Patricia Louise Burleigh Laas

On May 23, 2021, just as dawn was breaking, Patricia Louise Burleigh Laas shed her earthly shell and passed into eternity, having attained the quite respectable age of 89 years and 284 days. With apologies to Hemingway, her passing came gradually, and then suddenly, as doctors struggled to diagnose the cause of a recent, inexplicable decline. They weren't quite fast enough. By a curious coincidence, her death came thirteen years to the day after that of her own mother, in the very same institution, under eerily similar circumstances.

Patricia was born on August 12, 1931 in Grand Island Nebraska, the only child of Harry Paul Burleigh and Katherine Redfern Burleigh. Her early life was marked by frequent moves as her father built a career as a hydraulic engineer. In addition to Grand Island, she lived in numerous locales, including Lincoln Nebraska, Denver, Amarillo, Carlsbad New Mexico, and finally, Austin, where her parents settled for good in 1947.

A gifted, natural scholar, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from the elite Plan II program at the University of Texas in 1954. As was the custom of the day, she received a concurrent Mrs Degree, having met and married fellow student and Marine Reserve Captain Hampton Kent Snell Jr., of New York City. After completing Kent's military service, the couple settled in Houston, where sons Christopher and Scott were born, in 1956 and 1958, respectively.

After Kent's death in a tragic accident, in 1964, Patricia moved back to Austin, where she spent the remainder of her life, but for a two-year stint in Shiner, Texas, following marriage to rancher and widower Delmar Laas, a union that ended up being better in theory than in practice, and which concluded in divorce.

A lifelong avid reader, she devoured biographies, histories, and historical novels. She was also a crossword fanatic, and could finish in minutes, in pen, puzzles that might take others hours to complete. Sadly, rapidly progressing macular degeneration robbed her of these pleasures in the final months of her life.

She was an intensely private, intentionally low-key person who shunned the spotlight. But her outwardly placid demeanor concealed a keen and probing mind, which noticed much. She was a shrewd, insightful observer of the human condition, and assessed quickly, accurately, and often.

She is survived by sons Christopher Kent Snell and Scott Patrick Snell, daughter-in-law Marcella, granddaughters Alison and Alyssa, and ace canine companion Jimmy Dingo.

Her passing leaves a large void in our lives, and she will be greatly missed.