Jean Audrey Hood

Jean Audrey Hood, née Cross, died peacefully on July 6, 2026 one month shy of her 98th birthday. With reliance upon core values of honesty, integrity and concern for her neighbor she deftly navigated nine decades of highlights, low points and daily living to craft a life of love, laughter, exploration and joy.

Her children and her grandchildren, who have inherited some of her finest qualities, may laugh as they recall unfiltered and outlandish comments their grandmother made during family gatherings in her later years, but they cannot deny her comfort in the spotlight.

Born in Brooklyn in 1928 and raised in Killingly, Connecticut, Jean came of age in a world shaped by the Depression and World War II. Her primary influences were her mother Frances Cross and her grandmother Margaret Donovan. They instilled in her values and traits that she would follow for the rest of her life. She was an independent and spirited child with a special gift: she could talk to anyone and connect with them. She liked people and they liked her. She preferred to be with others and to be noticed. At Killingly High School she honed a skill she would use her entire life — how to throw a fun party. The best parties were always at Jean’s house.

While attending Mount Holyoke College (Class of 1950) in Massachusetts her mother died of breast cancer. Twenty-one year old Jean was devastated. Mount Holyoke supported her emotionally and financially thru that difficult time and as a result, she was a proud loyal alumni, contributing what she could and attending reunion’s when she could.

After college she married Harry Garber, a Yale man and an aspiring insurance businessman. Harry would eventually occupy a C-suite office at Equitable Life Insurance. They lived in Manhattan and threw parties for their friends. It was a happy time, but within a few years, Jean fell in love with Bernard Appel, the handsome young son of her employer. When the Air Force sent Bernard to Hondo, Texas, Jean left Harry and said goodbye to the Northeast. They were married in 1956 in Big Springs, Texas. Bernard became a fighter pilot and Jean learned to thrive within the nomadic military lifestyle. They moved from Texas to Oklahoma, then on to California and Colorado, then back to Texas before moving to Hawaii, Wisconsin and Alabama. Everywhere they moved, Jean was quick to make life-long friends. Throughout her life, Jean made the effort to stay connected with family and friends scattered across the globe with frequent letters and phone calls. It was common to see her at her desk composing a letter or updating her address book.

Along the way she earned a graduate degree from the University of Colorado, became a high school English teacher and raised three children. In addition to hosting frequent cocktail parties for their adult friends, she added full featured children’s birthday parties with all the classic games like: bobbing for apples and pin the tail on the donkey.

When she divorced Bernard in 1975, Jean moved back to San Antonio, to the house on the north edge of East Terrel Hills they had purchased in 1959. To her lifelong astonishment, she would live there for the next five decades.

For 25 years she taught English to military personnel from all over the world at the Defense Language Institute on Lackland AFB. She cherished meeting these men, hearing their stories, and they responded in-kind. Thanksgiving at her home on more than one occasion resembled a general assembly of the United Nations.

Not long after returning to San Antonio, Jean met and married Kay Flach, a Dairy Rancher from Sisterdale, Texas. Their marriage only lasted a few years, but her love of the Texas Hill Country lasted much longer.

After her youngest child left home for college, Jean accepted an assignment to teach in Cairo for a year, where she made more friends. Somewhere near the Nile River she fell in love with her fourth husband, Keith B. Hood, who also worked at DLI. He was a younger man, but they were a perfect match and loved each other deeply. They shared the same values and aspirations and lived happily together for over forty years. After retirement they spent many wonderful hours together reading books, watching Masterpiece Theater, visiting museums, attending opera and symphony performances, discussing news of the day and visiting friends. She took up gardening and he became an accomplished amateur astronomer. Every year they hosted a renowned St. Patrick’s Day party. They traveled to Ireland, England, New England, New Mexico, North Dakota, and many more places, but they liked their days in San Antonio the best. Their small comfortable home was filled with souvenirs from all over the world.

In the last dozen years of Jean’s life as her mobility declined and her dementia increased, Keith became her devoted caregiver. It was a difficult job, but Keith stayed by her side until her last breath, fully dedicated to her comfort without regard to his own.

Jean is survived by her husband, Keith B. Hood; her three children, Susan Hulett, Sarah Horvath, and Robert Appel; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.