Gwendolyn Rayburn Abshire

Gwendolyn Rayburn Abshire, 57, of Clear Lake, passed from this life to the next peacefully on May 26, 2021, after a 7-year battle with cancer. She was born October 3, 1963, to Barbara Ann Craigen Rayburn and William Noel Rayburn. She graduated from Hamshire-Fannett High School in 1982 and went on to graduate from Texas A&M University (Whoop!) with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration.

Upon graduating, Gwen worked in management for Pepsi Corporation for 9 years. After starting a family, Gwen owned and operated a successful business on Lake Sam Rayburn for more than 20 years. She later earned her teaching degree in Mathematics from Lamar University and taught at her alma mater Hamshire-Fannett High School and at Brookeland ISD.

Gwen then leveraged her business and education experience at Responsive Education Solutions, a charter school company, rising from campus director to superintendent and then regional director of operations for the Greater Houston/East Texas region.

Gwen was most known as a servant leader who was honest to a fault. She was a hard worker and no task was too small or too great. From shampooing classroom carpets and hauling a horse trailer of classroom furniture between campuses to opening 8 new schools and overseeing every aspect of 13, Gwen was never afraid to get the job done.

Amongst family, Gwen was the favorite aunt, sister and daughter who cheered her great-niece on at every swim meet, reorganized everyone’s kitchen cabinets for fun and was always up for playing cards. Her Thanksgiving parties at Sam Rayburn Lake were the highlight of everyone’s annual holiday plans and featured a never-ending campfire and enough gumbo to feed an army for an entire weekend.

Gwen’s fondest memories from her childhood included camping trips with family, involvement in all school sports and activities possible, and summers at FCA camp in Colorado. As a mother, her dearest moments included hunting Easter eggs with her daughter Brooke, painting rocks with her daughter Traci, and spending long nights at horse shows with her daughters. During her final year, Gwen enjoyed an RV camping trip across the U.S., sitting on the back porch watching deer and taking care of her plants, rooting her two favorite NFL teams to the Super Bowl and coddling her baby deer, Elfie.

Gwen is preceded in death by her father, William Noel Rayburn; brother, Kyle Rayburn; sister, Traci Rayburn Hampton; and grandparents, Joe and Melba Craigen and Jesse Juber and Lucille Rayburn.

Survivors include her two beautiful daughters, Jacqueline Brooke Dodd and Traci Ann Abshire of Clear Lake; stepdaughters, Amanda Williams and Jessica Abshire of Louisiana; mother, Barbara Ann Rayburn of Angleton; sister, Janice Ann Constantine and her husband, Joe, of Angleton; nieces and nephews, David Constantine of Austin; Jennifer Fort and husband, Jon, of Lake Jackson; Jay Rayburn and wife, Morgan, of Winnie; Lana Nelius and husband, Russell, of Winnie; Dean Cravy and wife, Heather, of Hamshire; and Jack Cravy and wife, Erica, of Hamshire. She is also survived by 10 great-nieces/nephews.

A gathering of Ms. Abshire’s family and friends will from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Friday, May 28, 2021, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. Her funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, May 29, 2021, at First Baptist Church, 25304 Highway 124, Hamshire, with a celebration luncheon of Gwen’s life to follow. A private graveside service will be held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Beaumont.

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