Class Notes

Gilbert Prud’homme passed away on May 24, 2024. Prud’homme worked as an attorney in Austin for six decades and devoted time to serving his community.

Jack Maroney II passed away on May 18, 2024. A United States Marine Corps veteran, was the last survivor of the Marine Detachment that served on the USS Enterprise (“Big E”) during WWII. Maroney completed law school after the war and worked for multiple law firms over a 50-year career.

Mike Cotten passed away on May 25, 2024. Cotten played varsity football for the University of Texas before serving in the US Marine Corps and building a successful 42-year career in the practice of law with Clark, Thomas Law Firm.

Joel P. Kay passed away May 16, 2024. Kay began his professional career as a lawyer in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice before becoming assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Texas, then name partner at Sheinfeld, Maley and Kay, P.C. where he worked for more than three decades. He spent the remainder of his legal career as of counsel at Hughes Watters Askanase.

William Harris Connor, “Bill”, passed away on May 5, 2024. An active member of the Georgetown community, Connor served as District Attorney for the 26th Judicial District, Georgetown City Council member for three terms, and Mayor for one term.

Jesse Heber Coomer passed away on May 18, 2024. A diligent attorney, Coomer served as chief counsel for the Universities Research Associates, Inc., Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory. He also was appointed by the Secretary of State, George P. Shultz, as the contract manager for E-Systems, Inc. in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Michael McLeaish passed away March 15, 2024. McLeaish opened his own practice in Odessa, Texas, in 1970 and celebrated 53 years of active practice last September.

Alphonso Ragland lll, “Fonse,” passed away on May 13, 2024. Ragland served as a Judge Advocate Officer, JAG, in the United States Air Force stationed in New York until June 1967. From there, Ragland moved back to Dallas to practice law before working as a stockbroker for more than 50 years.

Janet Carl passed away on May 4, 2024. Carl worked in environmental law before retiring to live near family and give back to her community through charitable giving.

John Varner passed away on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Varner practiced law at three different firms, and co-founded Genprex, Inc., a biotechnology company fighting cancer and diabetes. He served as Genprex’s president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors.

Thomas “Tom” Renfro passed away on Sunday, May 5, 2024. A double Longhorn, Renfro  practiced law in Ft. Worth as a litigator and medical malpractice defense attorney during his more-than-50-year career.

Mark Burroughs passed away on May 2, 2024. His legal career was based in Denton where he practiced business law, personal injury and property tax collection at his real estate law firm, Sawko & Burroughs. Burroughs also served as a city council member and mayor of Denton from 2008-2014.

James G. Ulmer passed away on April 16, 2024. He practiced law for 40 years with the firm of Baker Botts LLP in the field of general litigation with emphasis on intellectual property, bankruptcy, and oil and gas law. Ulmer, who also was an Air Force veteran, retired as a senior partner in 1990.

Roy Laughton Whitehead Jr. passed away on April 24, 2024. Based in Longview, his legal career grew from a start in the Gregg County District Attorney’s Office to joining his father’s practice. Eventually, Whitehead built a boutique firm that focused on family law until retiring in 2020.

Samuel Sipes passed away on April 14, 2024. A U.S. Army veteran, Sipes was a practicing attorney in El Paso, focusing on bankruptcy, business law and commercial law.

Henry Lee Caldwell passed away on April 18, 2024. Caldwell was an attorney, rancher and a founding director of Hospice of Abilene.

Harry Lee Hudspeth passed away April 7, 2024. After working for the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Hudspeth was appointed to the federal judiciary by President Jimmy Carter and served as a federal judge in Texas until 2016.

Carl Parker passed away on March 22, 2024. After serving as a Judge Advocate General in  in the U.S. Navy, Parker joined the law firm Long and Parker (now the Parker Law Firm) in Port Arthur. He went on to serve 34 years as a member of the Texas Legislature, starting in the House of Representatives in 1962 and later in the Texas Senate, where he served until 1995.

Thomas John “T.J.” Collins passed away March 23, 2024. Collins, a transactional attorney who specialized in mergers & acquisitions, was an associate editor of the Texas Law Review while in law school. His legal career was based in Dallas, first at Kirkland & Ellis, then at Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers PLLC (FDLaw).

William Neal Blanton III passed away on March 12, 2024. Following his graduation from Texas Law, Blanton went into private practice with Butler Binion and later worked at Exxon Mobil.

Paul Alexander passed away on March 11, 2024. Alexander was an accomplished lawyer, author, and paralytic polio survivor, gaining recognition for being the last living man in an iron lung.

Mark S. Partin passed away Feb. 26, 2024. Partin was a successful disability rights attorney licensed to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court, several Circuit Courts, and the Federal Court, and spent his career representing and educating individuals with disabilities and their families.

Glen A. Rosenbaum passed away on Feb. 28, 2024. Rosenbaum was a double Longhorn and a celebrated attorney at Vinson & Elkins since 1973, where he worked until his passing.

John Wesley Tunnell passed away Feb. 15, 2024. Dedicated to criminal defense, Tunnell served as an assistant district attorney, general counsel to the Texas Secretary of State, and general counsel for the first Texas Ethics Commission before returning to private practice.

Campbell Houston “Cam” Gillespie III passed away on Feb. 24, 2024. A double Longhorn with a bachelor’s degree in history, he practiced law alongside his father, Campbell H. Gillespie, Jr., for many years. The practice focused on real estate, will/trusts/probate and school law; Gillespie retired in 2020.

Norvell Ford “N.F.” Jackson passed away on Feb. 9, 2024. Atter working in his family business, Jackson dedicated himself to 23 years of service in the Navy, followed by an additional four years in the judicial system as the Superior Court administrator, county clerk, and court commissioner in Bellingham, Washington.

Franklin D. Houser passed away on Feb. 6, 2024. An Army veteran, Houser spent the first decade of his career at a San Antonio defense firm before starting his own firm, Tinsman and Houser. Houser, who was featured in the first edition of “The Best Lawyers in America,” opened a winery after retiring from his legal career.

Ken Glaser passed away on Feb. 23, 2024. Glaser was a dedicated attorney, establishing his own patent and trademark law firm and in 2001 joining Gardere until his retirement in 2021.

The Hon. John E. Clark passed away on Feb. 13, 2024. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Clark served as a federal prosecutor, state appellate judge, and author of a non-fiction bestseller and a number of law journals.

Scott D. Simmons has passed away. Simmons was an assistant attorney general, and later, senior counsel for the State of Texas.

Linda Lee Aaker passed away on Feb. 15, 2024. Aaker spent a decade in the Texas Attorney General’s Office, then was a partner at Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever & McDaniel before being appointed to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

C. Albert Tatum passed away Feb. 6, 2024. After serving at Locke, Purnell, Boren, Laney and Neely law firm, Tatum became an investor in shopping centers and later a financial adviser.

Sander “Sandy” Shapiro passed away Feb. 10, 2024. As the first tax lawyer in Austin, Shapiro was hugely influential in the development of sales tax, use tax and franchise tax law in Texas. In 2015, he was named Outstanding Tax Lawyer and heralded as a “Texas Tax Legend” by the Texas State Bar Tax Section.

Louis Taylor passed away on Jan. 21, 2024. Taylor served as the chief counsel and staff director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and was responsible for enacting key policies benefiting American small business owners.

Rene Oliveira passed away on Jan. 23, 2023. Oliveria was a former state lawmaker who served in the Legislature from 1982 to 2019, and helped establish the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine.

Gordon Jones passed away Nov. 14, 2023. Jones—who had stints working in accounting and real estate after practicing law in Austin—will be remembered for his brilliant mind, wisdom informed by experience, absolute love for learning, compassion for others, loyalty, and insightful wit.

Judge Harriet Mitchell Murphy has passed away. A friend of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Justice Thurgood Marshall, Murphy was considered a legend by many for her trailblazing activism and her role as the first African-American woman permanently appointed to a judgeship in Texas. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, gifts be made to the Judge Harriet Murphy Memorial Scholarship in Law.

Sam G. Croom Jr. passed away on Jan. 13, 2023. A Navy veteran, Croom went on to practice at Baker Botts until his retirement as a partner in 1993.

Jerry Johnson passed away on Jan. 4, 2023. Johnson practiced law in Dallas for nearly 50 years, specializing in commercial real estate.

Jerry L. Adams passed away Jan. 6, 2024. He spent his 41-year legal career with Greer Herz & Adams L.L.P. and was the firm’s managing partner for many years. While at Texas Law, Adams was honored as a Chancellor and was associate editor of the Texas Law Review.

Jennifer Monday Goldman passed away Jan. 6, 2024. Goldman served Texas Law and Texas Development as Director of Gift and Estate Planning. Previously, she practiced law at Vinson & Elkins before transitioning to a career in financial planning and estate law.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made to the Jennifer Monday Goldman Memorial Scholarship at Texas Law fund established to support excellence and access for Texas Law Scholars, a goal near and dear to Jenn’s heart and professional work.

John Davis “JD” Head Jr. passed away Dec. 11, 2023. Head served as a director of the Legal Division and general counsel of the Texas Environmental Regulatory Agency before becoming a senior partner at Fritz, Byrne, Head & Gilstrap, PLLC.

James Hammett, Jr. passed away on Dec. 31, 2023. Hammett was a highly regarded oil and gas litigator, and managing partner at Stubbeman, McRae, Sealy, Laughlin, and Browder.

Diana Lynn Holt passed away on Dec. 18, 2023. Holt had an accomplished 30-year career representing indigent death-sentenced inmates, resulting in recognition by national and local media outlets.

Janice Pardue passed away on Dec. 21, 2023. Pardue was a celebrated family lawyer,  selected by her peers as a Super Lawyer and serving as chair of the HBA Family Law Section, Gulf Coast Family Lawyers, the Collaborative Law Section and Association of Women Attorneys.

George M. Callahan passed away on Dec. 21, 2023. Callahan was a domestic lawyer for more than 30 years and served as the state chair of the Arkansas Chapter of Ducks Unlimited.

Richard “Rickey” Witte Alexander passed away Nov. 26, 2023. Alexander practiced law for nearly 40 years, during which time he specialized in civil litigation and served as a mentor to many young attorneys.

Richard “Rick” C. King passed away on Nov. 27, 2023. King was a double Longhorn who previously worked at Baker Botts and as a partner at Munsch Hardt, before joining the King Law Group in 2011.

Edward Kellenberger passed away on Dec. 10, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Kellenberger was a successful real estate lawyer for more than 40 years, spending a large part of his career with the law firm of Newcomer & Douglass in Colorado and eventually opening his own firm.

Donald Frank “Don” Schofield passed away on Dec. 2, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Schofield served as a city judge for Amarillo and practiced law in the Panhandle of Texas until retirement.