Class Notes

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.

Milton Jesse Flick, 77, died on June 15, 2021 in Houston, Texas. He was a practicing attorney in Houston for over 50 years. Flick had a wide range of interests including sailing (earning the dubious nickname of Captain Bligh); country & western dancing; photography; genealogy; traveling the back roads and was a history buff.

Robert Lee Smith died peacefully on May 29, 2021. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and served in the Army before receiving his J.D. from Texas Law. After practicing law for 50 years, he retired in 2018 and was known to many as the Prince of Real Estate.

James Edward “Jimmy” Brill died on May 27, 2021. Brill was sworn in as a lawyer in December 1957, and practiced law, primarily as a solo, for over 60 years until his retirement in 2019. The State Bar of Texas awarded him the Presidents’ Award as “the outstanding lawyer in Texas” and he also received two lifetime achievement awards from the American Bar Association.

Michael Paul Lewis, age 42, passed away May 28, 2021. He practiced law in Kansas City, Missouri, and in Washington, D.C. He loved guitar, the blues, music in general, and his family. He delighted in finding the perfect analogy and could always be counted on to help anyone in need.

Daniel “Dan” Charles Miller passed away in Dripping Springs on May 18, 2021. He is a double Longhorn, Early on, Miller worked at at the Texas General Land Office, first managing the Oil & Gas Section of the Legal Division and later as the Deputy Land Commissioner. In 1989, he entered private practice with the law firm McElroy & Sullivan, and he worked as a partner with the firm for over 30 years.

Stanley David Rosenberg died at the age of 89 on May 21, 2021. Rosenberg served in the Air Force as a JAG officer, providing legal services in the Air Force. He founded three successful law firms, was involved in the creation of many large businesses, and one of his biggest points of pride was his negotiation of the purchase of the New Orleans Saints by Tom Benson. Rosenberg was known for his great sense of humor, his magnetic personality, and charismatic storytelling.

Minor L. Helm, Jr., 83, passed away Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Helm was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals as well as Northern, Eastern and Western districts of Texas, and was especially proud to achieve the highest possible peer review rating in legal ability and ethical standards for 40 years. He practiced law in Waco for 53 years, he was a friend to all and a very humble man.

Broadus Autry Spivey died at home Saturday, May 8, 2021 with his beloved Texas Hill Country view. Spivey graduated with a B.A. in Government at UT in 1960, then a J.D. from Texas Law in 1962. During his 57 years of practice he tried more than 500 cases to a jury and 146 appellate cases, and mentored around 200 law clerks. He believed in—and counseled law clerks & students to adopt—four principles: honesty, humility, humor, and humanity.

Frank Wayne Calhoun, age 88, died April 24, 2021 in Austin, TX. Calhoun served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict from 1951-53. He began his legal career in 1959 with the firm of Lee Byrd and Guy Shaw which quickly expanded to become Byrd, Shaw, Weeks & Calhoun. He served as State Representative for Abilene (1967-75) and served as delegate to Texas’s Constitutional Convention in 1974. Calhoun was recruited by the Houston law firm of Liddell, Sapp, Zivley, Hill & LaBoon to serve Austin clients and finally moved to Austin to make it his permanent home.

Robert “Bob” Erle Wehmeyer, Jr. passed away on April 19, 2021. Wehmeyer was a double Longhorn who practiced law in San Antonio for more than 30 years with the firms of Groce, Locke & Hebdon and Baucum Steed Barker. More recently, he spent 15 years at Jefferson Bank, where he served as Division President, Jefferson Bank Trust. Philanthropically, Bob had served as president of the board at Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, president of the board of Friends of McNay, and on the board of Morningside Ministries.

Monty Clyde Barber of Dallas Texas, 89, passed Tuesday Nov. 17, 2020. He was a double Longhorn before serving in the U.S. Army from 1955 – 1957. His career included being partner at Biggers, Baker, Lloyd & Carver, Dallas, 1957-1967; vice president and general counsel at Liquid Paper Company, 1967-1968; executive vice president and general counsel at Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc., 1968-1989; and manager and trustee of the Mary Kay Foundation. He was a member of the American Bar Association, Texas Bar Association, Dallas Bar Association, Texas Exes Alumni Association and served as a member of the Texas Silver Spurs.

Marshall Joseph Day passed away on April 14, 2021 at age 74. Day spent most of his career practicing law with his father, Joe Day, Jr., in Fort Worth. Marshall Day’s clients could always count on his empathy, compassion, and his vigorous representation. His family and friends remember his persistent sense of humor, and his obsession with University of Texas athletics, especially football.

Leona Malmstrom Franklin of Houston passed away peacefully on April 2, 2021 at age 96. Franklin started college at Southwest Texas State University and then transferred to The University of Texas at Austin. She landed a job as legal secretary in the firm of Patterson and Patterson and the firm encouraged her to attend The University of Texas School of Law. She was admitted to the bar in 1950 and was successfully practicing law when she met and married the love of her life, Thomas Jennings Franklin.

Gillis Edward Reavis, age 62, passed away on Feb. 2, 2019. He was a successful trial attorney in Texas, eventually starting his own firm with law school friends. He chose to practice part-time when he was offered an adjunct position with the University of Texas School of Law to teach Texas Civil Procedure and Products Liability. In 1995 he joined the national law firm Morrison and Foerster, LLP.  He then co-founded two boutique environmental law firms and later joined Foster Pepper LLP. Reavis was most proud of his successful litigation protecting the Olympic National Park Wilderness Area as a pro-bono project.

Roy Quillin Minton passed away at the age of 89 in Austin, TX on March 25, 2021. Minton began his career in the Travis County District Attorney’s office and in 1963 opened a law firm with Perry Jones – which later became Minton, Burton, Foster and Collins. Although the firms’ primary passion and notoriety drew upon criminal cases, Minton and the firm later became well known for their representation of many high-profile and complex civil litigation matters. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Minton’s name to the Save Our Springs Alliance.

William Jeffrey Demarest passed away at the age of 74 on March 24, 2021, after a long battle with numerous illnesses. Demarest obtained his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at El Paso, and his law degree from Texas Law. Although he had his law degree he didn’t limit himself to the practice of law, instead he led a rather eclectic life, as the owner/operator of Wee Tam Head Shop, world traveler, survivor of a small plane crash in the hill country of Texas, avid canoer, and spent his final work years as a CNC computerized punch press programmer and operator in Providence, Rhode Island.

Emily Martha Calhoun passed away peacefully in her Boulder, CO home on March 27, 2021. She began her law career as a civil rights lawyer for the Southern Regional Office of the American Civil Liberties Union in Atlanta, GA. However, Calhoun’s major impact in law was as a teacher and mentor to hundreds of students in the classroom as an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Georgia Law School (5 years) and as an Associate Professor (11 years) and Professor of Law (24 years) at the University of Colorado Law School. While at the University of Colorado, she took leave from the Law School for three years to serve the university as an Associate Vice President for Human Resources.

Jeptha P. “Jep” Hill, Jr., age 78, passed peacefully in Austin, Texas, with family at his side on Jan. 10, after a long, progressive battle with corticobasal degeneration. CBD is a rare, prime-of-life brain disease with no known cause or cure, and it was Jep’s wish that his brain be donated to the Mayo Clinic Brain Trust for research. He practiced law with Kleberg, Dyer, Redford & Weil Heron then with Burchette, Ruckert & Rothwell before starting Austin Linux Group in the ’90s. Hill was also a contributing editor of the Texas Natural Resources Reporter.

Robert E. Icenhauer-Ramirez graduated from Texas A&M University and then from Texas Law at at age 23. He practiced law for 40 years, first in Port Arthur, Texas, and later as an attorney for the City of Austin. He supported Texas Law’s Dean’s Scholarship Excellence Fund. Icenhauer-Ramirez eventually pursued his dream of becoming a historian, receiving his doctorate degree in history in 2014 from UT Austin. He published a book in 2019, Treason on Trial: The United States v. Jefferson Davis, through LSU press. His greatest aspiration came true when he was able to teach history at UT. Memorial donations may be made to the Dr. Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez Memorial Endowment in the Department of History at the UT Austin.

Jamie Clayton Boyd passed away at the age of 91 on the Feb. 5, 2021. During his legal career he served as Assistant City attorney, City of Austin, Assistant County Attorney of El Paso County. Boyd was elected State District Attorney for the 13th District of Texas. In 1997, he was appointed United States District Attorney for the Western District of Texas by President Jimmy Carter. Boyd also served two terms as United States Magistrate for the Western District of Texas.

Bruce Dixie Smith passed away peacefully in Houston, Texas on Feb. 21, 2021. Smith was a double Longhorn, having earned his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Texas in Austin. He joined the firm of Fulbright and Jaworski out of law school and was made partner in 1975. He was proud to be the first Fulbright attorney to win a case in front of the United States Supreme Court in 1974. Smith retired from the firm in 1997. Donations in Dixie’s memory may be made to any animal or homeless shelter, Meals on Wheels, Houston Food Bank or the charity of your choice.

Charles Rutherford Meeker III passed away at the age of 78 on Feb. 18, 2021. After graduating from Texas Law, Meeker moved to Los Angeles to clerk for Judge Walter Ely. He joined O’Melveny & Myers and rose to partner working in the business and later the entertainment divisions. In the 1980s, he co-founded Feldman/Meeker Entertainment and produced major motion pictures for nearly a decade. He returned to entertainment law as a partner at White & Case, where he successfully represented Credit Lyonnais in their effort to regain control of Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Meeker then served as MGM’s President from 1991-93, overseeing MGM’s transition to stable financial footing.

James F. “Jim” Rogers, an advocate for the city of Dallas who contributed countless hours to local organizations, died on Feb. 15, after battling cancer. He was 73.
Rogers was a graduate of Baylor University and Texas Law. He worked as a CPA before founding Ameripro Industries and was known as an ardent and inspirational activist. He ran for Dallas City Council for the District 14 seat in 2013.

Larry E. McCarver died on Feb. 6, 2021, at his home in Newport, Rhode Island, surrounded by his family. McCarver grew up in Corsicana, Texas, and kept in close touch with high school friends throughout his life. A double Longhorn, he earned a BA in History and a JD at Texas Law. He earned his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona and eventually moved his family to Newport where he made career in international sales for 45 years with TACO Comfort Solutions. The family asks you to celebrate Larry’s life by loving your family with all your heart, making friends and family laugh; sneaking treats to your dog; and being patient, kind, and loving.

Peter Michael Lowry died on Jan. 31, 2021 in Austin, TX. He is survived by his beloved wife, Mary Markley Lowry. A double-Longhorn, he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1964 and his JD in 1968. Pete served as a briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas and then practiced law for nine years with the Austin firm McGinnis, Lochridge and Kilgore. In 1977 he was appointed by Gov. Dolph Briscoe as judge of the 261st District Court of Travis County and was re-elected to five four-year terms. Lowry served as a Local Administrative Judge for seven years. After retiring from the bench, he practiced dispute resolution in the firm of Meyers, Lowry and Coates.

Mary Louise Porter Bailey died of ALS on Feb. 11, 2021 at home with her devoted family by her side. Bailey grew up in Buda, Texas, attended Duke University and then graduated from The University of Texas School of Law. She then moved to Houston in 1979 to practice law and was named partner at her firm. After moving back to Austin, in 2004 she assumed the role of Director of Alumni Relations at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School and retired in 2017. Bailey is survived by her husband of 39 years, Scott Field Bailey, Jr.

Cecil Augustus “C.A.” Edwards, Jr. was born in Phoenix, Arizona 89 years ago and died Feb. 3, 2021. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps to serve abroad, flying fighter jets from aircraft carriers. After leaving the service Edwards earned his JD from the University of Texas School of Law, at which point he returned to Phoenix for good. He practiced law in Arizona for over 50 years, primarily representing injured workers with claims before the Industrial Commission.

Joy M. Thomas, passed away in Oct. 22, 2020. Although she never married or had children, she spent her life as a civil servant both in her career practicing Disability and Family Law and as an advisor for her sorority. Girls Inc. of Tarrant County established the Joy Thomas Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor a bright and compassionate leader in the Fort Worth community.

Robert Hamilton Walls, Sr., died peacefully surrounded by family on Jan. 21, 2021, at the age of 89. Upon discharge from the Army, Walls became an Assistant Attorney General in the Texas Attorney General’s office in Austin. He continued his legal career at Barrow, Bland & Rehmet and then moved to Vinson & Elkins, where he developed an expertise in Oil and Gas Law. Walls eventually went to work with his good friend Wayne Dotson at Foreman & Dyess, and ultimately retired from Jackson & Walker after 51 years of practicing law. The family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions be directed toward The Robert H. and Anita H. Walls Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Law at Texas Law (http://links.utexas.edu/cvahngj).

Robert Edwin Edwards passed away peacefully on Jan. 18, 2021. Edwards started his legal career with Lone Star Gas Company in Dallas, Texas, and ended his career over 30 decades working with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in Dallas. While with the AAFES, he created and directed their Worker Compensation Division for many years until his retirement in 2005. Edwards was a dedicated member and Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Texas, Hillcrest No. 1318 for over 50 years, volunteering many hours at Scottish Rite Hospital. Memorials may be sent to The Boys and Girls Club of Falls County.

James Bailey Howard passed away peacefully at the age of 79 on Jan. 9, 2021. He served in the Army as a First Lieutenant and was subsequently deployed to South Korea for one year. After receiving his law degree from Texas Law in 1968, Howard went to work as a tax attorney for Coopers & Lybrand. By 1974, he had moved to Austin and spent the majority of his adult career as the chief financial officer of a restaurant chain. Memorial contributions may be made to a church or organization of choice.

Charles Nathan Curry passed away on Jan.21, 2021, surrounded by his loving family. He began his career at Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff, & Miller in Fort Worth, TX where he became a partner and practiced for 50 years. He was a member of the State Bar of Texas and served as both Chair and Vice-Chair of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Section’s Financial Institutions Committee. He was a Life Fellow and served on the Legal Forms Committee and the Business Law section of the State Bar of Texas. Curry was also a founding member of the Texas Association of Bank Counsel and served two terms as Director. He was a member of the the U.S. Court of Appeals Northern District of Texas. Curry was Of Counsel for Bonds Ellis Eppich Schafer Jones law firm.

Earle Plain Martin III passed away at the age of 65 on Dec. 31, 2020, after battling complications from COVID-19. He graduated from Texas Law in 1980 and joined Vinson & Elkins as a lawyer in the Business, Real Estate and Energy group, led by the late Rush Record. After three years at Vinson & Elkins, Martin chose to move away from practicing law and started his own private air charter, laying the foundation for a three-decades-long career.

Felix Johnathan Burton, Jr., passed away on Jan. 21, 2021, from health complications while battling cancer. Burton graduated from Texas Law in 1965 and held memberships in the Texas Bar Association and the CPA Society. He had a multi-faceted and successful career in the banking and manufacturing industries, while starting an accounting firm early in his career. Burton semi-retired from his Houston company, Champion Hi-Tech, in 2011, to enjoy his home on acreage in Chappell Hill.

Frank Madison Gilstrap passed away on Jan. 17, 2021 in Austin, TX, at the age of 78. During a career spanning more than 40 years, Gilstrap handled over 200 appeals and argued cases before the United States Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, five Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, and 12 Texas Courts of Appeal. He enjoyed his work immensely and filed his last appellate brief days before his death.

James Steele Moore passed away on Jan. 12, 2021. He was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1954 and served in such capacity until his term expired in 1958. Moore then moved to Lubbock, TX, to join the law firm of Clifford, Blanchard and Summers where he practiced law for approximately 10 years. In 1962, with a group of other businessmen and farmers, Moore founded the Wolfforth State Bank, now known as The American Bank of Commerce. He served as Chairman of the board of the bank since its organization and remained active throughout his career. Moore’s other banking activities include co-ownership of the First National Bank of Tahoka from 1964 to 1974.

Edmund Richardson Yates passed away at 93 in Dallas, TX. Yates served in an Army before going to law school. In 1951, he earned a law degree from The University of Texas Law School and relocated to Dallas to practice law. In 1953, he joined Jack Brady and Ed Drake to form Brady, Drake and Yates Law Firm. Yates was a longtime member of First Baptist in Dallas, serving as a deacon. Ed practiced law until 1962, when he made the decision to join his in-law’s family restaurant, Highland Park Cafeteria.

James Augustus Gray, 96, of Caldwell, TX, passed away peacefully on Dec. 17, 2020. Gray was a lifelong member of the Texas Exes and was a licensed attorney and a member of the State Bar of Texas for 65 years. He maintained a general law practice in Burleson County for 63 years, representing many clients. Gray also served as the County Attorney for Burleson County for 30 years and the City Attorney of Caldwell for 60 years. He served as the president of the Caldwell Recreational Association for 15 years. Gray was also the charter director and secretary of the Burleson County Industrial Foundation, charter director of the Thomas L. Goodnight Memorial Hospital Corporation, and director of the First State Bank of Caldwell.

Patrick Alton Hudson, 87, of Dallas, TX, passed away on Nov. 28, 2020, after battling with Alzheimer’s and the coronavirus. After graduating from Texas Law in 1967, Hudson served as Director of the Dallas Legal Aid Society. He served as Council for the Environmental Protection Agency and Principle Regional Council for Health and Human Services. Hudson built a very successful 20-year private practice and retired at 75.

Virginia Gross passed away on Dec. 9, 2020, in Shawnee, KS, at the age of 56. She spent much of her career at Polsinelli in Kansas City as an attorney and partner. Specializing in tax-exempt organizations law and nonprofit governance, Gross was a frequent speaker on nonprofit law topics around the country and has written many publications on tax-exempt law topics. Gross was listed in Best Lawyers in America® for Nonprofit Organizations/Charities Law for 2008-2021 and was named the 2017 Non-Profit/Charities “Lawyer of the Year” for Kansas City. She also provided extensive pro bono legal services to many.

John Harmon Bennett, Jr., 73, died peacefully on Dec. 27, 2020, after an 18-month battle with ALS. He earned his B.A. from The University of Texas in 1969, and in 1972, graduated top of his class from Texas Law where he served on Law Review. After law school, Harmon took up a job at Fulbright and Jaworski. He then helped found a law firm, and over time it evolved into other firms. He rounded his career out as a solo practitioner, concentrating on general civil litigation and international business transactions and, for 37 years, Harmon was an involved member of the International Lawyers Group (ILG) where he served as secretary and then president. He was widely known for being a creative attorney who was sought after as a mentor.

Nathan B. Schattman died Dec. 28, 2020, of a heart attack. Even before he was born, Schattman was in the courtroom, his family said. He was the son of Judge Michael D. Schattman and Mary Ellen Brannigan Schattman, and during his mother’s pregnancy, Mary Ellen was fired from her job for simply being pregnant. He was part of the Schattman in Schattman v Texas Employment Commission case, when his parents sued for the right to work while pregnant. The case was handled by a then-new ACLU lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Schattman followed in his father’s footsteps, graduating The University of Texas Law School in 1994 and serving as an attorney at Brown, Proctor & Howell LLP.

John Timberman “Tim” Carssow, died at home in North Carolina of pancreatic cancer on Dec. 12, 2020. Carssow graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio in 1967 and The University of Texas School of Law in 1970, where he was Project Editor of the Texas Law Review. He spent his entire 36-year legal career with the Atlanta law firm Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton. During his tenure as Managing Partner (1996-2001) Carssow led the firm (then known as Kilpatrick and Cody) in its 1997 merger with the North Carolina firm of Petree, Stockton & Robinson.

Oscar Alaniz Palacios, 75, died in December 2020 at his home in San Juan, TX, after a long battle with cancer. He was a proud Longhorn, graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with an BS in Political Science in 1969 and the University of Texas School of Law, receiving his JD in 1971. Palacios inspired generations in his family as a lifelong Longhorn fan and a Texas Ex. Oscar began his law career in 1972 with the F.B. Godinez law firm in Lubbock, Texas. He then founded his own law firm in 1974 in Pharr, TX, practicing law for 48 years.

Carl Olaf Bue, Jr., a retired judge of the U.S. District Court in Houston, died peacefully on Dec. 24, 2020. He was 98. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bue received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Northwestern University in 1951 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Texas School of Law in 1954. He served in the US Army Adjutant General’s Department in WWII. In 1970, Pres. Richard Nixon appointed Carl Bue a US District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, where he served for 17 years before retiring in 1987. The family requests with gratitude that memorial gifts be directed to the Judge Carl O. Bue, Jr. Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Law at The University of Texas School of Law: https://tinyurl.com/utlaw-carlbue

Lynn Rogers Coleman died November 13th, 2020 at the age of 81. He was a prominent lawyer in Washington, D.C., recognized as an energy policy expert in and outside of the federal government. He was general counsel and deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. Chris Miller, president of the Piedmont Environmental Council, describes Lynn as someone who “had a deep and passionate interest in the issues of energy, the environment and practical solutions to climate change.”

Robert (Gordon) Gooch, a longtime Washington lawyer and former Law Clerk of Chief Justice Earl Warren, died at age 86 on September 23, 2020. Gooch graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1956, served two years as an officer in the US Army on the mostly peaceful Korean DMZ, and went on to the University of Texas Law School where he was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Law Review. He opened the Washington office of Baker & Botts, and later his own firm, Travis & Gooch. Although his focus was on energy law, he has had a long career with a variety of colorful engagements, such as representing the first hacker of a commercial aircraft and defending a pirate captain.