Robert Horace Parsley

ROBERT HORACE PARSLEY died September 3, 2001 due to complications from Alzheimer's Disease. A Houston resident for 53 years, he was born April 9, 1923 in Erwin, Tennessee to Daisy Laurel Garland Parsley and Millard Fillmore Parsley. He attended East Tennessee State Teachers College before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942 and served as a B-17 pilot. Bob then attended the University of Tennesse and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1949, where he was a Moot Court champion, member of the Law Review, the Raven Society and Omicron Delta Kappa. He had a distinguished legal career in Houston, joining Baker & Botts as an associate attorney in 1949. He subsequently joined the law firm of Butler & Binion in 1953 where he remained a partner for 47 years, focusing on litigation and a broad business practice for corporate real estate clients. An outstanding attorney, he was a trusted advisor who resolved complex legal issues using his skills of persuasion and understanding of people. Serving on the firm's Management Committee in charge of recruiting, he hired a number of the attorneys, now leaders in many of Houston's law firms and corporations today. He was actively involved with St. Joseph Hospital Foundation (director and President of the Board of Directors); Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (director and President of the Board for over 29 years), where he and a group of devoted men helped save the school from bankruptcy in 1970 allowing it to grow into one of Houston's outstanding high schools; and the San Jose Clinic. He was director or trustee of the State Board of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (appointed by Gov. Dolph Briscoe); the National Strategy Information Center; Stewart & Stevenson Services; the Southwestern Legal Foundation; Ten-X Technologies; the Dominican College and St. Elizabeth Hospital; as well as Vice Chairman of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. He was a member of the Country Club and The Houston Club. He loved helping people in need, professionally and personally, and spending time at "The Parsley Patch", his house at Jamaica Beach with his friends and family. He will be remembered for his charity, charisma and charm. Our beloved "Foss" is survived by his wife of 48 years, Georganna Starke Parsley, his ten children, and his "Out Laws". Bob and Louise Parsley; Sharon and Tom McNearney; Michele and Ronnie Johnston; Dr. Brian Parsley; Sandra and Ken Moffet; Sally and Dr. Hal Condara; David and Ginny Parsley; John and Jill Parsley; Dan and Allison Parsley; and Jana and John McHenry; and 31 grandchildren: Elizabeth, Bayless and Garland Parsley; Katie , Allison, Michael and Patrick McNearney; Laura Russell and Austin Johnston; Catherine, Jennifer, Nan and Allie Parsley; Abbey and Hanna Moffet; Andrea, Erin, Susie, Christopher, Benjamin and Cameron Condara; Steven, Ashley and Caroline Parsley; Will and Stuart Parsley; Diana and Julia Parsley; and Georgia, Robert and Matthew McHenry; other relatives include his brother-in-law, George W. Strake, Jr., and wife, Annette; and his sisters-in-law, Fannie Mae Parsley of Fort Walton Beach, FL. and Joann Parsley Cook of Erwin, TN, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.