The Brady Bunch

This is bound to be one of the most unusual topics we’ve touched upon here, but we were fascinated to discover an icon of American television history can be visited right here in the Hill Country!

Many luminaries have been laid to rest in the Hill Country. Undoubtedly the best-known are our 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson, and his wife Lady Bird, who are interred at the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch near Johnson City, where visitors can pay their respects at what is now a national park. Some of the fallen heroes of the Battle of the Alamo, including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William B. Travis, are buried inside the San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio. Several members of the fabled Texas Rangers are laid to rest in the International Odd Fellows Cemetery in San Antonio, too. But less well-known is the fact that a woman who brought laughter to television audiences for over 40 years now rests serenely right here in the Hill Country.

In the fall of 1969, “The Brady Bunch” premiered on ABC, featuring the comic challenges of the marriage between widower Mike Brady and his wife Carol, with six children in the newly-created family. One of the guardrails against all this chaos was the Bradys’ live-in housekeeper, Alice Nelson, played with wit and heart by actress Ann B. Davis. Alice was beloved by audiences during the series’ entire run, which ended in 1974. Thanks to subsequent reunion specials, talk shows, and even new follow-up series in the 1980s and 90s, the Brady family has earned an indelible spot in our hearts that will undoubtedly last many decades to come.

Ann B. Davis embraced the character of Alice with warmth and good humor for the rest of her life. She made appearances both as herself and her character over the next few decades, as long as she was able. Her final appearance in that capacity was in 2007, when she rejoined her fellow cast members to accept a TV Land Pop Culture Award that honored the influences “The Brady Bunch” had on the great American sitcom. She was always regarded with love and affection by both her fellow cast members and those in the public.

Davis essentially retired from acting in 1996, only accepting occasional appearances after that point. She moved from Los Angeles to Denver in 1976, and eventually relocated to her final home in San Antonio. All her adult life, she had been a devout Christian, and devoted the majority of her time and energy to religious studies and charity work on behalf of the Episcopal Church. She was an energetic part of their General Convention, and she would attend services all throughout the country.

Those close to Ann B. Davis often remarked how healthy she was, even well into her eighties. Therefore, it came as a shock when she passed away from a subdural hematoma after a fall in her San Antonio home on June 1, 2014. She had just recently turned 88 years old.

America’s beloved Alice, forever the center square in the “Brady Bunch” opening credits, was cremated and laid to rest. Visitors to the Hill Country can offer their respects to Ann B. Davis at the St. Helena’s Columbarium and Memorial Gardens at 410 North Main Street in Boerne. The public is welcome to visit; please show respect to the departed and people who are honoring their memories.

If you come to Boerne to pay Ann B. Davis a respectful visit, consider consulting the Texas Hill Country Travel App for other sites and attractions in Boerne, as well as the rest of the Hill Country.

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