Mary Clareen O’Quinn
Mary Clareen O’Quinn, affectionately known as “Honey”, 83, of League City, Texas, went to be with our Lord on September 7, 2025. She was born to Anthony Wagner Hahnel and Mary Francis Hahnel on November 14, 1941, in San Antonio, Texas where she was born and raised graduating from Highlands High School.
Clareen began her life with John Kunert with whom she had three children. After their second child they moved to Seabrook, Texas where she began working as a secretary at NASA Johnson Space Center. In 1967, after she gave birth to her third child, the family moved to Clear Lake Shores, Texas. Clareen proudly worked at NASA for the next 20 years before moving to the private sector, where she finished out her career as an Investment Relations Executive.
Following her divorce, Clareen embraced her love for the outdoors by joining the Sierra Outdoor Club at the local college. She enjoyed camping and hiking all around Texas as well as the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico with the club. However, her favorite adventures, were the ones she shared with family. From Big Bend National Park, Knoxville to see the smoky mountains, to most recently to Colorado Springs, these journeys were dear to her heart.
She met Herbert and they married in 1985. They shared a beautiful life together spanning 27 years and spent many weekends fishing until his passing in 2012. Everyone Clareen met was a friend. She had a gift for striking up a conversation with anyone, taking opportunities to create smiles and laughter along the way. She enjoyed sewing, gardening, fishing, garage and estate sales, going to concerts, and petting any dog that came across her path. She was the cornerstone of her family, providing unwavering love and a foundation transcending down through her great grandkids. She gave her family so much love and laughter to share and carry in their hearts
forever.
A woman of faith, she had a relationship with Jesus. In recent years, Clareen focused more on her walk with Christ, rededicating her life by being baptized. She enjoyed going to church with family and catching up with friends before the service.
Clareen was preceded in death by her parents, Anthony Wagner Hahnel and Mary Francis Hahnel; former husband and father to her children, John Norbert Kunert; Husband, Herbert C O’Quinn; daughter, Laura Jean Thornton; and grandson, Sabastian Timothy Kunert
She is survived by her loving family: brother, Anthony Wagner Hahnel and wife Yvonne Hahnel; son, Paul Alan Kunert and wife Tanja Kunert; daughter, Adrianne Lea Bickham; grandchildren, Autumn Dumis, Jonathon Thornton and wife Jackie Thornton, Joshua Thornton, Paul Kunert Jr, Emmalee Cheshire, Seth Kunert, Corrie and Colby Martin, Matthew Bickham; Great Grandkids John Kunert, Sylvia Kunert, Elyzabeth Kunert, Adaline Kunert, Brandall Cheshire, Levi Cheshire, Luna-Belle Cheshire, Wesley Wolfenbarger, Autumn Wolfenbarger, Avery Wolfenbarger, Lorelei Wolfenbarger, Norah Kunert, Jaxon Boyd, Evan Boyd, and Camryn Boyd, Arianna Martin, Sabastian Terango; Nephews, Craig Hahnel and wife Sylvia Hahnel, Brett Hahnel and wife Neely Hahnel; great niece, Avery Hahnel; and great nephew, Lane Hahnel along with many cousins.
A memorial will be held on Saturday, October 18, 2025, with visitation at 1:00 pm and service at 2:00 pm located Crowder Funeral Home 1645 E. Main St., League City, Texas, 77573.
Family will be dining at Red River BBQ following the memorial, everyone is welcome.
If you would like to make a donation in her name, please donate to Rangers Reach, a local dog rescue she loved. Link: https://linktr.ee/rangersreach
Sharing in your sorrow as you remember Honey. May the happy memories bring you comfort. Someone so special will never be forgotten.
I will miss you my friend we shared many many wonderful moments together working at ERF and also going out together to hear music I was surely miss you and the world will be a little dimmer without you go with peace*
I have not sure how to even start to express my feelings or relationship with my mom. I’ve never known a time where our relationship was nothing less than close. I think most everyone who is here knows how close we were without me saying a word. There wasn’t much we didn’t do together.
With her endless wit and sas, she brought so much joy and laughter to our family. One time in particular she was walking out the door about 1:00 am I guess, keys in hand. My son, Matthew, heard her and asked her where she was going? She said “going to meet up with a guy I met online.” Matthew panicked and went and banged on Autumns door, once he tells Autumn, she calls her mom. Her mom tells them to call me and of course I slept through the whole thing. Next thing you know my mom walks back in and Matthew asked her what happened? She said it didn’t work out; he wanted my social security number. She was really going to check the mail. Another time when we were younger. Paul was in the back seat, and he asked what kind of ice cream did she buy. Without missing a beat, she said onion ripple. A few minutes later she looks back and paul is weeping silently. She asks him what wrong and he says. “I don’t like onion ripple” She had to console him and let him know she didn’t get onion ripple. Or the time she was asking me the name of a cross street I told her and she said well I need to know where she was in case she was ever kidnapped.
She wasn’t always a bowl full of cherries. Once we we’re all in trouble until someone confessed to whatever it was. (which it was NEVER me). Somehow my sister convinced me to confess. So I went and told her “I did it, but really I didn’t, Laura told me to say I did so we could go play. I ended up grounded watching Laura and Paul go play.
Getting up early to go get the exchange, plan our route for garage sales looking for the best deals and treasures using the local map of clear lake was a Saturday standard. She did a lot of sewing when we were younger. She made dresses for special occasions, and she taught me how to sew and embroidery as well.
She was one of the hardest working people I know. Not only did she work many nights and weekends at NASA (which I spent many weekends running the halls of building 1), she also worked from home typing up dissertations as soon as the IBM Selectric type II came out. She would work all hours and during the weekend, most of the time with no air conditioning. I would bring her a fresh glass of iced tea when hers ran out and then she would say “watch this” of course I would stand there and watch her type. I look back on those days and know it is because of her influence that I’m now working at NASA.
My mom had a love for music, I think I started going with her to listen to music when I was about 13 and we went together the first time I saw Rod Stewart. I can’t even list the number of artists we’ve seen and the places all over Texas we’ve gone to see them. Going through her things, you would think she was a teenager finding a box with signed song lists, tickets and guitar picks. There were many times I’d walk in her room in the morning and she had Bruce Robison, Reckless Kelly, Rod Stewart, Kelly Willis or Billy Joe Shaver playing all night.
The sweetest memories I think will be the trips, how she loved road trips. From Corpus to Tennessee, but Big Bend will always be the place that I will forever hold fondly in my heart. And there’s the last family road trip to Colorado Springs last year, will simply just be special.
As I look out at each of you, memories come back of how each of you are a part of my mom’s life mom’s life. It gives me such comfort to know how much she was loved. As I look at my uncle Bubba, I can see the smile and how she would light up laughing while carrying on a long phone conversation. She would always tell me that when he was little, she would pinch him to wake him up so she could play with him. When I see others, I think of growing up in clear lake shores, the lifelong friends like the Jones’s, my second parents. If I recall correctly, it was Lynne Jones, Judy Blossom and my mom that started the little Islander newsletter. Of course, Mike McClane. Crazy adventures with her best friend Paula, chili cook-offs with the Batsons. She would get a special ride in Steve’s convertible for flex Friday lunches with my NASA family. Dinners with my Kohls family as well as all trips to Lake Jackson to visit some of her best friends Rick and Billie and my sweet friend Melissa and getting up early for the hour trip back home so she could get to work and me to school. Jesus aka sweet Jesus, you are my moms 4th.
I’ve heard some of the sweetest things since she passed. From David saying they were all better boys because of my mom and his mom would make the well aware that was the case. Brian at the Randalls pharmacy saying, she was my friend and even when she felt bad, it was her goal to make you smile. Robyn saying she was the coolest of the cool. But one of my favorites was Bruce saying the relationship between my mom is the relationship is the example he follows with his own.
My mom got to see her 3 kids grow up and be there for their up and downs. She got to see her grandkids go up and be there for each special occasion. She was there to see Jaxon Evan and Camryn come into the world. She got to see Jaxon get his black belt. She got to go to all of Evan’s baseball games, rooting for him while he runs the bases and slide into home plate. She got to see Camryn graduate kindergarten and sing on stage. Each one brought such joy to her and always had her smiling. She loved each of you beyond words.
She lived a life full of love, laughter and adventure. On September 7, 2025, Jesus called my mom home to forever live abundantly in the light, grace and love with him and all our loved one that preceded her. So now is the time, I will lean on my faith and give all the glory to God for blessing me with my beautiful mom and all that came with it. I will follow in her footsteps and enjoy my life here. I pray I grow old, older. I pray to see my grandkids grow up and fulfill their dreams, see my great grandkids be happy and continue to live the life she and the good lord would want me to live.
When I spoke I left one thing off. I left off the part of how she was so supportive of each of us kids and would move mountains for us if she needed to. Now she would let us miss out on a consequence so but she helped us when we needed it. She may have not liked some of our friends, like parents do, But if they were ever in need, she would help them. She was a doer and you could count on her to figure it out.
I’ll never forget what Carl said when she met my grandmother. He turned around and said “I understand everything now.” I think it was the best compliment. The personality, sas, hard work ethic with a can do attitude, just runs through this family.
I’m blessed to her her as my mom. I will see you again.