James Ernest Lentz

October 15, 1934 - November 16, 2025

James (Jim) Lentz was born in Loudonville, Ohio to Leonard and Margaret (Bender) Lentz. In 1944, he contracted polio in Cleveland, OH. His family moved to Oklahoma in 1948 and he received a degree in chemistry from Central State College in Edmond, OK. In 1957, he moved to the Brazosport area and went to work for Dow Chemical until health issues related to polio ended his career in 1972.

Jim loved watching the Astros play baseball and supported OU in football. He was a good cook and enjoyed preparing supper for the family.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Charles, and William Lentz; and his first wife, Jean Ward Lentz Bovard.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Lou Alice Lentz; his daughters, Donna Gaffney (James) and Janice Lentz; grandsons, Jimmy Gaffney, and Ryan Gaffney (Kerry Comeans); granddaughter, Kayla Franco; sister-in-law, Gertrude Lentz; nephews, Jesse Lentz, and James Eugene Lentz; niece, Shelly McDaniel (John), and two great grandsons.

The family thanks the IPH hospice nurses and the Help, Inc. caregivers, Leora Woodard and Marilyn Mayberry, for their assistance in caring for Jim.