2025 Recently Departed

Born: June 26, 1936 / Deceased: December 4, 2025

Born: September 4, 1936 / Deceased: December 4, 2025

Born: October 5, 1934 / Deceased: November 15, 2025

Maureen Ann Griffin Bouffard passed away peacefully on November 15, 2025. She was born on October 5, 1934, in Hartford, CT, as the first child to Marguerite and Maurice Griffin. Maureen graduated from Whitefish Bay High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, in 1952 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a BS in Education in 1956. At the University of Wisconsin, she was a member of the Concert Choir and Chi Omega Sorority. She later earned her MLA from Houston Baptist University in Houston, TX. Maureen was a high school English teacher in Green Bay, WI. Her principal set her up on a blind date with Larry Bouffard, and they married in Whitefish Bay, WI, on February 8, 1958, then moved directly to San Antonio, TX. When they got off the plane in San Antonio, they were amazed by the warm temperature of 70 degrees - it had been 30 degrees when they left Whitefish Bay! They loved living in San Antonio, and their first three children were born there: Suzanne, Steven, and Mary Claire. Larry and Maureen moved to Houston in 1964, and Houston was their home ever since. Their youngest two children, Andrew and Kathryn, were born in Houston. After Suzy was born, Maureen stayed home to raise her five children. She returned to the classroom in 1969 as a teacher at Spring Woods High School. She worked with ESL students and taught speed reading. Maureen and a colleague started a successful tutoring business, “Texas Tutoring” to help students improve their vocabulary score on the SAT. After retiring from Spring Woods High School, Maureen taught at Houston Baptist University. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, Serra Club, and Order of the Holy Sepulcher. She was also active in the Spring Woods HS Retired Teachers Association. She was a lifelong practicing Catholic and was an active member of St. Cecilia’s parish from 1964-1995 and Christ the Good Shepherd parish from 1995-until 2022. Maureen sang in the choir and led several scripture study classes over the years. Maureen loved to travel, and in addition to countless trips to visit family in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Idaho, she also visited Rome, Alaska, Mexico, Ireland, and Canada. Our mom was gregarious and kind-hearted. She never met a stranger and used to embarrass her children by stopping people in the grocery store to guess where they were from based on their accent! Mom had a beautiful soprano voice and sang in many choirs over the years as well as singing at many of her friends’ weddings. Her love for singing started at an early age, and she loved telling stories about how she, her mom, and sister used to sing together while doing the dishes. Earlier this year, Suzy found a recording of Maureen, her mother, and her sister singing songs from their childhoods and she played it for Maureen. Maureen immediately started singing along with the first song. Mom was well known for her quick wit, loyal friendship, devout faith, and love for her family. She was a devoted Astros fan and followed sports news for Spring Woods High School and the University of Wisconsin. She and our dad made an effort to be present for life’s events for friends and family. She attended her children's and grandchildren's Baptisms, First Holy Communions, Confirmations, swim meets, scouting events, ball games, hockey games, dance recitals, plays, performances, graduations, weddings, and so forth. We kids often told them both that they got an ‘A’ for attendance. Mom was a loving partner to our dad for 64 and a half years, and was a true example to all of us as a devoted spouse, supportive parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, and woman of faith.

Born: November 19, 1953 / Deceased: September 27, 2025

Born: June 18, 1948 / Deceased: September 26, 2025

Born: April 19, 1943 / Deceased: October 2, 2025

Bill Sparks was born in Rahway, New Jersey on April 19, 1943 to William and Adeline Sparks. He grew up with his sister Jacquelyn Coy and brother Richard Sparks. He attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey earning a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Geology. After finishing his degrees, he moved to Texas with the love of his life, Grace. Bill met his wife of 60 years, Grace Limoli, through his friend Ron, Grace’s brother, when they were just 12 and 13 years old. They married on June 13, 1965 and had three daughters. Bill was employed by Exxon Corporation for 32 years. The Sparks family moved around frequently, even including an overseas assignment in Indonesia. During these transitions, Bill and Grace continued their warm, generous friendships with everyone they met along the way. Always the constant throughout their lives was their special annual trips to the cabin in Maine with their family. The cabin has been a special gathering place for great food (lobstah), homemade pies, swimming, campfires, playing cards and the retelling of funny stories. Everyone who knew Bill knew he was an extremely intelligent conversationalist, animated and passionate about many things and an avid fossil collector. He was an excellent geologist earning him a successful career as well as many exciting explorations with Grace. He loved adventure, drinking very strong coffee, leftover-snacking, and high on the list – living side by side with his cherished dogs. He was often found outside splitting wood for the fire, and his seasonal claim to fame-transforming the landscape into a Christmas wonderland of lights. We have been blessed to have him for 82 years and will miss him every day. He is preceded in death by his mother Adeline, father William and siblings Jackie and Dick. He is survived by his loving wife Grace, 3 daughters, Deborah Sparks Frank, Michelle Sparks Kershner (Steve Kershner), Christina Sparks Blackshear (Victor Bratcher), 6 grandchildren, Nicole Angelique Frank (Luis Becerra), William Bernhardt Frank, Dean Richard Blackshear, Adeline Grace Kershner, Ryan Angier Kershner and Emily Grace Blackshear, 1 great granddaughter, Elaine Grace Becerra and his canine companion, Daisy.

Born: October 11, 1944 / Deceased: October 4, 2025

Born: February 25, 1952 / Deceased: September 18, 2025

Born: March 28, 1978 / Deceased: August 30, 2025

Paul was a loving person who strived to be good and to do good. His smile was a constant fixture and was wide enough to light up any room. Paul was very shy, but he worked to overcome that shyness. He would walk up to any one he didn’t know, extend his hand and say, “Hi - Paul Bodman” and try to engage in a conversation on his comfortable topics of trains, Astros, Aggies, and weather (usually forecasting rain). He loved the outdoors, especially camping in the family camper; steam railroads, particularly the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad in Chama, NM where he worked as a volunteer one summer; and anything that was a working mechanism like his windmill and pinwheels. He was keenly observant of nature, finding caterpillars for our butterfly hut, new plant sprouts in the garden, and fruit and vegetables ready for harvest or that needed to “grow bigger”, spiders and their webs, tadpoles that are changing to frogs and toads. He shared all this with anyone he could. He was very kind and loving; he would frequently point out a spray of flowers in the garden or in the wild and tell his mother, “Flowers for you”. He loved all animals. His first impulse when meeting a new animal was to reach out to caress. He Really Loved babies and toddlers, and always asked them to smile. He was quick to notice things that were broken, worn, or out of place and needing repair or replacement. He always let us know when phones needed recharging, batteries needed replacing, air filters needed changing, and car fuel tanks needed filling. He marveled at all of nature, regarding storms and rain with a mix of fascination and trepidation. He appointed himself the family meal planner, suggesting dinners from what we had in the pantry and freezer. Every meal included salad with lots of Italian dressing. His favorite meal was spaghetti and meatballs, though he often lobbied for “yummie steaks”. On trips to the library Paul would bring home cookbooks and state books that he would use for planning family meals and vacations. His favorite toys were skunks, Batman, and He Man action figures. Paul enjoyed and was very good at working puzzles. Paul was extremely close to his brothers, Mark and Robbie, spending countless hours with them watching movies (especially Mister Rogers, Batman, and He Man), listening to sports, mostly Astros baseball and Texas A&M Aggies football games, as well as engaged in their own games of “Marty Maxwell”, “He-Man”, “Yats”, and “Bonk”. His favorite movie was Lady and the Tramp, specifically how Tramp protected Lady and was eventually loved and adopted by Lady’s family. Paul and his brothers would collapse in gales of laughter at body noises, or even the mere mention of them. He often conspired with his brothers to get us to go through the local car wash. He enjoyed softball and social gatherings with the Legends, urging Coach B to dance like Orbit every time he came up to bat. The sweetest sound in our house was the joyful chatter between the brothers when all three got home from being apart at their respective individual outside activities. Now there will be one less voice in that beautiful cacophony. Paul was a person of few words, but the words he said had far deeper meaning than just what they were. His words conveyed that he knew who you were, he cared about you, and he wanted to connect with you and you with him. Anyone who Paul got to know well was asked if they snored, and women would often receive the compliment “I like your hair”, which was he way of telling you he liked you. He had deep respect for anyone who could read, a personal goal of his that was not completely mastered. He loved to hug and be hugged. He often asked about his aunts and uncles and cousins and their children whom he all knew by name. Paul was a special Catholic. He had a deep reverence for the Mass and a special connection to the True Presence in the Holy Eucharist. When he was young he exclaimed “there’s Jesus” and asked his mother to feel his heart as it raced upon seeing the Holy Eucharist at Consecration. At the introduction to the Epistle during Mass when the reader would proclaim a reading from St. Paul, Paul would say “That’s me.” During family rosary he led an abbreviated version of the second decade and always added the invocation after the “Hail Holy Queen” prayer, “St. Joseph, Protector of the Church, pray for us”. Paul was born March 28, 1978 in Wharton, Texas to Michael Paul Bodman and Virginia Evelyn Bodman. He was baptized in the Catholic faith at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Bay City, Texas on May 6, 1978, received his First Holy Communion June 7, 1987, and confirmed at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Robstown, Texas in May, 1992. He was a lifelong Texan having lived in Bay City, Carrollton, Corpus Christi (Calallen), Grapevine, and Spring, Texas. He died August 30, 2025 in the family home in Spring, Texas. Although he graduated from Grapevine High School in 2000, he considered himself a Calallen Wildcat (the majority of his school years were in Calallen) and a Texas Aggie (he had a family of Texas A&M graduates and his Grammy and Papa lived in College Station). Paul attended the day program at Bridgewood Farms in Conroe the last 20 years where he had several friends. We, his parents, feel honored and humbled to have been selected by God to be Paul’s parents. We marveled at his achievements when others said he could not, but still encouraged him to strive for more. We were worried about who would love, cherish, and care for Paul when we could not; well, God answered by revealing His plan. We will miss Paul deeply until we meet again.

Born: December 10, 1934 / Deceased: August 22, 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Mr. John Look Fong. Mr. Look Fong, aged 90, passed away peacefully on August 22, 2025 at his daughter’s residence. He was born to Look Hong Chin and Oun Leo Yuen in Canton, China on December 10, 1934. John lived a long and meaningful life devoted to his family and his craft. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, whose quiet strength and unwavering dedication left a lasting impression on all who knew him.

John was a master in the kitchen, serving as the head chef at Kapok hotel, a prestigious hotel and restaurant in Trinidad, where his skills, creativity, and leadership inspired many. His dishes were a reflection of his heart: thoughtful, generous, and full of tradition. He was known not only for his culinary talents, but for the kindness and mentorship he extended to those around him. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Yvonne; his three sons, Ewing, Kong Wing, and You Wing; and his son-in-law, David. Despite these deep losses, John remained a pillar of strength and love for his family. John is survived by his loving children: Lorraine and her husband Antonio, Kim Wing, Coreen, Sterling and his wife Susan, and Aldrin and his wife Natalie. He also leaves behind 19 grandchildren: Joshua, Sue Yen, Jim, Matthew, Annlyn, Gregory, Kevin, Sebastian, Danielle, Jessie, Khelsie, Christian, Gabrielle, Christi, Caitlin, Sydney, Brandon, Kyle, and Paige, and 13 great-grandchildren. The family would like to extend a special thanks to John's close friends Mildred (Mariah) Le Blanc, and Margaret Merz for their unwavering love and support to him and his family. He will be lovingly remembered for his generosity, wisdom, and gentle spirit. His legacy lives on through his children, grandchildren, great-grand, and all who had the privilege of knowing him. He will be deeply missed and forever cherished.

Mary Louise (Marylou) Kasowski Spencer passed away peacefully at home on July 30, 2025 days after her 88th Birthday and her 59th Wedding Anniversary. She was a loving and giving Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Sister and Aunt. Marylou was born in Marlin, TX, the daughter of Stash and Flora (Wisnewski) Kasowski. The family soon moved to Houston where she would remain with homes in The Houston Heights, Spring Branch, Jersey Village and Spring. She was a 1955 graduate of Incarnate Word Academy where she made lifelong friendships and developed her strong catholic faith. Marylou enjoyed traveling and together with her husband David they visited Hawaii (twice), Germany, Tahiti, Maine, and Colorado (her favorite destination), along with other locations and numerous cruises. Marylou spent over 20 years working for U.S. Customs. Afterwards she spent years working with her husband at the Robbins-Dean Co. and Castle Homes. She later worked with her son at The Harvey Co. before her much-deserved retirement. Marylou was pre-deceased by her Parents, Stash and Flora (Wisnewski) Kasowski, In-Laws Walter and Trudy (Purdy) Spencer and Sister In-Law Ann Spencer. She is survived by her loving Husband David Spencer, Son Darrell Deschensky (Wife Jennifer), Daughter Melissa Buffa (Husband Phillip), Granddaughter Alexandria Deschensky, Brother Edward Kasowski (Wife Loretta), Nieces and Nephews. The Family would like to extend sincere thanks to her home care team, Nurse Haley, and caregivers Laura and Sheila, that were present as she struggled thru kidney and heart disease. Their Kindness and Support was a blessing to our family.