Sgt. 1st Class Craig Colvin, left, gives a hug to Judith Markelz, director of the Warrior & Family Support Center at Fort Sam Houston. Markelz was a tireless advocate for wounded troops and their families, many of whom called her “mom.”
HELEN L. MONTOYA, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Judith Markelz, right, was the beating heart of the Warrior & Family Support Center at Fort Sam Houston. She was a spirited advocate for wounded troops and their loved ones, many of whom called her “mom.”
JOHN DAVENPORT, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Judith Markelz, right, was the beating heart of the Warrior & Family Support Center at Fort Sam Houston. She was a spirited advocate for wounded troops and their loved ones, many of whom called her “mom.”
HELEN L. MONTOYA, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
First Lady Michelle Obama with Judith Markelz, left, director of the Warrior & Family Support Center at Fort Sam Houston in April 2011.
BILLY CALZADA, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Judith Markelz, a tireless advocate for wounded troops flown to San Antonio for medical treatment, has died at 77.
From 2003 to 2019, she was director of the Warrior & Family Support Center at Fort Sam Houston, founded to assist injured military personnel and their families.
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At the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, more than 1,000 troops were being treated at Brooke Army Medical Center and the nearby Center for the Intrepid, which cares for amputees and burn victims.
They and their loved ones viewed Markelz as a confidante, best friend and surrogate parent. She was always ready with a hug and words of encouragement and would fight relentlessly to make sure they received the care and services they deserved. Many of them called her “mom.”
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“Judith didn’t just touch many lives. She uplifted them,” said retired Army Col. Mary Garr, a former chief operating officer of the San Antonio Military Health System. “Her life was one of service to others, and she was a fierce and protective advocate of service members and their families, especially those who were injured or ill and needing support.”
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When Garr herself was being treated for cancer, Markelz assembled a team of volunteers to take Garr’s three young children to day care and Scouting events and make sure they were fed every night.
“She did that for everyone who needed help,” said Garr, who lives in Fair Oaks Ranch. “It was in her nature to step up, although in her own health, she was incredibly private.”
During the worst years of the Iraq war, a trickle of wounded became a steady stream of troops suffering from severe burns, multiple amputations and traumatic brain injuries caused by roadside bombs. Markelz was a constant presence at the Warrior & Family Support Center, which bustled with activity and was often filled with the aroma of smoked brisket.
A sign in the lobby read, “Life is all about how you handle Plan B.”
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“That’s exactly right, except some of them are on plans C and D, because this wasn’t in the plan,” Markelz once said.
When Secret Service agents inspected the center in 2011 in advance of a visit by First Lady Michelle Obama, they were puzzled to find a six-pack of panty hose in Markelz’s drawer. There was good reason for it. She was at the center on nights, weekends and holidays, and she kept a change of clothes there just in case.
Visiting Generals and other VIPs would have to cool their heels if Markelz was busy consoling a wounded soldier or family member. She once kept a sergeant major of the Army waiting while she helped a soldier solve a problem over the phone, recalled retired Army Col. Stephen Markelz, her husband of 53 years.
“There were some pretty broken people there, both physically and mentally,” he said. She helped many of them “appreciate that they had a future, and a lot of them have gone on to do better things,” he said.
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One of them was Army Staff Sgt. Bobby Henline, the only survivor of a roadside bombing who suffered burns over 40% of his body and lost his left hand.
“She helped my family a lot during my stay in the hospital, just like everybody else,” recalled Henline. “She’d always greet me with a smile and ask why no one locked the door and who let me in.”
Henlin, now 54, became a stand-up comedian and motivational speaker.
“I don’t think any of us even know how many people she reached out and touched, because she just got it done,” said retired Army Col. Wendy Martinson, a former garrison commander at Fort Sam Houston.
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“She helped a lot of people and showed a lot of love in some really practical ways. Big needs for deserving folks were met,” a friend, Tom Dowd, wrote on Facebook.
Markelz died April 8 at home after a long illness. She was born Nov. 29, 1948, into the military life. Her father, Lt. Col. Robert Holdt, was an Air Force chaplain during the Vietnam era, and his career took the family around the world.
Markelz graduated from Misawa High School (now Robert D. Edgren Middle High School) on Misawa Air Base in Japan. She later earned a degree from the teacher education program at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, where she met her husband.
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She taught in the Department of Defense school system and served with the American Red Cross. She was chair of the Junior Enlisted Support Group at Fort Bliss in El Paso before moving to San Antonio.
At Fort Sam, she converted the second floor of a guesthouse into a welcome area and information clearinghouse for wounded troops and their relatives. San Antonio builder Les Huffman and his brother Steve raised money for a larger, modern building that became the Warrior & Family Support Center. It opened in 2009 and had a garden, a lawn, a gaming room and a patio for barbecue feasts, among other amenities.
Visitors were greeted by a sculpture of butterflies ascending into heaven. Called “Hope,” it was designed by a wounded soldier who said he saw an angel in the raging fire that consumed his tactical vehicle after it was blown up by an improvised explosive device.
The center became a source of solace, emotional support and practical assistance for families, who would arrive at Fort Sam Houston, often in the middle of the night, frightened and disoriented after getting a phone call informing them that a loved one had been injured in combat. They’d be given a room in a guest house on the Army post, unprepared for a stay that could last weeks or even months.
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Markelz took it from there.
“She would really make that connection,” recalled Martinson, 71, of San Antonio. If someone had a toothache, “she would connect with a dentist who would take care of them. The dentist probably did the work for free or maybe Judith would have pulled out her checkbook and paid for it. I wouldn’t put that past her.”
Many organizations and individuals wanted to help the center, and Markelz was their guide. Her volunteer list evolved into a waiting list because so many people wanted to contribute. One Christmas Day, the Jewish Federation of San Antonio served dinner to troops at Fort Sam. Master gardeners tended an award-winning “healing garden.”
Volunteers taught classes in art, computer skills and yoga. Others donated money, quilts and food.
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Markelz was the one constant.
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“We were there for the Super Bowl and the other events,” her husband recalled. “Halloween was a big one over there. We had all kinds of outdoor displays as part of the Halloween celebration. And then in the wintertime, she brought in shaved ice — snow — for a toboggan slide, and everybody got to enjoy a snow pile.”
In recognition of her service, she was inducted into the Order of Military Medical Merit and awarded the Mary Walker Service Medal.
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Interment and a graveside service will be held at Shelter No. 3 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, the family encouraged donations to the San Antonio Food Bank or the Wounded Warrior Project.
Martinson said it was hard to imagine “a world without Judith in it.”
“Her staff would frequently say, ‘What would Judith do?'” she recalled. “That was the mantra. If she stepped away and she was at a meeting, they would say, ‘What would Judith do?’ And it was easy to answer that question. She would do the right thing.”
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