Gretchen Helen Zapalac

Gretchen Helen (Krause) Zapalac, loving mother, grandmother and “GG”, passed away in her sleep on December 20, 2025 surrounded by family.

She was born to Arthur and Annie Dostalik Krause on March 2, 1937 in Lamar, Colorado. Growing up, Gretchen and her family moved frequently for her father’s work with Gulf Oil. She graduated from Pecos High School in 1955, then attended Texas Women’s University.

She met the love of her life Edwin E. Zapalac through his sister, Jeanette and their relationship blossomed while he studied at North Texas University. On September 2, 1956, they married and soon after moved to Flatonia, where Edwin started his professional career as a banker at Flatonia State Bank and Gretchen assumed command of their household and social commitments, raising five children and taking an active role in the community.

She was an involved parent and served many roles while her children attended Flatonia ISD. She was a room mother, PTA officer, football and basketball concession coordinator, Superintendent’s Advisory Council member and was an honorary member of the FHA and the Athletic Booster Club.

Gretchen loved sports and was an avid fan of all Texas sports teams, particularly the Flatonia Bulldogs. She attended, watched or listened to all the games especially when her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren played.

Gretchen was a devout Catholic, attending Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Flatonia, where she was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America, taught CCD classes, was a member of the Altar Society, the KJZT and often lent a hand to clean the church.

She helped form the Jaycees, was a member of the Flatonia American Legion Auxiliary, was a charter member of the Women’s Action Guild Society, and assisted the Flatonia Chamber of Commerce with the Centennial Celebration in 1973, also serving as co-chairman for the Flatonia Queens pageant for several years and was instrumental in helping start Czhilispiel with Edwin.

Gretchen loved meeting new people, travelling to new places, and learning about different cultures. In all her years, she never met a stranger, and was never short on questions about where someone was from, what their parents did, and when they would come visit Flatonia. She made everyone she encountered feel special and important and often had a funny or personal joke to share with her newest friends.

Gretchen is survived by her sister Alice Anderson and sisters-in-law Jeanette Zouzalik and MaryAnn Tichacek; her daughters, Renee Pavlica and her husband Kenny, and Beverly Ponder and her husband Kenneth, and her sons Thomas and his wife Melodye, David, and James and his wife Melissa.

She also leaves behind her grandchildren, Coleen Barnett Carl, her husband Daniel and their four children, Brandon Zapalac, his wife Melissa and their four children, Daniel James (DJ) Zapalac, Dallas Ponder, his wife Elisabeth and their three children, Anne Rey and her husband Carlos, Karoline Flores, her husband Daniel and their daughter, Luke Zapalac and his fiance Jadir Halty, Zane Ponder and his wife Alyssa, Meredith Lippe Bean, her husband Lawton and their three children, Ty Ponder, his wife Emily and their son, Megan Zapalac and Lilly Zapalac and her fiance Ryker Whitstine.

Gretchen is preceded in death by her husband Edwin E. Zapalac, her parents, Arthur and Annie Krause, sister Mary Ann Rainwater and her husband Rusty, in-laws R.D. and Anne Zapalac, son-in-law, Paul Lippe, daughter-in-law, Rowena Wilkinson Zapalac, grandson, David M. Zapalac, brothers-in-law Ervan Zouzalik and Victor Tichacek, and the family dog, Charcoal.

A visitation will be held at Smith Funeral Home in Flatonia at 4 to 6 p.m. on December 29, 2025 with a Rosary at 6 p.m.

A funeral mass will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Flatonia starting at 2 p.m.

Words of comfort can be expressed online at www.SmithFuneralHomeFlatonia.com Smith Funeral Home - 128 E. 5th St. Flatonia, TX 78941 (361) 865-3311.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made in Gretchen’s name at the Flatonia American Legion Post 94 and Auxiliary, Flatonia Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and the E.A. Arnim Museum.