Emory L. White, Jr, age 85, passed away on August 20, 2018. He is preceded in death by his parents, Emory L White Sr. and Lillie Mae White, and his brother Theodore White. He is survived by his loving wife, Pat, his children Leslie Ollier-Ingle, Elizabeth (Liza) Blake White Meredith (Jim), Emory (Land) L. White III (Dawn) and stepchildren Danny Proulx and Dana Proulx-Willis (John), and grandchildren John Michael Emory Rather, Christa Wilson, Vaughan Ollier, Kyle White, Kameron White, Jessica Ingle, Lauren Willis, and Mallory Ledyard, and four nieces and great nieces and nephews, brother-in-law, and many other family, friends and colleagues whose lives he touched in positive ways, all of whom will miss him.
Emory was born in El Paso, Texas on October 1, 1932. After graduating from El Paso High School in 1951, he attended the University of Texas, Austin, TX as a Sigma Chi, and received his BA in 1955 and his LLB in 1958 from the UT School of Law. He later served in the US Army as a captain, and prior to beginning his private practice of law in 1961, he was a lawyer with El Paso Natural Gas Co.
He married Betty Blake in 1953 and they were married until 1976. He married Patricia Durbin Proulx in April, 1989 and they remained married until his death.
In 1961 he joined the law firm of Thompson Coe Cousins and Irons where he was a partner from 1966 until 2001. He served as managing partner from 1983 until 1997. His law practice was devoted to the insurance industry with a specialty in reinsurance. One of his great pleasures was having been part of Thompson Coe’s development, from 8 lawyers when he began, to a firm with approximately 190 lawyers today, with offices in 6 cities.
Emory was a member of the State Bar of TX, the American Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the Federation of Regulatory Counsel, and was certified as Arbitrator by ARIAS. He also served as a director of Optimum Reinsurance Company in Montreal, Canada and Dallas; British American Insurance Company, and Austin Industries Inc in Dallas, and SureTec Insurance Company in Houston.
Emory was a true Renaissance man. In addition to his articulate English, he spoke Spanish and was learning French. He loved gardening and landscape design. He had good taste in everything he did. If he had another profession, it would probably be as an architect. He loved designing and remodeling homes. An unexpected project beginning in 1991 was to reconstruct a medieval ruin in a small village in the south of France, along with the help of some friends. It is still shared as a vacation home. Emory gave generously of his time and legal expertise to family, friends, people in all walks of life. He was a mentor to many. Emory was a caring husband, father, friend, lawyer, and colleague. He was deeply loved by his children, family and friends. He will be missed.
The family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Texas Health Presbyterian and Seasons Hospice for his excellent care.
Funeral services will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, September 1 at Sparkman Hillcrest, 7405 W Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75225. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to American Cancer Fund or Doctors Without Borders.
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