Elizabeth Diane Kalinec's Obituary
Mrs. Elizabeth Diane (Kahanek) Kalinec, age 78, of Montgomery, Texas, passed away
peacefully on Holy Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. She was born in Richmond, Texas on February 4, 1948, to Mr. Eugene D. Kahanek who preceded her in death in 1974, and Mrs. Francis M (Mazoch) Kahanek who preceded her in death in 2012.
Elizabeth leaves a loving husband, William, sons Brian of Montgomery, Texas, and Matthew (Jennifer) of Frisco, Texas, grandsons, Ethan and Tristan Kalinec, and many nieces and nephews.
Elizabeth graduated from Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, Texas in 1965 and subsequently graduated from Massey Business School in Houston. Texas. She went to work at Texaco Inc. in the historical “Texaco Building” in downtown Houston, Texas, in 1967 in the Comptrollers Department, Oil and Gas Division, as Executive Secretary to Harold Bryson, Division Head. There she met her future husband, William Kalinec in 1968 and they were married on February,16, 1969 in Ammansville, Texas. Virtually, every co-worker attended her wedding, traveling over 100 miles from Houston, which spoke of the love and friendship each of them had for her. She worked at Texaco until a few months prior to the birth of her first son Brian in June of 1971. She then became a “stay at home mom”. Elizabeth suffered a devastating life event in February 1974 when her father, Eugene, who she dearly loved, passed away from ALS. Her second son, Matthew, was born in November of 1974.
Elizabeths very early years were spent on the family farm In Ammansville. She often spoke about waking up at 4 to 4:30 in the morning to gather the cows for milking, walking down the dirt road in the dark to catch the school bus, the small school house in Dubina, St. Rose School in Schulenburg, and Holy Rosary Catholic in Rosenberg. There are beautiful pictures of her as a small child, in a pretty white dress, in the 1950s era processions to/from the Grottos and Mayfests. She grew into a beautiful young woman with a radiant smile and was a cheerleader and FFA Sweetheart in High School. She often talked about two of her girlfriends from that period, Anna and Gracie.
Elizabeth enjoyed being a young mom and made many friends in the Nottingham Country and Fleetwood neighborhoods. She enjoyed working as a teacher's aide for a number of years and accompanying Brian and Matt to their sporting pursuits, at various times, soccer, track, football, baseball, basketball, and golf. She never missed an event they were participating in unless they conflicted and she then rushed from one to the other. Elizabeth was a very good athlete and a particularly good tennis player. She would have been a multi-sport letterwoman in a different era. After high school, both sons entered Texas Tech University and she, thereafter, became a big Red Raiders fan. She traveled alone to Lubbock many times in her big red Suburban and had the confidence to take on any task. Eventually, the grandchildren came and she had the good fortune to spend a great deal of time with Ethan, the first born. She never missed any of his sporting events if she was in Plano/Frisco. She truly looked forward to his baseball games, both travel ball and then high school baseball. His sports banquets were a highlight. He was definitely her shining light. Tristan then came along and she enjoyed reading to him, watching him play Minecraft (as he explained it to her), playing Mario Brothers and drawing. She was looking forward to the same experiences with Tristan she had with Ethan. Both gave her energy and that drive to keep going.
Elizabeth had great mechanical skills, could have been a Mechanical Engineer and had a natural curious mind. As noted above, she was an excellent athlete, horsewoman, artist, and could think and draw three dimensionally. She enjoyed playing dominoes and teaching her grandsons. She enjoyed both attending and watching the Astros, Red Raiders, and the Texans. She loved all animals, particularly her horse Dolly who would bend for her, horse Apache, her faithful dogs and companions over time, Brandy, Dutchess, Bandit, Raider, Princess and Bella. She was up for anything with never a complaint including driving straight through from Quantico, Virginia, to Houston Texas, with two young children. A lasting memory was attending game 6 of the 2022 World Series with Brian, Matt, and Ethan. The Astros beat the Phillies 4-1 to win it all.
Her weekend home on Lake Conroe was her favorite respite. While one of the first on the lake in 1975, she alone found her dream home on the water in 1981. She loved fishing, always had a line in the water, having friends over, and just relaxing and enjoying. Zipping around on her John Deere lawn tractor was a sight to behold and a scene her neighbors enjoyed. She could string a weed eater in nothing flat. She loved the family trips to Disneyland and Disneyworld. The boys often took friends, and these trips were some of her fondest memories. She accompanied her husband Bill on many business trips and New York City was her favorite destination. In addition to the Broadway shows, visiting Central Park, staying at the Plaza, and having dinner at a nice restaurant (while it was snowing) were memorable. Wahington D.C. was next with the various Monuments, Memorials, and Arlington Cemetery, and lastly, San Francisco with Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, and other
scenes.
Elizabeth was truly unique in many ways. She was the kindest, sweetest, most loyal person and never spoke ill of anyone. She was proud of who she was, proud of her heritage, proud to have grown up on a farm, and proud of her family (sons and grandsons). Like many who have experienced the same fate, the relatively early loss of her father, who she adored, and seeing him suffer as he did, had a lasting impact on her. She never forgot him and would regularly speak about him up until the day she passed. She is now at rest with her Dad but her family misses her so much. As Lou Gehrig said in his famous retirement speech, her husband considers himself the “luckiest man on the face of the earth” to have spent 57 years with her.
A Funeral Mass will be held at St John the Baptist Catholic Church, (Ammansville, Texas) 7745 Mensik Rd. La Grange, Texas, 78945, on Friday, May 15, 2026, at 11 am. Visitation will begin at 9:30 am at the Church followed by Rosary at 10:30 am. Interment will follow in the Church Cemetery
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