Memorials
Submit a memorial at texasbar.com/memorials or call (512) 427-1830. For information on closing a deceased attorney’s practice, go to www.texasbarcle.com/materials/closingapractice.html.
JAMES PRICE WALLACE
Wallace, 89, of Austin, died
April 17, 2017. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1948, he
received his law degree from the University of Houston College of Law
and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1957. Wallace worked in private
practice in Houston from 1957 to 1975 and served as the state senator
for District 6 from 1971 to 1974, having been senate president pro
tempore for the 63rd Legislature and Texas Governor for a Day on
September 7, 1974. He was judge of the 215th District Court in Harris
County from 1975 to 1978; an associate justice on the 1st Court of
Appeals in Houston from 1978 to 1980; an associate justice on the Texas
Supreme Court from 1981 to 1988; and an attorney with Soules &
Wallace in Austin from 1988 until his retirement. From 1992 to 1993,
Wallace served on the Texas Railroad Commission. He is survived by his
wife of 62 years, Martha; son, attorney James Jr.; daughter, attorney
Jill; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
NEILYN GRIGGS MALONEY
Maloney, 87, of Austin, died
March 2, 2017. She received her law degree from the University of Texas
School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1967. Maloney worked
for Stayton, Maloney, Hearne and Babb and was then a senior attorney for
the Texas Department of State Health Services from 1970 until her
retirement in 1990. She served on the Juvenile Board of the Travis
County Citizens Advisory Committee, performed legal and humanitarian
work for Austin area kidney and dialysis organizations, and supported
the Amarillo Children’s Home. Maloney is remembered for her passion for
horses, dogs, and cats and her love of reading, history, science, and
law.
MELINDA DOREEN TUCKER
Tucker, 60, of San Antonio,
died January 17, 2017. She received her law degree from St. Mary’s
University School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1991.
Tucker was an assistant city attorney for San Antonio from 1991 to 2002
and a hearing officer for the Texas Workforce Commission in San Antonio
from 2002 until her death. Tucker is remembered for her passion for
national politics, great sense of humor, and love of cooking. She is
survived by her brother, Michael.
THOMAS AYLMER DWYER
McNEESE
McNeese, 76, of Houston, died
March 14, 2017. He received his law degree from the University of Texas
School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1965. McNeese was an
attorney with Fulbright, Crooker, Freeman, Bates & Jaworski, now
Norton Rose Fulbright, where he headed the firm’s Mexico desk,
eventually learning Spanish and receiving an additional law degree from
the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He became one of the first
foreign-born attorneys licensed to practice law in Mexico after
petitioning the country’s Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
McNeese was an attorney with Bremer, Quintana, Vaca, Rocha, Obregón
& Mancera; a partner in Goodrich, Dalton, Little & Riquelme; and
founded his own firm Sesma, Sesma & McNeese. He also served on the
board of several multinational companies, worked for the U.S.
government, and was president of the American Benevolent Society in
Mexico City. McNeese is remembered for being an extraordinary father,
husband, grandfather, and human being. He is survived by his wife of
nearly 48 years, Nancy Ellen Dalton McNeese; son, Thomas Aylmer Dwyer
McNeese II; sister, Margaret Carter McNeese; and one grandson.
RICHARD EMORY McGARY
McGary, 61, of Richardson, died
October 9, 2015. He received his law degree from Texas Tech University
School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1985. McGary spent
over 25 years handling complex litigation and as national counsel for
several major consumer electronics manufacturers, advising clients on
issues of product liability, consumer product safety, and risk
management. He was a member of the State Bar of Texas Insurance Law and
Litigation sections, the Dallas Bar Association, and the International
Association of Arson Investigators. He is remembered for being an avid
fly fisherman, collecting and enjoying art and wine, and cooking and
blogging about gourmet food. McGary is survived by his wife of eight
years, Elia Hernandez McGary; sons, Robert Thaddeus, Richard Emory,
Matthew Everett, and Daniel Evan; daughter, Laura Elizabeth; father,
Lester Eugene McGary Jr.; and brothers, Lester Eugene McGary III and
John Edward McGary.
CHARLES MARK STYRON
Styron, 54, of Plano, died December
19, 2016. He received his law degree from Texas Wesleyan University
School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 2012. After college,
Styron joined the Dallas Police Department, and in 1987, he was named a
special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, working in the
Dallas Field Division for 14 years. He became fluent in Spanish and
completed U.S. Army Ranger School before taking overseas assignments in
Bolivia, Costa Rica, Belize, and Colombia as a group supervisor of the
Heroin Task Force. Following his return to Dallas in 2008, Styron served
as a group supervisor and then operational commander for the
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, an inspector with the
Office of Professional Responsibility, and assistant special agent in
charge at the Dallas Field Division. He is remembered for his devotion
to God and his family and for his love of cycling, skiing, and hiking.
Styron is survived by his wife of 29 years, Christine; son, John;
daughters, Alison and Sydney; and sisters, Deborah Styron, Geri
Rosendahl, and Kimberly Estes.
ROBERT JAMES FORD
Ford, 53, of San Antonio, died
December 27, 2016. He received his law degree from St. Mary’s University
School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1997. Ford was an
attorney with Alworth & Ford from 1997 to 2004 and with Ford &
Laurel from 2007 until his death. He is remembered for his kindness and
love of fishing. Ford’s children were his world. He is survived by his
wife, attorney Sandra Laurel Ford; sons, Jarvis and Zach; mother,
Patricia; and sisters, Kathy Larson, Jackie Pfeifer, Mary Beth Hintz,
Peggy Rumping, and Patty Starr.
MASSIE TILLMAN
Tillman, 79, of Fort Worth, died
December 25, 2016. He received his law degree from Baylor Law School and
was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1961. Tillman was a trial lawyer for 26
years, representing clients on both sides of the docket and publishing a
book, Tillman’s Trial Guide, on torts and compensation law in
Texas. He later served as judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division for 14 years; started a
mediation and arbitration business in Fort Worth; was certified as a
hearing examiner for the Texas Education Agency; and presided over
numerous condemnation cases as a special commissioner for Tarrant
County, including some that paved the way for the new Dallas Cowboys
stadium, now called AT&T Stadium, in Arlington. Tillman was a fellow
of the Texas Bar Foundation, a founding member of both the Fort Worth
Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Tarrant County
Trial Lawyers Association, and a member of the Tarrant County Bar
Association. He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Karen; son, Jeff;
daughter, Holly Cornelius; and brother, Joe.
VINCENT F. EWELL JR.
Ewell, 74, of Evergreen, Colorado,
died April 13, 2017. He served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969. Ewell
received his law degree from Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College
of William & Mary, was a member of the Virginia Bar, and was
admitted to the Texas Bar in 1989. He was general counsel to Newport
News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., now Newport News Shipbuilding;
vice president and assistant general counsel to the company’s
then-parent corporation Tenneco in Houston; and vice president and
general counsel to Tenneco Energy until his retirement in 1996 when it
merged with El Paso Energy Corp. Ewell spent his final years in London,
England, and Evergreen, traveling extensively, taking classes in a broad
range of subjects, and always striving to improve his understanding of
the world and the people in it. He is survived by his wife of 22 years,
attorney Margaret.
ROBERT W. AMIS
Amis, 80, of Dallas, died February 25,
2017. He received his law degree from the University of Texas School of
Law, was a member of the Oklahoma Bar, and was admitted to the Texas Bar
in 1962. For 30 years, Amis practiced law in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
primarily as a civil trial lawyer. He handled a variety of civil cases
as a solo practitioner, associate, and partner in firms both large and
small, including Pierce, Couch, Hendrickson, Johnston & Baysinger,
now Pierce, Couch, Hendrickson, Baysinger & Green; Reynolds &
Ridings; and Garrett, Pool, Amis, & Coldiron. Over his career, Amis
served as the assistant county attorney of Denton County, Lewisville
city judge, and an adjunct professor of commercial law at Oklahoma City
University School of Law. In 1995, Amis relocated his practice to Collin
and Dallas counties where he worked until retirement. His mentoring
instructed and inspired many legal interns and influenced three family
members to enter the profession. Amis is remembered for his cheerful
love of his clients and fellow advocates and his lifelong passion for
good music, which included skill at several instruments and an
outstanding voice in all forms from church choirs to folk music. He is
survived by his wife, attorney Dorothy “Sissie” Johnston Amis;
daughters, Sharon “Astra” White, attorney Cynthia Franklin, and Marilyn
Chladil; brother, attorney Mike; five grandchildren; and three
great-grandchildren.
BRUCE HUGHES
Hughes, 79, of Austin, died April 10,
2017. He received his law degree from Baylor Law School and was admitted
to the Texas Bar in 1963. Hughes started his legal career working for
the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in Austin; served as assistant
secretary of state from 1973 to 1976; was a tax manager for Alyeska
Pipeline Corporation from 1976 to 1978; and was a tax manager for
Tenneco and then a public relations representative for Gulf Oil from
1978 to 1982. He moved into private practice in 1982, where he
specialized in family law until 2003. After retiring from law full time,
Hughes volunteered his legal services to CASA of Travis County,
representing abused and neglected children. He is remembered for his
lifelong love of the outdoors and for being an outspoken and easygoing
companion with a sardonic sense of humor and indomitable presence.
Hughes is survived by his ex-wife, Constance; sons, John Bruce Hughes
Jr. and Christopher Archer Hughes; daughter, Holly Hughes Salinas; five
grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.TBJ