few days since her birthday is Sunday).
She taught us all so many lessons. Starting with her children, Michael Ray, Ronald Gene, Brenda and Terry, and her adoring nieces and nephews. And she continued with us grandkids and great nieces and great nephews. And her hand is firmly in the upbringing of all the great grandkids, and great great grandkids and great great nieces and nephews too—whether they know it or not.
She had a hand in shaping every single part of our lives. From style and manners, to family traditions, to unconditional love and even to our food….
Wherever she was, was our home.
Our worlds truly did revolve around her. We had a standing weekly family gathering every Sunday. It was a major part of the tradition our family values are built on. And it didn’t matter if you were immediate family or long lost cousins or from the Harris side or if you were just a good friend, she made room for all of us. She made that togetherness happen for all of us. The front yard was a parking lot and the cars lined the streets every Sunday and ESPECIALLY on holidays. We all wanted to be wherever she was. She was the crown Jewel of our family.
Love was an action for maw maw. Nikki said “We would sit in her and paw paws recliners with towels in our laps and drinks with straws and whatever snacks she’d feed us that day. Sometimes it was little boxes of raisins or lays chips in a bowl, or my favorite—which she knew I loved—the good ole boiled egg.” And the time 3 year old Delaine called maw maw up and asked her to make “pudge” at the behest of uncle Michael and Aunt Susan. Or the time she drove to the new Walmart in the snow in her yellow thunderbird just to get Josh some new hot wheels.
I have stories like that too. And I bet a lot of people here today can recount a way she provided for them. Whether it was nourishment for the soul or the body, she would rush to give it. She was just always there for us whenever we needed her. And to this day, we all do that for each other still. When it’s time to go, we don’t even hesitate.
Those were our Lessons in love.
Maw maw taught us all how to shop and dress and be correctly styled for all occasions. Every single female descendant of Jewel Tate has done the “twirl” while modeling frilly dresses for her. And every single “daughter of Jewel” knows how to shop well on a budget. And those are not things you just innately know how to do. So we have always been champagne taste on a beer budget kind of people. We want those nice things but we WILL be using a “Q-pen”
And the boys weren’t off the hook either. From the men’s side of things I think this quote from Joshua says it all “Maw Maw Jewel was a woman who frequently tried, and often succeeded in being my stylist. Most of the times I’ve looked my best, Maw Maw Jewel had a hand in it. …… She always wanted to look nice and for her family to look nice. She succeeded, as only a woman who would starch, iron and put a crease in Paw Paw Willie’s denim blue jeans could.” Those were our Lessons in style.
If you knew maw maw well, you also will know she taught us how to defend ourselves against egregious behavior. Usually, a single look could get the job done when shutting down someone’s bad attitude. Sometimes a few well chosen words and a good dressing down were what was needed. And then on rare but LEGENDARY occasions, you’d catch her hands…..
One of her stories of lore that gets told a lot is when she whopped a woman who spit on her during an argument at uncle Ronald Genes baseball game. I wont go into the details but if you want to hear all about it, ask anyone nearby about it later. **I never did find out if she won the fight though. By the time we got to that part of the storytelling, we would all be rolling on the floor laughing. I always assumed she came out the victor in that situation. I couldn’t see her ever losing any fight she stepped into. As aunt Terry put it so well “she didn’t suffer fools gladly”. Those were our lessons in Respect. (It goes both ways y’all).
If you live as long as maw maw did, you don’t make it to Heaven unscathed. She had some hard times in her life. She endured things that some people would have tapped out on. But she never let it break her spirit. She still got up and poofed her hair, drew on her eyebrows, put on her lipstick and faced every day. And life pulled no punches when it came to maw maw.
Things got harder as she got older, she felt the pain of losing every sibling she had. She loved them all so dearly and she was the last surviving member of her immediate family. Just imagining how painful and isolating that can be is enough to bring anyone to their knees, let alone actually live through it. And the hits just kept coming. I know when we lost Paw Paw Willie, the love of her life and her daily companion, and then 9 years later to the day, Delaine, her oldest grandchild and our family’s favorite person ever, and then less than 6 months after that, Aunt Alice Faye, her last remaining sibling and her best friend (and our favorite aunt Face)….she lost a lot of spark with each of those blows. But she still endured. I think she would still be going if time and aging would have been more kind to her heart and her body. She served her time here as a good and faithful servant of the Lord and a loving and caring servant leader of our family. Those were our lessons in STRENGTH.
I think the lessons we have learned will remain in our family forever. Her blood is in our veins and her spirit is in our souls and her memory is in our hearts. And while she is in Heaven with Jesus, we are going to hang onto those things like the precious gems they are. We will see her again one day… and when we do she will probably want to make us a sandwich.
Terry Harris Carpenter
December 13, 2023 at 12:52 am
Mama was one in a million. She did not suffer fools gladly. She loved deeply and didn’t pull any punches when it came to her loved ones that had been “done wrong”. As she got older, I would ask her questions about her childhood and she would give me some funny stories, i.e. “Mama had an old cow that gave just about pure cream.” “Daddy’s bull got out and into the pasture of Felder’s and he tied that bull down.”
“Daddy when over there and let him have it” Mama’s nickname was “Coon” because she was always digging in his pockets for money. And of course she got it. Mama was his pet. Her older sister, Anna Belle said that when they were out working in the garden, Mama never had to. All she had to do was just bring Pawpaw Edgar water. Her “Party Squares” was always a big hit. Ronald Gene’s granddaughter Jade was know to lick the icing off every time. It wasn’t even a year ago that Mama said to me that we needed another baby to keep us all entertained. All the “Great-Grandbabies” were our little puppets that we taught to dance and sing. Mama, when the Lord made you, they threw away the mold. Interesting fact: Mama was born at home. The doctor couldn’t get there in time and she was delivered by “Aunt Caroline”.Scott who lived with her husbband “Uncle George” on Pawpaw’s farm and worked with him.