Nancy Huston

Born on the 3rd of April 1951, in Casper, Wyoming, to George R. Huston, Jr. and Mary Alice Nitschke Huston, Nancy had a lifelong passion for the arts, literature, travel and adventure. Her family traveled extensively in Mexico.

Nancy was termed a “voracious reader” by an elementary school teacher, read every night under the covers with a flashlight, and had a book-loaning library for friends and family with fines due and collected for late returns.

Nancy was extremely close to her father. They spent much time together with his teaching her to debate points of philosophy, and as an amateur artist, he was her first art teacher.

She spent her formative years in Salt Lake City, Utah, before moving back to the Nitschke family’s home in Austin, Texas, upon her father’s premature death.

She graduated from McCallum High School in 1969, where she had launched her musical career in the title role of Little Mary Sunshine. Such a beautiful voice, Nancy would always sing upon request and could sing the entire musical soundtrack of My Fair Lady—in correct sequence. On a warm, sunny afternoon, she might spontaneously do exactly that.

Nancy attended the University of Texas, and she loved it so much that she went on to earn three degrees there: a Bachelor of Fine Arts (December 1972), a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History (May 1973), and then, after her first great adventure backpacking for six months across Europe with her best friend, Margaret McKinney, she earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence (August 1976). Nancy was an officer in the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and voted sweetheart of a fraternity. She was active in exhibiting her artwork and became a trained photographer.

Upon passing the bar exam, she began her career as a trial lawyer with a small firm in Houston. It was during her first few years of practicing law that she met the love of her life, Roger Rider. He had a case against Nancy’s best friend, Gail Johns, who introduced Roger to Nancy on St. Patrick’s Day in 1981. Recognizing that these two were heading somewhere, Gail turned that lawsuit over to her partner so that she wouldn’t have to get crossways with Roger. It all turned out well, and Roger and Nancy married on the 8th of May 1982. Nancy and Roger had two sons. Matthew Huston Rider was born the 9th of October 1983, and lives in Park City, Utah. Zachary Alan Rider was born on the 28th of June 1985, and lives in Houston, Texas, where he practices law at Vinson & Elkins.

Nancy went on to develop a domestic relations practice for many years before being appointed one of the original Tax Masters for the Harris County District Courts to handle only ad valorem tax disputes which had overwhelmed those courts.

In the early 90’s, Nancy began to dabble in what had become a new area of law practice—mediation—as a legislatively created means of alternative dispute resolution. Before long, Nancy had established herself as one of the preferred mediators in Houston courts, both state and federal. She continued her mediation practice for the remainder of her life, often joking that she would keep working as long as people kept hiring her. By the time of her death, she had mediated more than 15,000 civil lawsuits—most of them to a successful conclusion.

Nancy was a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and the Houston Bar Foundation, member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Assn. 1977-2009, frequent trainer for the Attorney-Mediator Institute, the Texas Mediation Trainers Roundtable, the Houston Bar Assn. Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, and the Houston and National Chapters of the Assn. of Attorney Mediators, and an Adjunct Professor at University of Houston Law Center.

Nancy was a gourmet-trained cook, who delighted in spending Sunday afternoons preparing an elaborate meal for friends and family. She would travel with her favorite cookbooks and always brought a bottle of Tabasco Sauce with her.

She also never lost her sense of adventure, continuing to travel far and wide and taking elaborate trips around the world—Istanbul, London, Italy, Greece, Scotland.

Nancy is survived by her husband, Roger; sons, Matthew and Zachary; her sister, Kathleen Huston and her husband Steve Liter (Austin); brother, George Huston (Austin); aunt, Kathleen Nitschke (Houston); her cousins, Mary Kay Mraz (Houston), Beth Stevener (Ft. Worth), and Lucy Biggs (Ft. Worth) niece, Pam Perdue; and nephews, Colin Huston-Liter (New York City) and Cory Liter and his wife Audrey (Austin).

The family would like to thank the doctors and nurses at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center for their loving care of Nancy during her final days.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until eight o’clock in the evening on Thursday, the 17th of June 2021, in the grand foyer of George H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive, in Houston.

A celebration of Nancy’s life is to be conducted at one o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, the 18th of June, in the Jasek Chapel of George H. Lewis & Sons.

Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent grand foyer.