W. Neal Kocurek

Neal was born at St. David’s Hospital in 1936 to Maurine and Willie I. Kocurek. At 17, Neal was salutatorian of his class at Austin High School, while his father was president of the Austin ISD Board of Trustees.

Neal earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph. D., degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He became an early employee of Tracor, Inc., and was subsequently involved in the founding of two successful technical services and products companies, Unitech, Inc. and Radian International LLC. Radian grew from a group of engineers who met in Neal’s living room to a firm with offices worldwide.

In 1998, he retired from Radian and assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of St. David’s Health Care System. In his years with St. David’s, he transitioned the St. David’s Medical Center into the St. David’s Partnership and imbued all six Partnership hospitals with the charitable mission of St. David’s. Neal was particularly proud that the Partnership’s hospitals provided more than $100 million in uncompensated care to the indigent and uninsured in 2003.

Neal had a profound role in shaping the direction of the Central Texas region in many dimensions: health care, public education, higher education, transportation, water, social equity, and regional stewardship. He was attracted to long-range challenges that required years of dedicated effort. Without Neal, Austin would not have the St. David’s Partnership, the Convention Center, the West Austin Youth Association, State Highway 130, Envision Central Texas, or the Austin History Center building.

Neal was a driving force behind the Indigent Care Collaborative that coordinates health care for the poor among all providers in the region. Through St. David’s, Neal also initiated The Theo Project, a program providing free dental care to more than 7000 children in Austin each year. He was the inspiration behind The Root Cause Project, an innovative project addressing the root causes of health problems in Austin. He was president of the Austin Area Research Organization for two years. For over 30 years he served on Austin’s Electric Utility Commission. A natural mentor, he was an advisor to generations of school superintendents and educators who served Austin children. He was deeply involved in planning the future of the University of Texas and served on the executive committee of UT’s Commission of 125. Neal was also involved with Austin Community College, People’s Community Clinic, Austin Technology Incubator, Austin Area Urban League, and the Texas Institute for Health Policy Research, among others. Neal’s service awards included Austinite of the Year in 1989, 360 Summit Civic Entrepreneur of the Year, the first honorary degree awarded by Leadership Austin, the Distinguished Service Medal by the Mayor of Austin, the Leadership in Regionalism Award by the Capital Area Planning Council, and Austin’s Most Worthy Citizen in 2002.

Neal is survived by his wife Mary, his parents Maurine and Willie I. Kocurek, his son Jeffrey and wife Dana, his son Kelly and wife Julie, and his daughter Suzanne and husband Brian; six grandchildren, Zachary, Rebecca, Will, Mary Frances, Cole, and Clayton; and his sister, Kay Kocurek Bell. Neal coached his children’s sports teams for many years. He was an avid hunter and was never happier than when he was hunting in South Texas with his sons. Neal was a natural leader who developed other leaders; he was unfailingly courteous; he was brilliant yet understated; his capacity for hard work was unparalleled; he had a wonderful sense of humor; he loved books; he never stopped learning; and he loved Austin and Central Texas.

The family will receive friends and visitors from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 31, 2004 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, April 1, 2004 at Hyde Park Baptist Church. Interment will follow at Austin Memorial Park. Honorary pallbearers are Don Carlton, Ted Hudson, Scott LaGrone, Murray Wells, Jeff Kocurek, Kelly Kocurek and Brian Rose.

In lieu of flowers, the family asked that Neal be remembered with memorial contributions to the St. David’s Foundation, Austin Public Education Foundation, Austin Community College Foundation, or the University of Texas at Austin.

Arrangements by Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX 78705 (512) 452-8811. You may view memorials online at wcfish.com