COMMENTS NOVEMBER 2022
Tell us what you think via @statebaroftexas, tbj@texasbar.com, or P.O. Box 12487, Austin, TX 78711-2487. Letters addressed to the Texas Bar Journal may be edited for clarity and length and become the property of the magazine, which owns all rights to their use.
HUMOR:
THE JUDGE’S DAUGHTER: GRANDMA GOES TO LAW SCHOOL,
JULY/AUGUST 2022, P. 558
Loved Pam Buchmeyer’s column in TBJ July/August 2022 which brought to
mind my law school classmate, Willie Kocurek. Willie, born in Dime Box,
Texas, had been accepted to UT Law in 1929 but life, a legendary
business career in Austin, and then World War II all intervened. The
associate dean for student affairs, T.J. Gibson, assured Willie that his
acceptance letter would be honored at any time after the war to just
come back safely. In 1977, Willie, now age 67, decided to practice
“re-newment” instead of retirement, and he found T.J. Gibson still at UT
Law. Willie’s aged acceptance letter was indeed honored and he came to
class every day wearing a suit and bowtie. He was featured on Good
Morning America as the oldest graduate ever of UT Law. Per Willie’s
obituary, a must read, he often joked that he was the oldest member of
the Texas Young Lawyers Association, and after law school, he practiced
law for 22 years. Willie died in 2009, at almost 99 years of age,
beloved and revered, the epitome of a life well-lived.
Rod Schumacher
Roswell, New Mexico
