Grace Pratt

Grace Pratt passed away at home surrounded by her loving family on the evening of 29 October 2021. Grace had a happy, full and energetic life. She was a generous soul raising five children and fostering four more. Grace extended her generosity to many including her friends, the church women's club, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the many UT Austin students she mentored.

And Grace keenly enjoyed traveling with her friends and family. Camping, touring the cities, cruising - she did it all. She glamped in Yellowstone, backpacked in Oregon, floated down the Rio Grande in Big Bend, and RV'd through national parks. She toured Europe by train, walked Garden-by-Bay in Singapore, Fished in Phuket Thailand, got lost in Tokyo, did a foodie tour of Denver, and browsed the National Mall in Washington DC. Between vacations and impromptu "junkets" with her husband Wally, Grace has seen the world. Of all the places she has been, Singapore is her favorite!

Grace was the epitome of an Outdoor Woman. Whether it was camping, paddling, fishing, hunting, or sitting on the beach, Grace would get it up and go, go, go. Grace has rode through a thunderstorm in a tent; caught tuna, mackerel, and snapper in up to 30-foot seas (never seasick). She fought a shark for over 4 hours; wintered on the beach in Port Aransas; and tent camped with her friends all the way to Maine (loved the lobster). Grace was blessed to help restore herself a piece of the Hill Country, go deep sea fishing from Port Aransas, and much more.

And she shared her passion, skills, and knowledge with many others including the "Texas Outdoor Women's Network" (TOWN), Hunters Education, and "Becoming an Outdoors Woman" (BOW). Her teaching and mentoring helped make many new hunters safe and ethical. She enabled women to blossom becoming confident in the outdoors and in themselves.

Like her mothers and mentors Gloria Garza and Jane Pratt, Grace was truly a strong, positive matriarch: smart, practical, and generous. There was a huge breadth and depth to her. As part of her transition to matriarch, she allowed her children freedom of choice and their own lives. To her friends, she was always the one they could call and talk with. Depending on her family or friend's need, she was a calming influence just by listening, she shared her life-wisdom as guidance or she was a fierce lioness in their corner.

In 1981, after a blind date setup by Wally's grandmother, Grace met, fell in love and married Wally. Grace's life of over 40 years with her husband Wally was a fairy-tale romance. True partners, they raised children, worked, traveled, cried, laughed and loved together. They lived in a tight loving orbit and would do anything for each other.

Among Grace's favorite memories are of sitting at her 19-acre "Ranchito Tierra Linda", in the peace and quiet with no "light pollution" enjoying the amazingly bright Milky Way spread out above her head. Grace was our loving mother, wife, friend, and matriarch. Sweet memories of her and of her hugs and kisses will last forever.

Maria Graciela Pratt: 18 September 1957 to 29 October 2021.

Do not cry for me, for now I am free.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.wcfishsouth.com for the Pratt family.