Gail Ruth Vorhoff Miranda

Gail Ruth Vorhoff Miranda

Gail was born on July 8, 1940 to Carl and Ruth Vorhoff in New Orleans, LA.  Gail was the first of the Vorhoff children. Sister Carol followed a year later. They lived on Jasmine Street in the Gentilly section of New Orleans around the corner from her beloved Gauma and Papa, as well as near Mommie and Phops on Bienville St. close to City Park. Her father worked as a shoe salesman for Bakers Shoes. As a child, Gail enjoyed spending time with her grandparents in New Orleans. She had a particular memory of combing her grandfather’s hair. This always struck family members as so typical of her that she enjoyed dressing up and making things pretty. She and Carol also loved spending the day with Papa in the french market while he was working. The dynamic duo relished being the little darlings of the market place. In 1946, Gail started elementary school at St. James Major, just a few blocks from home. Throughout her life, New Orleans remained a favorite place for Gail and inspired her love of cooking using all the eclectic flavors of the city.

Gail moved to Baton Rouge around 1948 where her Daddy, Carl was manager at the new Baker Shoe Store. The family expanded to include brothers Carl in 1949 and Don in 1953. Gail’s children would later have fond memories of visiting Gail’s family home on St. Katherine Street.  The Vorhoff children attended the neighborhood Catholic school, St Gerard, and then went on to attend Redemptorist High School. In high school, Gail was a cheerleader, and she loved to dance to the fabulous fifties rock’n roll. She recalled going to dances to see famed Fats Domino, Little Richard, John Fred and the Playboys, Jimmy Clanton and Dave Bartholomew. After graduating from high school, she attended Louisiana State University in 1958. In her freshman year at LSU, she was nominated for homecoming queen as a member of the homecoming court.

The Baker Shoe store shared a common wall with the Brunswick Restaurant where young Bill Miranda tended bar at his father’s restaurant. During their high school and college years, Gail and sister, Carol were frequent visitors to their father’s shoe store and to the Brunswick. The two sisters looked and dressed so much alike in their Catholic school uniforms that Bill at first thought they were the same person. The display window of the photo studio next door to the Brunswick featured a portrait of a beautiful young woman. When Bill asked the photographer about the model for the portrait, he learned it was Carl’s daughter from the shoe store and thus the love story began. The couple courted for a year and married on August 29, 1959. That began a loving marriage that would grow and flourish for 57 years.

At first, Bill and Gail lived in a duplex in Baton Rouge owned by Bill’s parents, Vince and Ruby Miranda, while he finished his last 9 credit hours of his Forestry degree at LSU. Upon his graduation, Gail remained in Baton Rouge while Bill traveled to Honduras for two months to estimate timber for the Honduran government. Although the separation was difficult for this young married couple, the Honduras job paid $30 a day, which was a princely sum in 1960. Upon his return, Bill and Gail moved to Fort Sill, OK so Bill could serve out his active military duty in the Army. 

The next stop for the young couple was Jasper, Texas. First, Bill worked for Newport Industries acquiring pine distillates and then as a district forester for the Southwestern Timber Company. Though a small town, Jasper had much to offer the young couple. Gail set about putting down roots for the family and made friends with wives of Bill’s co-workers and their neighbors. Gail enjoyed playing bridge with friends and caring for her growing family. While in Jasper, Bill and Gail had three children: Bill Jr, Linda, and Jeff. Bill and Linda were born at the local hospital in Jasper. But Jeff was born during the landfall of Hurricane Betsy in a Baton Rouge hospital.  While she labored with child, the nuns who worked in the hospital as nurses gathered to watch the approaching storm from the window of her room.

Gail expanded her horizons and attended the Apollo 14 Launch at Cape Kennedy in Florida in 1971, hobnobbing with Astronaut Jim McDivit and his wife Pat, Texas Governor Preston Smith, and singer Robert Goulet. She also went to Mexico and attended a bullfight where a famous Spanish Matador selected her out of a crowd and dedicated the bull to her. Instead of customarily presenting the ear, he gave her a beautiful red rose. As Bill’s job responsibilities grew to include public relations and the development of Rayburn Country, Gail was an active participant in social activities at the Rayburn Country development. It was during this time, that Gail’s sister, Carol, along with her young son, Allen moved to Jasper while her husband was in Korea and the dynamic duo was reunited once again. The pair would drop the kids off at preschool and then endure nine holes of golf to only be greeted with daiquiris and lunch before having to zip back to pick the kids up from school. While there is surely more to this story, what happens in Rayburn stays in Rayburn. The children however, have fond memories of spending time as a family at the Rayburn Country Club, swimming and playing golf with their plastic clubs.

When Bill’s company merged with Temple Industries, Bill and Gail moved to the larger city of Beaumont, TX on Valentine’s Day in 1974. Ivy Lane was a great place for the young family.  Not only were the Sallie Curtis Elementary School and Marshall Junior High close by, but there were about 18 children on the block that were close in age. It was a safe place for the children to play outside games of kick-the-can, whiffle ball and football with the neighbor kids. 

Bill and Gail made life-long friendships with neighbors such as the Broussard, Cokinos, Verret, Farnsworth and Heilman families. It was a fortunate twist when Katherine and General Mike Cokinos, who had been Bill’s commanding officer in the Army Reserve, became their across-the-street neighbors on Ivy Lane.

It was around this time, that Bill and Gail decided to study real estate together and take the real estate broker exams. Gail excelled on the exam and both she and Bill became licensed brokers.  Gail decided that she would like to begin selling real estate and she became an agent for the DuPerior Real Estate in Beaumont. Bill and Gail worked together on many transactions even before it was common for real estate agents to work as teams. The children were also sometimes drafted into service to help her measure homes and sit at open houses. Gail enjoyed selling real estate, but eventually gave it up to spend more time with her teenage children.

Cooking was always one of Gail’s passions. She inherited from her mother a love for cooking. Gail mastered the flavors of her New Orleans heritage: gumbo, étouffée, and jambalaya. She also enjoyed making Italian dishes in honor of her mother’s Italian heritage. One of Gail’s favorite dishes to make and consume were stuffed artichokes. These were a family favorite and the flair with which she prepared and presented them were a reminder that Gail was very special. Gail loved recipes, and she was always eager to share her recipes and gather recipes from friends and family. Handwritten note cards with her beautiful script could frequently be found in her kitchen with her latest find.

Gail was a very patient and loving mother. Motherhood was a passion more than a duty for Gail. Her children learned to love God, love Mom and Dad, work hard at school work, and be respectful of others. Gail took charge of homework time and made sure that every child did their best. From the way that Gail talked about her children and would later recall stories about their childhood, it was always abundantly clear that Gail enjoyed being a mother and took delight from the time that she spent with her children.

A family driving trip from Beaumont to Disney Land in California is a particularly strong memory.  It’s a long way to California in a car with three kids, particularly after a stop in El Paso to visit sister Carol’s family and a dinner in Juarez, Mexico that resulted in Montezuma getting his revenge.  Along the way, the family stopped at Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. 

The beach was also a favorite place for Gail and the family. They made trips to Florida to stay on Santa Rosa Island near Fort Walton Beach with aunts, uncles and cousins. In 1982, Bill and Gail bought a beach cabin on Crystal Beach with two other families. The beach house became a favorite gathering place for the family during the summer. Almost every trip to the beach would include a trip on the ferry to Galveston Island to eat at Gail’s favorite seafood restaurant, Gaidos.

The next many years would be punctuated by graduations, moving kids to and from college, weddings and baptisms as Gail’s children left the nest and started their adult lives. On visits home during the holidays, Bill and Gail would delight in their children and grandchildren. Bill made sure the children would learn to fish, play golf and games like ping pong and horseshoes, while Gail would feed everyone and dress up the girls in cute little outfits.

As empty nesters, Bill and Gail enjoyed the company of their Beaumont friends. South Padre Island also became a favorite get-away. In addition, several Beaumont restaurants also came to know Bill and Gail as regulars, especially Floyd’s Seafood and Carrabba’s Italian Grill. 

Gail will be remembered as a loving mother, a devoted wife and a faithful follower of Christ. We, her family, welcome you to help us continue her memory by sharing your favorite stories about Gail with us and with each other. We were blessed to have her in our lives.

Gail is survived by her husband, William F. “Bill” Miranda, of Beaumont; children, William F. “Bill” Miranda, Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth, of Richardson; Linda Miranda Gaudio and her husband, Mark, of Scottsdale, Arizona; and Jeffery G. Miranda, of Austin; grandchildren, Meredith, Hillary, Zachary, Trey, Chase, and Christopher; and siblings, Carol Daniels and her husband, Carl, of The Woodlands; Carl S. Vorhoff, Jr. and his wife, Stephanie, of Union, Kentucky; and Don Vorhoff and his wife, Dawn, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

A Rosary for Mrs. Miranda will be recited at 5:00 p.m., with her gathering to follow until 8:00 p.m., Friday, November 18, 2016, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, November 19, 2016, at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, 6825 Gladys Avenue, Beaumont. Her interment will follow at Magnolia Cemetery, Beaumont.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, Texas 77210 or to Some Other Place, P.O. Box 843, Beaumont, Texas 77704.