Three Weeks After Burying His Daughter George Strait Was Back Onstage
Months later when he finally agreed to speak to reporters again there was one condition and no questions about the accident were allowed
Jenifer remained outside that door not in interviews but in the foundation that continued helping other children
By the summer of 1986 the career of Strait was accelerating faster than at any point before it
He had just won CMA Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year and his crowds were growing and he later remembered working close to 200 dates a year
The quiet Texas singer who had broken through only five years earlier was becoming one of the biggest stars in country music
One June Night Changed The Family Forever
Late on June 25 his daughter Jenifer went riding with three teenage friends near San Marcos in Texas
Shortly before midnight their car entered a sharp turn at excessive speed and skidded sideways and overturned into a ditch
Jenifer was thirteen and was partially thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene and the other occupants survived and alcohol was not considered a factor
Strait had been away working when it happened and the touring stopped but not for long
According to a later Country Music Hall of Fame profile he returned to the stage roughly three weeks after the death of Jenifer and carried on through a schedule that had already been relentless before the life of his family changed overnight
The Boundary Around His Private Life Became Permanent
What changed more permanently was his relationship with the public
For several months he stopped speaking to the press altogether and when interviews resumed reporters were told that questions about Jenifer and the accident were off limits
The man whose career was becoming increasingly visible began guarding his private life with unusual intensity and that boundary would remain part of the public image of George Strait for decades
That October the industry placed him back under its brightest lights and Strait won CMA Male Vocalist of the Year for the second consecutive year and this time he accepted the award in memory of Jenifer
The family also created the Jenifer Strait Memorial Foundation and directed support toward charities for children
Nearly four decades later the foundation was still active and helping organizations that serve the emotional and educational and medical needs of children
The career of George Strait did not slow after 1986 and commercially it became even larger
But something else had quietly disappeared that summer because the increasingly famous singer would continue giving audiences records and concerts and awards for decades while keeping one room of his life firmly behind a closed door
He gave listeners emotion without giving them ownership of his family pain
That closed door became the tender center of his public story because the audience could cheer and the band could count off another song while a father protected the deepest grief of his family from the spotlight