James Louis “Jimmy” Enderle, 84, passed away January 2, 2014, at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth, after a brief illness. He was born on January 27, 1929, to Pauline Metzke Enderle and Martin Frank Enderle. Jimmy graduated from St. Anthony High School in 1948 and attended St. Mary’s Seminary for two years. He joined the United States Army and was a veteran of the Korean War. After his military service, he was employed with United Gas Pipeline for a long service of thirty-four years, retiring from Entex in 1987.

Jimmy was born and raised in Beaumont and attended St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica for the majority of his life and recently became a member of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in China. Jimmy was a 4th Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus Council #951 and a member of the Beaumont Elks Lodge 311.  He worked along with other members of the St. Anthony Men’s Club cooking spaghetti, barbequing chickens, counting money, and any other general duties that the Men’s Club or the Church needed.  Jimmy volunteered numerous years with Some Other Place, cooking and delivering meals to senior citizens. He was an avid supporter of the Pro-Life Movement, Catholic Charities, and a blood donor with the Southeast Texas LifeShare Blood Center, donating at least seven gallons of blood before he could no longer give due to health reasons.

Jimmy passed along his strong moral values and belief of church and his Catholic faith to his children and grandchildren. He was always willing to listen to everyone, especially his children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews, but always reminded them where they came from and what their Catholic faith taught them.  We take comfort in knowing that he is no longer hurting and that he has been joined with his parents and siblings.

Jimmy is survived by his wife of fifty-seven years, Imogene; son, James Enderle and his wife, Melissa; daughter, Catherine Favre and her husband, James; grandsons, Cory Enderle, Scott Enderle, and Keith Favre; granddaughter, Julie Enderle Hartman; and great-grandchildren, Cason and Kinsley Hartman and Colt Enderle, all of Beaumont; sisters, Paula Enderle, O.P. of Houston and Barbara Harrison of Beaumont; and numerous nephews, nieces, and great-nephews and nieces.

He is preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Richard, Clarence, Wilbert, Edward, Reverend Monsignor Marvin Enderle and Reverend Monsignor Nester Enderle; and sisters, Helen Shelton, Dora Hillin, Pauline “Polly” Nash, Mary Jane Suppes, Fidelis Enderle, O.P., and Erna Norton.

A gathering of Mr. Enderle’s family and friends will begin at 4:00 p.m., with a Christian Vigil to follow at 6:00 p.m., Sunday, January 5, 2014, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m., Monday, January 6, 2014, at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 245 West Highway 90, China, with interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Beaumont.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Some Other Place, P.O. Box 843, Beaumont, Texas 77704.

Story about “Dad”

Dad or as we call him, Paw, was the 13th child in a family of fifteen; seven boys and eight girls and he was always known as the baby boy of the family, even at 84 years old, Dad was still being introduced as the baby brother.  Growing up there were many adventures that were held in the Amelia Area, which was on the outskirts of Beaumont back in the ‘30’s. One incident occurred resulting in one of the girls being shot in the foot. Dad told many stories of his childhood but I can clearly recall Dad and his siblings listening to his Mamma and aunts talking, in German, about another relative, so the kids would not understand what they were talking about. Dad attended St. Anthony School and graduated in 1948.  Dad’s nickname was “Juice”.  He received this nickname when he accidently swallowed a chew of tobacco and became sick. 

Dad played some football in high school but he quit because he had to hitch-hike from school to go home to milk the cows and feed the chickens and hogs and do all the boy chores, and since he was the” baby brother” and all his brothers had left home by this time, there was no-one to delegate the chores to and the girls were not allowed to do such tasks.  Dad did work, during high school, at a gas station that was located somewhere near the current location of College and Major Drive. Once out of school, he attended St. Mary Seminary in Houston for two years.  He decided that public speaking was not something that he would be capable of overcoming, but as everyone knows he did master the art of “preaching” to his wife, kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters, and friends. After the Seminary he chose to enlist in the United States Army. He was stationed in California during the Korean War. Dad wanted to be trained on weapons use, to be able to go overseas, but for whatever reason, this never happened and he never had to “fight” during the war. Once Dad was released from the Army he hitch-hiked again from California back to Texas. On this last hitch-hike home, which he planned to surprise his family, he told us that he was somewhere in West Texas walking and a vehicle passed him by, went down the road and turned around and was headed back to him.  When the vehicle passed the second time, he laid on the ground and hid. Once the vehicle passed, a Greyhound bus was coming down the highway and Dad stepped in front of the bus and made it stop and pick him up. Dad always wondered what may have happened to him if the bus would not have appeared when it did. We have always believed that this was God protecting him because if something would have happened to him, his family would have never known and the life he would build may not have happened.

Once he was back in Beaumont, he went to work at United Gas Pipeline and met our mother, Imogene. They married on May 13, 1956, and my brother was born in 1957.  Then I was born in 1962. I recall the family reunions and having the horseshoe tournaments in the backyard of Uncle Clarence and Aunt Ruth’s home. There are numerous memories of all the siblings sitting around either Aunt Polly and Uncle Nash or Aunt Dora and Uncle Curly’s kitchen table and once again “fussing” or preaching with the Enderle “gruff” about someone or something happened to a childhood friend, priest, nun, niece or nephew. Once the entire family grew, the family reunions were held at Msgr. Nester’s cabin at Holly Hill near Woodville.  There was lots of beer drinking and good fun and horseshoe tournaments.

During these years Dad worked at United Gas Pipeline which eventually became Entex at the time of his retirement in 1987, after thirty-four years of employment. During this time he was a construction foreman and at his retirement, construction supervisor. Dad made good friends with his co-workers and during his twenty-six years of retirement, the retirees would gather to have coffee in the food court at Parkdale Mall once a month until they began to pass away.  Out of the around twenty retirees, only about six are left to cherish the memories of the years of hard, and labor intensive work.

The grandchildren started to come in 1982 with Cory and even though my mother, my brother and I begged him to stop smoking, which he began around the age of 12. Cory was the one person that gave him the incentive to stop smoking. Scott followed in 1984 and Julie in 1987.  After he retired, he was able to have more time, more adventures and trips with them.  He would take the “boys” to the Monster Truck shows and if I recall a couple of Wrestling Matches at the Civic Center.  On one of the fishing trips, Scott recalls that Paw said the shrimp were too good to use as bait and should be fried and eaten. Keith came along in 1996 and Dad began his “career” as a babysitter twice a week for five years until Keith entered Kindergarten. These past few years, Keith and his Paw have had numerous discussions regarding politics, the presidency, congress, judicial issues, and social justice issues. Dad was a fan of Bill O’Reilly and Keith is not, so you can only imagine how these discussions would go.

Dad was an avid volunteer for Some Other Place, cooking or delivering food to homebound senior citizens. During his years as a member of St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica, he volunteered with the Men’s Club helping to BBQ chickens or working for the ladies on the St. Joseph’s Altar cooking the spaghetti noodles. He was also a money counter for St. Anthony’s for many years and for a time, he was on the adoration schedule at St. Anne’s and would sometimes relieve the 2:00 am or 3:00 am volunteers.

Dad was a 4th Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus Council #951 and a member of the Beaumont Elks Lodge 311.  After he retired, Dad took on the responsibility of rentals, cleanups, and general maintenance of the KC building.  I recall many Sunday mornings helping Dad and Mom clean-up the hall after a party and Dad always wanted you to use the mop in a certain manner, with long, slow movements back and forth.  Dad and Mom could also be found helping in the kitchen with any number of catering jobs that the KC members would work. You could always find Dad tending bar or working the concession stand at bingo or dances.

Dad was an avid supporter of the Pro-Life movement, Catholic Charities and the Southeast Texas LifeShare Blood Center. Before he quit giving blood due to health reasons, we know that he gave at least seven gallons of blood over the years. 

But most of all, Dad was a lifelong, die hard Catholic.  He passed along his faith, strong moral values, and dedicated work ethic to his children and grandchildren.  He was a faithful husband, a supportive father, and a caring grandfather.  Dad told me a few years back, that we could always count on our family to support us through any tough times, but I know that we can rely on our friends as well, so I thank you for being here with our family at this time.