Charles Wayne Chapman passed away on Dec. 7, 2021. Chapman was a lawyer for 42 years and was a former district attorney in Hays County, Texas, elected by the community. He taught at Southwest Texas State University for 14 years. He later moved to the Lower Rio Grande Valley and continued to work as a university professor for 21 years.
Colonel Joel Oxley has passed away at his home in Niceville, Fla. on Aug. 2, 2021. After law school, he spent the next 29 years as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Air Force.
William Junia Hudspeth, Jr. passed away on Nov. 28, 2021. Upon graduation from law school, Hudspeth stayed in Austin and went into banking, starting as a cashier at Capital National Bank. He worked his way up, serving as Vice President and Trust Officer of Austin National Bank and head of Republic Bank’s Trust Department. In 1987 he founded Austin Trust Company after Texas law was changed to authorize the incorporation of independent trust companies. Austin Trust Company is the first company to be chartered under the new law.
Danette Dee Alvarado Broome, age 51, passed away on June 29, 2020. The double Longhorn was a highly respected criminal and family law attorney and a passionate advocate for abused children, practiced in both the public and private sector. In 2003, Alvarado opened the Law Office of Danette D. Alvarado, specializing in criminal, juvenile, family law and child protective services cases. In 2003, Danette was admitted into the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law.
Patrick “Pat” A. Myers passed away on Nov. 29, 2021. After serving his country in the U.S. Air Force in Germany, Myers completed law school. He returned to Jacksboro, Texas in 1960 where he was elected Jack County Attorney, a post he held for over two decades. Pat had interests in oil, gas and real estate but his profession was the law. He actively practiced in Jacksboro for almost 60 years until his (semi) retirement in 2018.
J. Walker Holland passed away on Nov. 19 2021. After graduating law school Holland was hired by the law firm of Wynn, Brown, Mack, Renfro and Thompson. After making partner there, Holland joined Boswell & Tracey, the firm that later became Holland, Johns & Penny. His wife Margaret later merged her law firm, Albert & Holland, with Walker’s firm. Walker practiced corporate, real estate and transactional law.
Steven Clifton James passed away on Nov. 13, 2021 after a battle with pulmonary fibrosis. James was a dedicated attorney and practiced law for 42 years. He spent most of his career as a solo practitioner in El Paso. In addition to his active trial practice, James also won multiple cases in the Supreme Court of Texas. He served as Section Representative to the State Bar Board of Directors, Chair of the Texas Bar College, President of the El Paso Bar Association, and Chair of the State Bar Consumer & Commercial Law Section.
Jack Sargent passed away on Nov. 22 2021. Shortly after marriage and graduation from law school, Sargent was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served two years as a medic based at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Upon leaving the military he began a career in banking which was influenced by his father Howard Lane Sargent who was President of Santa Barbara National Bank. He left the banking business in 1978 and joined Burton Patterson and Bob Glanville forming Patterson, Sargent, and Glanville law firm specializing in Estate and Probate Law until he retired in 1992.
David Chappell died on Nov. 18 at the age of 78. Chappell practiced law for many years before teaming up with the consulting firm BC Collaborations. He was served on the Fort Worth City Council representing District 9 in 1989-1993 and was a member of the council’s Economic Development Committee. He served as chair of the board of The State Bar of Texas and of its foundation.
Charles “Charlie” Aycock passed away on Nov. 9, 2021 following a lengthy illness. After earning his J.D., Aycock worked as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Texas for two years. He was partner in the private practice with Aldridge, Harding & Aycock, served as Parmer County Attorney, and was a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. In 2004, he retired from private law practice and was appointed to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
The Honorable Duval County Judge Gilbert N. Saenz passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 16, 2021. After earning his J.D., he served in the US Navy Judge Advocate General Corps. He spent his career working toward justice for all as a JAG Officer, public school teacher, school board member, attorney, and Duval County Judge. He was a member and active supporter of numerous social and charitable organizations.
Martin O. Siegmund has passed away on Nov. 3, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. Siegmund was a Fort Worth municipal judge for approximately five years and a former TCU professor. He also served on the Aledo school board, was a former Fort Worth United Fund Agency president, and a member of the Masonic Lodge (Shriner).
Charles “Chuck” William Hoffman has passed away Feb. 21, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Hoffman was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army He spent most of his career working as a patent and corporate lawyer in Indianapolis.
William “Bill” Cook Fielder passed away Nov. 4, 2021 at age 83. Fielder was active in the Civil Rights movement as a student and then practiced law for over 50 years, helping many people in Austin and Lockhart. Passionate about helping people that were vulnerable and under-resourced, he worked in criminal law, juvenile law, probate, guardianship, and estate law.
Pike Powers passed away after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. Powell served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives in the ’70s, representing Jefferson County. He then went on to serve as chief of staff to Texas Gov. Mark White in the ’80s. He was considered a trailblazer for Austin’s tech scene. Powers’ impact on Austin’s economy stemmed from his law career that had him structuring mega deals as he executed economic development in Austin as a Fulbright & Jaworski lawyer (now Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP).
Nancy Gail Black Sagafi-Nejad, 83, passed away on Sept. 27, 2021. She earned a Masters in art history and served in the Peace Corps teaching. Later, she graduated with her J.D. and worked as an employment discrimination and civil rights lawyer for the government and in private practice. Sagafi-Nejad wrote a book, Friends at the Bar: A Quaker View of Law, Conflict Resolution, and Legal Reform (SUNY Press, 2011), exploring how Quaker values can contribute to improvements in legal practice and the impact of the law on society.
Charles “Charlie” Cheever, Jr. has passed away at 93. Cheever graduated from West Point in 1949 and served as an Air Force pilot instructor and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. After graduating law school, Cheever joined the San Antonio’s Broadway Bank in 1957 to work alongside his father. He was elected President of the bank in 1961, Chairman & CEO in 1982, and Chairman Emeritus upon his retirement in 2005. He was elected to the San Antonio Business Hall of Fame, the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame, and the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
Robert Calvert Patterson passed away on Sept. 22, 2021. Patterson was born in West Point, MS. He worked for the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Texas from 1962-1966 and then went into private practice in San Antonio.
Jeffery Scott Mecom died on Oct. 12, 2021. Mecom taught business law in Estonia at the Estonian Business School in Tallinn. During his time in the Baltics, he visited several eastern European countries, Scandinavia and Russia. He had a successful career as an attorney for both private and public companies. He also served as a mentor in the Texas Law Mentoring Program.
Jorge A. Solis passed away on Oct. 8, 2021 at the age of 70. A former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Solis was a former prosecutor, a judge, a mentor for dozens of lawyers, and once considered a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. Solis began his legal career as an assistant criminal district attorney for the Taylor County District Attorney’s Office in Abilene, Texas and went into private practice in 1981. He was then elected as the first Hispanic District Attorney for Taylor County, serving in that role for five years. He was a special prosecutor for the Narcotics Task Force in 1988 before running for judge. In lieu of flowers, the family requests for memorial gifts to be made to The Judge Jorge A. Solis Memorial Scholarship Fund at UTLSF.org/solis.
Starling Thomas “Tom” Morris died Monday, Oct. 4, 2021 at age 101. Morris entered Texas Law in 1939 and paused to serve in the U.S. Navy Air. He returned to graduate in 1946 and then taught at the law school for two years. In 1948 he began his law practice and went on to join the firm of Gibson, Ochsner and Little where he practiced from 1950 to 2003. He then practiced with the Underwood Law Firm until his time of death. His law practice brought many achievements and honors. Perhaps his greatest achievement was his victory in 1966, in the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case of Graham v. Deere, which established the law of non-obvious subject matter in patent cases, and remains the law today after 55 years.
Charles Randolph Curson passed away in October 2021 at his home in Georgetown, Texas. The double Longhorn began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in Houston, Texas and then went on to work as a Real Estate Attorney for Mitchell Energy and then National Convenience Stores before retiring. He was a member of the Coast Guard before enlisting in the Navy as an Officer serving in the Judge Advocate General’s Corp.
Charles Michael “Mickey” Matkin passed away on Aug. 28, 2021, at the age of 84. Matkin practiced law both as a partner and in private practice in Houston and, after moving to Spring, Texas, in the Champions area. He also served in the Texas Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1961 through 1969.
Kenneth “Ken” Hawari passed away on Aug. 22, 2021 at the age of 62 in Houston, Texas. He was a double Longhorn and worked 17 years for Hughes and Luce Law Firm, in Dallas, Texas, where he had become a partner. He became in-house counsel for ANS Medical Device in Plano, Texas, and later served as board director for private companies. He retired to his beloved home in Taos, New Mexico.
James “Jim” McCartney died at age 91, on Sept. 18, 2021. Post graduation from Texas Law, Jim joined the law firm of Vinson & Elkins and maintained an office there until the end of his life. The law business also brought him before federal and state regulatory agencies where he was involved in landmark cases. He loved the legal profession and came by it naturally. His father, grandfathers, great grandfather, as well as his uncle, had all been lawyers. He endowed a Lectureship at The University of Texas Law School in the name of his great uncle A. W. Terrell.
Billy Flynn “Bill” McGraw passed away on Sept. 20, 2021. McGraw spent two years in the U.A. Navy, stationed at Great Lakes, Illinois. His law degree launched his legal and business career, first as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge Joe Fisher in the United States District Court in Beaumont, and then eventually moving into private practice in Jasper.
Michael Charles O’Connor passed away on Sept. 13, 2021 in Houston. O’Connor graduated first in his class from The University of Texas School of Law, with the distinction of Chancellor and Order of the Coif. He began his legal career at Vinson and Elkins before starting his own law firm in Houston, where he continued to practice law for over 35 years.
Chris Montez of Plano, Texas passed away on August 30, 2021 at the age of 46. After law school, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Bill Vance of the 10th District Court of Appeals in Waco, Texas. Montez then worked at the Law Firm of Darrell Keith, PC and later became a partner at the Dallas firm of Thomas, Feldman & Wilshusen, LLP (TFW). After 14 years at TFW, he started his own practice, The Law Firm of Christopher D. Montez, PLLC. Montez was a member of the ABA Forum on Construction Law and served as General Counsel to the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA).
Robert “Bob” H. Stanley was known for creatively using film to give the historical context of law to enrich students’ perspective of current legal decisions. From 1982–87, he served in several positions at Brown University. He served as visiting assistant professor of history at the University of New Hampshire from 1987–88, and then spent a year teaching at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 1989, Stanley began his career at Chico State and became an important asset to the legal studies program. He remained a member of the Texas State Bar all his life.
Bobby Joe Waggoner passed away at the age of 75. He practiced law in San Antonio with The McCamish Law Firm, and finished a long career with The San Antonio Housing Authority in 2016. Waggoner was a member of The San Antonio Bar Association.
James F. Gilbert, passed away on Aug. 27, 2021 at age 89. He has resided in Dallas for 60 years. For most of his career, Gilbert practiced with the law firm of Kilgore & Kilgore, where he specialized in corporate and securities law. He proudly served in the U.S. Army from 1954-1956 with the rank of 1st Lieutenant where he was stationed in Germany.
Douglas Neill Carnes passed away on August 12, 2021. Carnes practiced law in Austin for 30 years, his latest position being staff attorney for the Travis County Juvenile Probation Department. He loved traveling, studying history, and painting.
James “Jim” Larkin passed away on August 25, 2021. He served in the US Army 1957 – 1960, primarily stationed in Berlin. Larkin served as Harris County DA for 28 years until his retirement in 1993. During his career, he performed Administrative duties and served as Chairman of the Hiring Committee for 19 years where he watched hundreds of young lawyers advance through the DA’s office. After retiring as DA, Larkin became a visiting judge for the Harris County for 17 years.
Joe Beck Hairston passed away August 30, 2020 in Austin, at age of 82. Joe served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy from 1961 to 1964. Joe practiced school law over five decades, most notably with the firm he co-founded in Austin, now known as Walsh Gallegos. While working as a staff attorney at the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Joe was a principal author of the TASB Policy Reference Manual, a legally based management manual for Texas public school districts. He was also an avid traveler, having visited more than 100 countries on 6 continents.
Susan Jo (Norris) Haney died on Aug. 12, 2021. Susan opened her own law firm in 2001, where she was first joined by her oldest daughter, Amber, as a paralegal, and later joined by her younger daughter, Caitlin, as an attorney. Susan loved to refer to the trio as the Haney Legal Dream Team. Susan gave her time to numerous Austin organizations and was known for her laugh, passion, and willingness to help others.
Arthur “Art” L. Goolsbee passed away July 19, 2021 in Abilene. He joined the Marines and served four years as an air traffic controller before going to Baylor University and then Texas Law. He served as Director of Finance and internal legal counsel at Utility Trailer Manufacturing until his retirement in 2004. In 2008 the Reverend Arthur Goolsbee was ordained an Episcopal Deacon. He served his community as an Executive Board Member of United Way of Abilene, an Associate Municipal Court Judge, a Teen Court Judge and a volunteer at the State Supported Living Center.
Rodney Jack Sheppard, 83, died peacefully at home surrounded by family, August 1, 2021, in Austin. A graduate of Texas Law, he served in the Army JAG Corps before entering private practice. He briefly served as general counsel to Armadillo World Headquarters.
Robert Sellers Weatherall passed away in Houston on July 30, 2021. During the Korean War, he studied Russian at the Army Language School in Monterey, CA. Upon graduation, he served as a Russian language intercept operator in various remote locations around the globe. After law school, he joined Andrews Kurth Law Firm in 1957, where he was a partner for over 30 years.
John Edward Eckel, Jr. passed away on July 30, 2021. He served in the Air Force Reserves, served as Director of the State Bar of Texas, and had a legal career that exceeded 50 years. He was also named as a Texas Super Lawyer from 2003 through 2012.
Martin Tyckoski passed away on July 21, 2021. Tyckoski received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in accounting before graduating from Texas Law. After law school, he was a sole practitioner in Flint, MI specializing in probate law for nearly 50 years, eventually transitioning his practice to his friend and colleague, Eric Mead.
Jim Branton passed away peacefully at home on July 19, 2021. After graduating from law school, he served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force where he was a judge advocate, then later went on to a career in private law practice. He co-founded the law firm of Branton, Hall, Rodriguez, Cruz, where he focused on personal injury litigation. He served as president of the State Bar of Texas from 1994 to 1995.
William J. Gibbons passed away on July 1, 2021 in San Antonio at the age of 90. He flew 58 combat missions in Korea, flew 206 combat missions in Vietnam, having an illustrious career in the Air Force. Upon his retirement from the Air Force, William fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an attorney. He embarked on a second career in the field of criminal prosecution, with several years of service as a Justice of the Peace in Caldwell County.
Eva Janice “Jan” Summer passed away on June 25, 2021. As a founding member of the Center for Women in Law, Jan played an important role in providing scholarships for aspiring young women law students. Jan was also the founding director of The Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution at The University of Texas School of Law.
James Crain passed away on July 1, 2021. Crain began his professional career as a Partner at Jenkens & Gilchrist Law Firm, where he headed the Energy Section. Starting in 1989, he served as President of Marsh Operating Company. In 1997 he became a general partner of Valmora Partners LP and later joined Yorktown Partners. Crain also served on the Board of Directors for many public energy companies, including Enlink Midstream, Approach Resources, Crusader Energy Group and others. Crain earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Juris Doctorate degrees at UT Austin. He was an editor of the Texas Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif.
Joseph Pool passed away on June 29, 2021. He studied economics at Stanford University, earned his law degree from Texas Law and returned to Amarillo to begin his law practice. He served as trustee of the estate of his grandfather, J.T Sneed, Jr. Pool is descended from a long line of cattle ranchers and held that passion as well.
Justice John Sharp Anderson died on June 22, 2021 in Houston. Anderson served in the 71st Brigade (Airborne), Texas National Guard and in the U.S. Army Reserve. Following Law School, he worked as an attorney in the energy business until 1989, where he left to join Anderson, Brown and Jones where he practiced law with his father, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He later ran successfully for a position on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals and was sworn in on January 1, 1995, where he served for 17 years.
Harry Swearingen passed away peacefully on June 14, 2021. Harry attended Texas Law and earned the highest score on that year’s bar exam. After law school, he returned to San Antonio and joined the law firm of Brewer, Matthews, Nowlin, and Macfarlane, which, through various mergers over the years, eventually became Cox & Smith (now Dykema). He spent his entire career at the same firm – more than 60 years. Swearingen also served in leadership positions with many local not-for-profits.
James D. Hornfischer died June 2, 2021 at age 55 after a lengthy illness. He was an Austin writer, naval historian, book editor, and literary agent. The author of several books focusing on the U.S. Navy, Hornfischer recently had been honored with the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award for four books: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour; Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors; Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal; and The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945. After earning his MBA and JD at UT Austin, he founded Hornfischer Literary Management.
Bud Martin passed away on June 6, 2021, in Midland, Texas. He began his law career with the Hinkle Law Firm in Roswell, NM, in 1967. After becoming Partner, he moved to Midland office and served as Managing Partner for many years. Martin was past president of the Midland County Bar Association, former Chairman of the Midland City Planning and Zoning Commission, and served as Local Director of The University of Texas Law School Alumni Association.
Paul Anton Schweizer passed away on June 14, 2021. After graduating from law school, Schweizer joined a well-established firm before becoming a self-employed attorney. Although he had a long list of accomplishments and accolades, he felt the most important job he ever had was being a husband and dad.