AUSTIN - Ethel Louise Colbert McDaniel passed away peacefully Feb. 17, 2023, in Austin. She was born in 1933 in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. She and her four siblings were raised primarily in the lush greenery of western Oregon then on the hardscrabble of West Texas. There, at the young age of 18, she met and married the gregariously charming Garden City boy, Claude McDaniel.
In the first few years of their marriage they had their two eldest children, Steve and Sherry. Eight years later came the happy accident, Jeff. Although Claude and Ethel came from families who, like so many others, struggled financially, they were determined to do better. They both believed, but Ethel was adamant, that education was the key to success.
To realize their dreams of a better life, Claude worked in the oil production industry and later in real estate and homebuilding. She worked alongside him in the real estate and homebuilding businesses while at the same time being mother, caregiver and role model to her three children. She still found time for her other passions including ceramics, bridge, and friends. However, her real love, other than her family, was reading. As a voracious reader she was a member of several book clubs and became a library assistant at Fretz Park Library in Dallas.
Her strong belief in education was passed on to her three children, all of whom have advanced degrees. She then passed this love of education on to her grandchildren whom she and Claude encouraged and sometimes helped them achieve their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Even though she is gone, that love of education will undoubtedly be passed on to her great-grandchildren.
She was a woman of intelligence who possessed a compassionate and nurturing nature towards her family and to those around her. Her smile was contagious and her concern for others was genuine.
She is survived by her three adoring children and their spouses: Steve and Beth McDaniel, Sherry and Gary Johnson, and Jeff and Lori McDaniel along with seven grateful grandchildren and five smart, beautiful great-granddaughters. She is also survived by her younger brother, Phillip, his wife Margie and their son, Michael.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Claude McDaniel, and by her brothers, Ron and Jesse Colbert, and soulmate sister, June Chapel.
A Remembrance Memorial will take place at Synagogue Agudas Achim on Apr. 21 at 10:30 AM, Rabbi Neil Blumofe presiding.