Theba Jean Feldman

Theba Jean (Gold) Feldman died peacefully, surrounded by her family, on April 25, 2023, at the age of 89. She was a native Houstonian, born on January 10, 1934, to Ella (Cohen) Gold and Irving J. Gold. She graduated from San Jacinto High School and went on to the University of Oklahoma. It was at OU that she met Melvin “Buster” Feldman at the wedding of a mutual friend in 1953. They were married the day after Christmas in 1954. They spent 65 wonderful years together, before Buster passed away in 2020. Theba lived an active life. She took up tennis, learned to ski, loved to ride bikes, and when personalized license plates ﬁrst became available, she had “JOGGER”. Theba & Buster took an annual ski trip, along with their good friends Leah & Billy Schultz, starting in the early 1960s. And age didn’t slow her down. She was still skiing, going to Pilates, and counting steps (at least 10,000 every day!), well into her 80s. Buster & Theba loved to travel, and over their lifetimes, visited six of the seven continents. They biked Ireland, hiked Italy, drove New Zealand, cruised the Arctic Circle, safari thru Africa and so much more. Their love of Aspen led them to rent a place for the summer starting in 1983. And each year their grandchildren would visit, creating a love for Aspen across three generations. In 1996, they bought their own place and made Aspen their second home, spending most of the year in their "happy place". Summers and winters were busy hiking, biking, skiing, as their house ﬁlled with visiting family & friends. Some of her favorite memories are having a house full of grandkids every summer. She also volunteered with the US Forest Service as a forest ranger. Her Jewish heritage was important to her. She was the ﬁrst female to be Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanu El in 1947. In 1978, she visited the Soviet Union and celebrated Shabbos with Jewish Refuseniks. She was President of the Jewish Community Center for two years in the 1980s. And combining her love of sports and Judaism, she was the organizer and chairwoman of the ﬁrst ever JCC Senior Olympics in 1989. And just this year, the JCC named its new ﬁtness center the “Theba & Buster Feldman Family Fitness Center”. She was the youngest of three children and was preceded in death by her sister and brother-in-law Torchie & William Reingold, and her brother and sister-in-law Robert & Clara Gold. She is survived by her three children, son Stuart Feldman and wife Sherry, daughter Lori Kamins and husband Steven, and son Howard Feldman and wife Beverly. She is also survived by her six grandchildren, Justin Schultz and Will Hunt Lewis, Lindsay and Jason Kramer, Mitchell and Brynne Feldman, Melissa and Ben Mains, Daniel Feldman, and Brooke and Jeﬀrey Wise, and her six great- grandchildren, William Kramer, Ethan Kramer, Fox Mains, Theo Mains, Blake Wise and Dylan Wise. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews. The family wishes to thank Carla Jackson of Private Home Health Care, and especially Kawana Johnson, for the incredible care they provided. A graveside service will be held on Friday, April 28, 2023, at 10:30 AM in the Kagan-Rudy Chapel at Emanu El Memorial Park, 8341 Bissonnet St. Houston, TX 77074. A recording of the service can be viewed at the following link: https://view.oneroomstreaming.com/index.php?data=MTY4MjU0NTI0NzI0ODE2NiZvbmVyb29tLWFkbWluJmNvcHlfbGluaw==

Theba Jean Feldman

January 10, 1934 - April 25, 2023