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.
George Murat Thurmond
Thurmond, 86, of Del Rio, died May
7, 2017. He received his law degree from the University of Texas School
of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1955. Following in the
footsteps of his grandfather and father before him, Thurmond was elected
to and served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1955 to 1958,
having been on the Criminal Jurisprudence and Judiciary committees. He
then worked as an attorney in his hometown at Montague & Thurmond
and was elected as judge of the 63rd Judicial District in 1970, where he
served for 30 years. Thurmond was appointed presiding judge of the 6th
Administrative Judicial Region in Texas from 1983 to 1987 and was chair
of the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas in 1988-1989. He is
remembered for being an avid scuba diver and enjoying jazz. Thurmond is
survived by his wife of 57 years, Elsiejean “Jeanie” (Davis) Thurmond;
daughters, attorney Carolyn Day Thurmond, Georganna Gomillion, and Sarah
Gail Thurmond; and two granddaughters.
Edward B.
McDonough Jr.
McDonough, 77, of Galveston, died May
5, 2017. He received his law degree from the University of Texas School
of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1964. After a year in
private practice in Houston, McDonough was an assistant district
attorney in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office from 1965 to
1969; assistant U.S. attorney and then chief of the Criminal Division in
the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas in Houston
from 1969 to 1974; U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas from
1974 to 1977; a partner in Hirtz & McDonough in Houston from 1977 to
1985; a partner in McDonough & Horne in Houston from 1985 to 1990;
managing partner in McDonough & Gwin in Houston from 1990 to 2002;
and managing partner in McDonough & Associates in Houston from 2002
to 2014. He served on the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors from
1988 to 1991, was president of the Houston chapter of the Federal Bar
Association in 1976-1977, and was a founding member and president of the
National Association of Former United States Attorneys from 1986 to
1987. McDonough is remembered for his lifelong love affair with the sea,
having been an avid sailor; his involvement with the Krewe of the
Knights of Momus in Galveston; and for being a deeply spiritual man and
devout Catholic. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Dianne, and six
godchildren.
Tommy J. Turner
Turner, 69, of Lubbock, died April 27,
2017. He received his law degree from Baylor Law School, was a member of
the Colorado Bar, and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1974. Turner was
an assistant district attorney in the Lubbock County District Attorney’s
Office from 1974 to 1976; an associate of Wagonseller & Cobb in
Lubbock from 1976 to 1981; a private practitioner in Lubbock from 1981
to 2015; and chief of the Public Integrity Unit in the Jefferson County
District Attorney’s Office from 2015 until his death. He was a director
emeritus for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, was involved with the
Legal Aid Society of Lubbock, and served as president of CASA of the
South Plains. Turner is remembered for being fair-minded, a zealous
advocate for his clients, and a protector of the “little guy.” He is
survived by his son, attorney T.J.; daughter, Lisa Stevens; brother,
attorney Jay; sister, Terre Carthey; and five grandchildren.
Sharon Kay Messa
Messa, 66, of Houston, died March 13,
2017. She received her law degree from South Texas College of Law and
was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1984. Messa was a lawyer in Houston for
32 years, primarily in private practice and also as a senior assistant
city attorney for the city of Houston and an attorney for the
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Houston. She served on the Houston
subcommittee of the Supreme Court of Texas Unauthorized Practice of Law
Committee from 1989 to 1990. Messa is remembered for her devout Roman
Catholic faith, having been a parishioner of the Co-Cathedral of the
Sacred Heart in Houston. She is survived by her husband, attorney Joseph
R. Messa; son, John R. Erwin Jr.; stepson, Dr. Matthew J. Messa; and two
grandchildren.
John H. Fostel
Fostel, 69, of Lake Bridgeport, died
June 2, 2017. He received his law degree from Texas Tech University
School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1974. Fostel was an
attorney with Woodruff, Fostel, Wren, and Simpson from 1974 to 1995 and
was judge of the 271st Judicial District from 1995 until his death. He
previously served on the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors and
received the Charles J. Murray Outstanding Jurist Award from the Tarrant
County Trial Lawyers Association in 2014. Fostel held leadership roles
in numerous youth sports and civic organizations, loved his family and
cherished time spent with them, and was an avid hunter and golfer. He
was preceded in death by his daughter Kate and is survived by his wife,
Cathy; sons, attorney Chris, Josh, and Justin Cortez; daughter, Meagan
Hood; and seven grandchildren.
Donald E. Van Meter
Van Meter, 79, of College Station, died
March 1, 2017. He served as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, having been
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and given recognition for
meritorious service. Van Meter received his law degree from the
University of Oklahoma College of Law, was a member of the Oklahoma Bar,
and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1986. He was an attorney in private
practice in Lawton, Oklahoma, from 1972 to 1989 while serving as a U.S.
Air Force reservist in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Van Meter
returned to active duty in 1989, attended the U.S. Air Force Air War
College, served as a civil service attorney at Sheppard Air Force Base
in Wichita Falls, and then continued reservist duties at other military
bases. Van Meter is remembered for his love of teaching Boy Scouts and
active involvement in National 4-H Shooting Sports and veteran
organizations. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Rose A. Van
Meter; son, Brice E. Van Meter; daughter, Victoria A. Janousek; and
three grandchildren.
Russell L. Munsch
Munsch, 61, of Austin, died
February 21, 2017. He received his law degree from the University of
Houston Law Center and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1980. Munsch was
an associate of Winstead in Dallas from 1980 to 1985 and a co-founder
and name shareholder in Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr in Austin and
Dallas from 1985 until his death. During his nearly 40-year career, he
worked on high-profile bankruptcy cases, including those involving Enron
Corporation, Coho Energy Corporation, Northwest Airlines, and one of the
largest personal bankruptcy proceedings in history, Nelson Bunker Hunt.
Munsch is remembered for his love of golf, playing guitar, and traveling
the world. He is survived by his wife of more than 35 years, Sheri;
daughter, Rachel; stepbrother, Steve Turtle; and sister, Jan Kerr.
Jack Gordon Kennedy
Kennedy, 91, of Pottsboro, died February
22, 2017. He served as a Korean War ship commander in the U.S. Navy.
Kennedy received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma College
of Law, was a member of the Oklahoma Bar, and was admitted to the Texas
Bar in 1949. He moved to Sherman in 1954, where he was an associate of
the law firm of Joe Keith and then was a partner in Slagle &
Kennedy; a partner in Brown & Hill; and a founder and partner in
Kennedy & Minshew from 1971 until his death. Kennedy is remembered
for being an avid fly fisherman. He is survived by his wife, Ann; sons,
Mark and attorney David; stepson, Kevin Cromer; daughters, Pamela Taylor
and Marla; stepdaughter, attorney Kamela Wilkinson; 11 grandchildren;
and two great-grandchildren.
Carla Terry Johnson
Johnson, 48, of Midlothian, Virginia,
died January 9, 2017. She served in the U.S. Army from 1998 to 2014 and
attended the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. Johnson
received her law degree from Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall
School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1997. She was a trial
attorney with the Defense Contract Auditing Agency in Ft. Belvoir,
Virginia, from 2015 to 2017. Johnson is remembered for her love of jazz
music, reading, and traveling with her daughters. She is survived by her
husband of 2 1/2 years, Cornell D. Johnson; daughters, Cayla R. Peters
and Camryn B. Peters; mother, Henrietta T. Borden; brothers, Carl E.
Terry, Bland C. Grant Jr., and Eugene B. Grant; and sisters, Belinda
Terry, Yvette Yarn, and Kristen Richardson.
Thomas Paul
Moore Jr.
Moore, 98, of Waco, died April 16,
2017. He received his law degree from Baylor Law School, was admitted to
the Texas Bar in 1943, and later served in the U.S. Army. Moore worked
as an assistant district attorney in McLennan County before successfully
running for and serving as district attorney from 1952 to 1960. He then
was in private practice in Waco from 1960 to 2017. Moore won a seat in
the Texas Legislature and served as a state representative from 1967 to
1972, having been a part of the “Dirty Thirty,” a bipartisan group of
House members that called for a fraud investigation into what became
known as the Sharpstown scandal. He is remembered for having a
delightful sense of humor, a ferocious intellect, and a heart bigger
than his beloved Texas. Moore is survived by his wife of almost 33
years, Robbie; daughters, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore
and Elizabeth Harris; sons, attorney Thomas Paul Moore III and Grant
Farek; sister, Mary Francis “Bebe” Waltrip; seven grandchildren; and
five great-grandchildren.
B. C. Fenley Jr.
Fenley, 79, of Spring, died July 30,
2016. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1958. Fenley received his
law degree from the University of Houston College of Law and was
admitted to the Texas Bar in 1965. He was a partner in Malone, Murphy
& Fenley in the 1980s; a partner in Matkin, Hollowick, Fenley &
Barfield in the 1990s; and in private practice from 1965 through the
1970s and again from 1998 to 2015. In 2015, Fenley received recognition
from the State Bar of Texas after 50 years of practicing law. He is
remembered for his love of family, especially spending time with his
grandchildren; studying Texas history and the Civil War; and tinkering
with small inventions. Fenley is survived by his wife of 54 years,
Linda; sons, Todd and Scott; sister, Rita; and four
grandchildren.TBJ
