Justine Deison

FORT WORTH -- Justine Calfee Deison passed away peacefully Monday, March 14, 2016. Graveside service: 11 a.m. Saturday in Cude Cemetery in Willis. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to All Saints' Episcopal Church in Fort Worth. She was born Nov. 30, 1936, in Liberty, the daughter of Benjamin Cullee Calfee and Alice Williams Calfee, a fourth-generation native of Montgomery County. She graduated with honors from Conroe High School in 1955 and received her bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Sam Houston State University where she graduated magna cum laude. Justine married R.A. "Mickey" Deison Jr. on Dec. 21, 1957. In 1960 they moved to Houston, where she taught and both their children, Dana and Michael, were born. Her family moved back to Conroe in 1967 with Justine returning to teach at Travis Junior High. Justine was active in supporting Mickey's public service career as chairperson and treasurer of his campaign when he became mayor of Conroe in 1971 and Montgomery County judge in 1977. She temporarily retired from teaching during this time and was an officer in the Conroe Service League, active in Delta Kappa Gamma, on the board of the Creighton Theater and the Conroe Arts Commission, and an elder and treasurer at First Presbyterian Church. Her marriage ended in 1982 and she returned to the Conroe public schools, where she loved teaching social studies in general and Texas history in particular. She subsequently won numerous awards and commendations for exemplary teaching. She is remembered through the Justine Deison History Award given annually at Peet Junior High School in Conroe. Justine retired from teaching in 2004 and moved to Fort Worth to be near her daughter's family. She was an active member of All Saints' Episcopal Church, the Lecture Foundation and the Ray Reimer Bible Class. She will be missed by many for her generous and gentle spirit as a teacher, friend, volunteer, sister, mother, aunt and most recently as Mimi to her five grandchildren. Justine's family would like to thank the staff of the Stayton in Fort Worth for their care of Justine over the last six weeks. Survivors: A loving family, including her daughter, Dana Deison Porter and her husband, David, and their sons, William, Andrew and David Jr., of Fort Worth; son, Michael Deison and his wife, Tracie, and their children, Erin and Ray, of Austin; and brother, Carl Hampton Quebedeaux and his wife, Jane, of Kingwood and their daughters, Kaylynn Quebedeaux Williford and Leigh Anne Quebedeaux Moore.