In Memoriam: Gib Walton

My first home in Marshall was built in 1908 by the president of the local electric company, Charles H. Naendall.  When he passed away ten years later, the Marshall News Messenger said something I've never forgotten - that he was the type of man "of whom the community feels the loss."  Of course there are a lot of people like that, and not just in small towns like Marshall - people who never stop working to make their community a better place, and last week we lost one of them way before his time.

While in trial in Tyler last week, I found out that Gib Walton, a Houston lawyer who I had gotten to know while on the State Bar board a few years back, had passed away suddenly.  The line from that 1919 obituary immediately came to mind because he was one of those people, and his passing creates a void in both the legal and the Houston communities.

Gib's service to his community and profession was extraordinary.  In addition to serving as president of the State Bar of Texas in 2007-2008, where I worked with him as chair of one of the Board committees on member services, eventually receiving a presidential citation from him at the end of our terms (so he did have his lapses), Gib was also chair of the  Houston Bar Foundation; on the Committee on Admissions for the U.S. District Courts, Southern District of Texas; chair of the U.S. Magistrate Judge Selection Committee, Southern District of Texas; vice-chair and on the Board of Directors of Methodist Hospital; on the Board of Directors at Brookwood Community and Briarwood School; and Trustee of the Cullen Trust for Healthcare.

At the time of his passing, Gib was a co-leader of Hogan Lovells’ global Projects, Engineering, and Construction practice, a partner in the Houston office, and a member of the Litigation practice. His principal area of practice was civil litigation, including jury trials, bench trials, and arbitration.  Before practicing at Hogan, Walton was at Vinson & Elkins for 32 years.  

Gib's dad was a state judge in Houston, so he was a courthouse brat from way back, and was always cognizant of our duties to the profession as a whole, bringing forward standards of professionalism and courtesy than went back a long ways.  He was the kind of lawyer that you enjoyed working with, whether he was on your side or not.  He was one of our best, and bar is fortunate to have had him for as long as we did.

But anyone that knew Gib knew how important his family was to him.  All of us on the board learned to distinguish quickly between his predecessor as president, Martha Dickie, and "my Martha", the lovely Mrs. Gib Walton, who made the two years we overlapped on the board a real pleasure.  He was so proud of his children Cole and Emily, his daughter-in-law Crystal (planning a summer wedding while being State Bar president was an interesting experience for the Waltons, and one we all enjoyed hearing about) and of course adored his new granddaughter Cambrey.

I last spoke with Gib at a bar event in San Antonio when we talked about a case I was in against one of his partners in Marshall (I was unsuccessful talking him into getting involved so we could work with each other again, but I sure tried).  He was enjoying his new firm and looking forward to doing some different things, and I was hoping that one of them would bring him to East Texas for a change.  His passing at such an early age is a loss for his community and his friends, but of course most of all for his family, and Jamie and my prayers go out to them.

The State Bar has provided the following information on services for Gib next week:

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Visitation will be held at George Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive, Houston, Texas  77057 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Interment will be at Glenwood Cemetery, 2525 Washington Ave, Houston, Texas 77007 at 1:30 p.m.  Family and friends are welcome.

A reception at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer, Houston, Texas 77027 will follow at 3:00 p.m.