Josephine Mikeska

Josephine Mikeska of Longview died Oct. 6 at the age of 93 at Highland Pines Nursing Center in Longview. Her funeral Mass is scheduled for Oct. 9 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary?s Catholic Church in Longview. Visitation with the family will begin at 6 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Rader Funeral Home in Longview, followed by a Rosary at 7PM at the funeral home. Interment will follow funeral services at Rosewood Park Cemetery, Longview. Mrs. Mikeska, the daughter of Jacob and Josephine Bernauer Wernet, was born in Waco on March 19, 1917. She attended Sacred Heart Academy in Waco and began playing the violin as a child. She graduated from Waco High School in1934. She received a business degree and worked as a bookkeeper for a Waco insurance company before she married. She also studied music at Baylor University and was a violinist with the Baylor Symphony Orchestra. Later in life, she played first violin with the Longview Symphony Orchestra for 15 years. An avid artist, she shared her artwork with her family. She loved working in her yard and her home. She was an organic gardener long before it became popular. She was a homemaker and the beloved wife of the late Marvin Mikeska, a Longview homebuilder and civic leader. Mrs. Mikeska especially loved the years before their seven Mikeska children left home. When she was younger, she was active in the Catholic church. She enjoyed preparing children for their First Communions and taught religious education classes. She was a member of St. Anthony?s and later St. Mary?s Church in the Alter Society, the Ladies Guild and the Catholic Daughters. Josephine Mikeska and her husband were members of the Papal Knights of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. In 1988, she and her husband had an audience with Pope John Paul II during a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land with the Holy Sepulchre. Survivors include two daughters and their husbands, Jeanie and Paul Folzenlogen of Longview, and Elaine and Ron Jackson of Lufkin, four living sons and their wives, David and Glenda Mikeska of Austin, Marvin and Martha Mikeska of Burke, Va., Brian and Mary Mikeska of Austin, and Michael Mikeska of Austin, and the late Tony Mikeska, 18 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren, a sister, Catherine Morris of California, and a number of nieces and nephews. Her sons and sons-in-law will serve as pallbearers at the funeral. Internment will be at Rosewood Cemetery. The family is thankful to the third floor nursing staff at Highland Pines Nursing Center, especially J.J. Strong, Vickie Townzen, and Wanda Davis, for their excellent care. Memorials may be sent to the Longview Junior League Sustainers? Scholarship, St. Mary?s School in Longview, Longview Symphony, or the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin.

Josephine Mikeska

March 19, 1917 - October 6, 2010