Ellis J. Ortego passed away on Jan. 27, 2022 at the age of 79. Ortego practiced law for 52 years, specializing in municipal law, family law, probate law, real estate law, and and estate planning. He started his own law firm, which later became a family business once his wife and daughter joined. Ortega also served on the Grievance Committee for the State Bar of Texas.
Robert Gene “Rusty” Russell passed away on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. Russell graduated from law school in 1970, served in the Air Force, and had a long legal career, including serving as an administrative law judge for the State of Texas and teaching law at a local college.
Wardlow Lane passed away at age 81 on Jan. 13, 2022 after a lengthy illness. After graduating from law school in 1968, Lane worked as an assistant attorney general under Texas attorney general John L. Hill. He later opened his own practices in Center, Texas and Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
David Ray Finney, former Tarrant County attorney and legislator, passed away on Jan. 18, 2022 at age 88. Finney earned his Bachelor of Laws in 1958, followed by a three-year stint in the Air Force as Assistant Staff Judge Advocate. He worked as an assistant city attorney for the City of Fort Worth and at a number of small law firms. Finney also represented Tarrant County in the House of Representatives from 1962 until 1977.
John G. Minniece passed away on Jan. 10, 2022 at the age of 88. He was a double Longhorn who graduated with his Bachelor of Laws in 1960, after serving in the Marine Corps. Minniece practiced oil and gas, banking, and real estate law.
C. Kenneth Roberts, former Chair of the UT Law School Foundation, Life Trustee, colleague and friend, passed away on Jan. 9, 2022. Roberts earned his JD in 1951 and his Master in Law in 1953. He then served in the US Army before a long, distinguished career in law. He rose to be Vice President and General Counsel of Exxon Corporation and retired in 1995. He was honored for his service to the legal community as Texas Law’s Outstanding Alumnus in 1993. Memorial contributions may be made to The Cary & Kenneth Roberts Endowment for Excellence Scholarship.
Marvin Boyd Shannon learned golf after he lost his eyesight at age 13. He made history by winning the world’s blind golf championship at Rockwood golf course in Fort Worth, Texas in 1941.
Perry Joe Radoff, age 81, of Houston, Texas died on Jan. 3, 2022, after a prolonged illness. He began his legal career at Dow Cogburn & Friedman before going into private practice. Radoff was board certified in the practice of Probate and Real Estate law and worked at Bernstein Radoff Trachtenberg and Sarofim for the remainder of his legal career.
Colonel Herbert Green died on Dec. 27, 2021 in North Richland Hills, Texas. Green served over 27 years in the U.S. Army, culminating his military judicial career as Chief Judge, 3rd Judicial Circuit, Fort Hood, Texas until he retired in 1994. He took on a second career as an Administrative Law Judge for the Social Security Administration until his retirement in 2019.
John Blaine McAdams died on Dec. 25, 2021 at age 74. After graduation, McAdams became an associate with the Strasburger & Price law firm in Dallas. Later, he practiced law with the Vinson & Elkins and Kelly, Hart & Hallman law firms. His career passion became representing major league baseball teams.
Henry Paul Giessel, age 94, passed away on Dec. 16, 2021 in El Paso, Texas. He served in World War II in the United States Army before entering law school where he was editor of The University of Texas Law Review. He practiced in Houston for over 60 years and distinguished himself as a trial lawyer not only in Texas, but also across the country.
The late Zachary Barker Chittick has been honored and memorialized with an endowment fund in his name to benefit Valley Youth House in Pennsylvania.
The Hon. Sarah Weddington—whose work as a trailblazing lawyer, beloved professor, and dedicated public servant has left a formidable legacy—passed away the morning of Dec. 26, 2021 at age 76. Weddington, who at 26, just over three years out of law school, successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Paul Heermans Smith passed away on Dec. 10, 2021. After graduation from law school, Paul enlisted in the US Navy, and qualified for Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. For his last year of active duty, he was assigned to the Fleet Training Center in San Diego, CA where he taught Military Justice. After his assignment in San Diego, instead of returning to El Paso, he led his family to San Antonio where he joined the law firm of Cox, Patterson & Smith on Feb. 1, 1955. He practiced law with the same firm and its successors until his retirement in 2010.
Donald Lawrence Davis, 82, passed away peacefully on Dec. 8, 2021 in Austin, Texas. After college, he declined an offer to try out for the Baltimore Colts, and instead earned a JD at Texas Law. He clerked for Justice Mead Griffith at the Texas Supreme Court before joining the firm of Byrd, Davis, Eisenberg and Clark in 1966. He stayed with the firm for the duration of his 53 year legal career. At the age of 28, he argued the landmark case of Powell v. Texas in the United States Supreme Court. At that time, he was the youngest attorney to have appeared and argued a case before the Supreme Court.
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.