SHINER: Edith M. Panus Hirsch, 95, quietly relocated to her heavenly home on July 19, 2025. We are now tasked with holding tightly to our memories of her.
Edith was many things to many people throughout her long and fruitful life, but above all else, she was a dedicated wife and mother. She is survived by her two children, a son, Oscar Lee Hirsch (8/5/1955), and a daughter, Diane M. Hirsch (3/30/1960). These two were her precious “Sonny Boy” and “Marianka”.
Edith was born on the Panus homestead on Ponton Creek on October 25, 1929. The third of six children, born to Frank and Emilie Hanzlik Panus, the family of four girls and two younger boys worked the family farm. Like many depression-era families, they picked cotton, grew their own food, and managed to survive by hard work and great sacrifice, all part of the Greatest Generation. Knowing only Czech at home, Edith learned the English language while attending Charlottenburg school, graduating in 1946.
On May 7, 1949, Edith had a memorable first date with Oscar Hirsch. Headed to a Kokernot Grove dance, Oscar picked Edith up in his ‘39 Ford, but then flipped the car in a road ditch, and they had to walk back to the Panus house and get Frank to pull the car out of the muddy ditch. Somehow Oscar’s charm outweighed that disaster of a first impression, and on September 27, 1950, Edith married Oscar at the Catholic Church in Shiner. That union lasted 58 years until Oscar’s passing on February 11, 2009.
The mud of Ponton creek was near where the couple spent their entire lives, living a simple and happy farm life. Edith always joked that her roots ran straight down and did not branch out as she moved less than a mile from where she grew up. Shortly after getting married, Oscar was drafted and shipped overseas to fight in the Korean War from 1951 until the war ended in 1953. Being newlyweds, Edith & Oscar promised to write to each other every day while they were separated, and each faithfully did so, with neither missing a day, except for a three-day period when enemy fire had Oscar’s artillery company pinned down and he was unable to take a break from the action. Edith always reminded him that he missed those three days.
Blessed with a green thumb, there wasn’t much Edith couldn’t grow. Her happy place was outside with a hoe in her hand. Whether it was the vegetable garden or her extensive flower beds, Edith was a master of all things green. To this day, there are homes around town that have plants from her seeds or cuttings that she shared. Edith could sew, cook, preserve, play the accordian, and make a mean kolache roll, but her gardens and flowerbeds were where she shined. For years, she had flowers down both sides and the middle of a 300’ driveway, and like her garden, they were always perfectly weeded. If you stopped by the farm for a visit, she’d whip up a batch of kolaches and a big dinner, and you’d leave with a full belly, leftovers, some bounty out of the garden, cuttings or seeds from her flowers, and a jar of her canned pickles or beets.
And then came September 30, 1972. Oscar Lee was in a serious car accident and from that moment forward, Edith’s world focused on his recovery and ultimately, his life-long care. Even when she herself suffered a stroke in November, 2012, her primary concerns were about the care of Oscar.
Despite life’s challenges, Edith’s faith in God never wavered. It was of the utmost importance to her to have her children receive a Catholic education, and they were on the school bus every morning, no excuses allowed, to receive a higher education that she never had the chance to get herself. She was so proud of Diane’s legal career. Edith weaved her work ethic and strong constitution into everything she did. She moved fast and squeezed the daylight out of every day. Stop signs were mere suggestions to Edith. When the one red light got installed in Shiner, she was annoyed as that slowed her down. Townfolk learned to watch out for the white Caddy coming in hot. She was full of stories about all her life’s experiences and she loved to talk for hours on the phone with her sisters and cousins, or really, anyone. She even endeared John Travolta, and would brag about how she got to talk to “John-John” several times, telling him all about Shiner, Texas.
Edith was our Google. She compiled an extensive genealogy of both the Panus and Hirsch families, tracing both back to Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Germany. She loved her visit to Europe and seeing where her family immigrated from. Edith didn’t need Facebook or a calendar to know somebody’s birthday, age, anniversary or date of death. She could rattle them off, no matter how distant the relation.
Her genius ability with numbers meant Edith played a mean game of straight dominoes and Moon, rarely losing. She enjoyed competition and it was always a game to see who could pick the most tomatoes or cucumbers, who could shuck and shell corn the fastest, or who could butcher and clean a fryer the quickest.
In addition to her husband, Oscar A., (9/1/1928-2/11/2009) Edith is preceded in death by her parents, Frank J Panus, Sr., (11/19/1896-10/14/1968); Emilie Hanzlik Panus, (4/9/1907-6/22/1992); three sisters, Elizabeth Panus Brosch, (11/8/1925-9/12/2020); Georgia Panus Wenske, (3/21/1928-6/20/2019); Mildred Panus Chilek, (12/29/1930-2/11/2009); and two brothers, Frank (Frankie) Panus, Jr., (1/11/1934-9/29/1979); and Joseph (Joe) Panus, (8/12/1938-6/30/1996).
Edith is survived by her children, and numerous nieces and nephews, including those who constantly jockeyed for the position of “favorite” to their beloved Aunt. There are also numerous life-long neighbors and friends, as Edith never met a stranger.
Rosary starts at 10:00 a.m., followed by a Funeral Mass at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner on Thursday, July 24, 2025 along with graveside service at Shiner Catholic Cemetery with reception to follow.
Serving as pallbearers are nephews Clarence Ray Wenske, Darrell Brosch, Donny Hirsch, Gary Chilek, Mark Panus; and Terry Seiley.
After a long and dedicated life here on Earth, Edith was finally able to zoom past all the Stop signs. Albeit a whisper, Edith’s last words were “I am OK”. No doubt that when she arrived at the gates of heaven with hoe in hand, she asked Jesus what took so long and what gardens needed to be tended. May there be polka music playing and families’ hands reaching out to welcome her home. She is now, forevermore, “OK”.
Memorial contributions may be given to Shiner Catholic School Memorial Fund.
