What should be said about my amazing friend and the TCECC Spiritual Director Jodie Windbigler? She wore many hats in her lifetime—teacher, pastor, volunteer, tutor as well as wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and countless others—so where is a good place to start? When I first met Jodie in 2012, I was struck by how infrequently she talked about herself, and now, in her passing, I realize that I don’t know much about the details of her life. That’s because, whoever she was encountering, that person was the focus…if you were with her, she turned the spotlight on you. Jodie has been described as a “Senior Spiritual Advisor,” and that description pretty much fits who she was to many of us.

She first appeared at a small Sunday School class that I was starting with a friend, and immediately I was intrigued with her plain speaking and forthright manner. Whatever else she was, she was authentic. As a retired Methodist minister, she brought a unique perspective to the class, but I think she preferred hearing what others had to say on the topics we covered. Our class was designed to be informal as we used The Upper Room devotionals to begin an open discussion. However, fairly quickly, Jodie announced one Sunday that she didn’t want to “just sit around and drink coffee”—she wanted to start her own class to “actually study God’s word.” And she did, taking some of our class members with her! Secretly, I wished I could have joined her class. Now, I wish I had.

Several years ago, when the position of Spiritual Director for the Emmaus Community needed to be filled, I approached her to see if she would be interested. I knew she loved ministering to others and all that meant—speaking, challenging, serving communion, and sometimes just being with others through “the ministry of presence.” I’m so glad she agreed, but it was still in her own way; she remarked to me without hesitation, “Now, I don’t want to promise that I’ll preside every month!” I told her that we’d work around that, and she was satisfied.

There are details about her life before coming to Arlington that I’ve only now learned from Facebook. Jodie was from Boerne, went to Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, and studied Drama and Speech at Southwestern University. She married John, a career Navy man, 59 years ago, was a teacher as a newlywed in Japan, and a “solo” mom during his time in Vietnam and throughout all his tours at sea. She attended seminary when her children were in high school and became the Reverend Jodie Windbigler. She loved the Texas Rangers and volunteered with the Texas Rangers women’s club. After beating cancer the first time, she worked for Mansfield ISD as an ISLE Paraprofessional (Individualized Structured Learning Environment); her special talent was working with young autistic students.

She’s been described as “Texas Tough.” I think Jodie was just being herself. We will miss her.

–Susan Bragg