Anita H Walls

Born in Bastrop, Texas, on the 5th of May 1934, to Bertha and Johnie Hoffman, Anita attended Bastrop High School where she was the Drum Major of the Bastrop Bears High School Marching Band. Artistic and creative from the start, she remembered singing during Tower Theater movie intermissions, accompanied by her sister on the piano. The Hoffman household was a busy place with two older sisters and a younger brother; extended family in nearby Rockne and Red Rock made for constant reunions, excursions to neighboring dancehalls, and relaxing on the banks of the Colorado River.

Graduating from high school at 16, Nita spent a year working as a switchboard operator, overhearing plenty of town gossip. Subsequently, Nita followed her two sisters to Incarnate Word College in San Antonio. Two years later, she transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 1956 with a degree in Studio Art. After college, Anita joined the management training program at Joske’s of Texas department store in San Antonio. When passed over for promotion due to a particularly egregious case of nepotism, she quit and began teaching down the road in Floresville. What might have seemed like a setback was actually a blessing, as Nita had found her true gift: teaching. She taught various grades in schools across the Texas Coastal Bend in Floresville, Bloomington, Placedo and Victoria.

While teaching in Big Vic, high school friend B.J. Wolf set her up on a blind date with his Army buddy, Bob Walls, a bright young lawyer from San Antonio. The couple married in 1959 and began their life together in Austin, where Anita continued teaching. Soon after, they moved to Houston, raising their two children in Briargrove Park. Teaching stints at Briargrove, Emerson and Pilgrim elementary schools eventually culminated in her final position as head of HISD’s Vanguard Magnet Program for Gifted and Talented Students. Her twinkly sense of humor and unerring enthusiasm for education won the hearts of many students – she adored them, remembering many by name even decades later.

Anita loved her family – she supported Rob and Kim in everything they did and was actively engaged in their sports and hobbies, from little league and swim meets to rodeos and barrel racing. She and Bob loved to travel, enjoying the Casinos in Vegas and Louisiana, cruising around the world, and attending the countless events of their six grandchildren. Her crafty, creative side was evident in ever-changing annual holiday decorations, her garden and UT décor. Nita held Bob to a promise made early in their marriage: in exchange for her attending all Texas home football games, he would take dancing lessons. The two danced through 61 years of marriage – and just that many seasons of UT football.

Anita had an unshakeable faith and was rich in good works, generous and ready to share. “Her children rise up and call her blessed” Proverbs 31:28.

Anita was preceded in death by her husband, Robert H. Walls, Sr.; her brother, John Patrick Hoffman; and her daughter-in-law, Nancy Ghormley Walls. She is survived by her sisters, Evelyn Hoffman Lamb, Lorelle Hoffman Jacobs and her husband Dick; by her son, Robert H. “Rob” Walls, Jr. and his wife Laura; her daughter, Kimberly Buschlen and her husband Peter; by her grandchildren, Emily Walls and her husband Stephen Maroda, Robert H. “Robby” Walls III and his wife Allie, John David Walls, Zachary Buschlen, Katherine Buschlen and her partner Declan Richards, and Sarah Buschlen; her great-grandchildren, Anna Maroda, Leighton Maroda, Robert H. Walls IV, and Steven Walls with one more on the way – all a source of constant joy to her.

Friends are cordially invited to attend the recitation of the Holy Rosary to commence at a quarter past nine o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 7th of February, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road in Houston, where the Mass of Christian Burial will follow at ten o’clock, celebrated by Rev. Peter Wood, Parochial Vicar.

Later, the family will gather for a private Rite of Committal at Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery in Houston. Those honored to serve as pallbearers are Peter Buschlen, Zachary Buschlen, Stephen Maroda, Declan Richards, Robert H. Walls III, and John David Walls.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in her name be directed to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas DTR, P.O. Box 6290, Austin, TX, 78762-6290, The Robert H. and Anita H. Walls Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Law at the University of Texas School of Law http://www.utlsf.org/walls, UT Law School Foundation, 727 E. Dean Keeton Austin, TX, 78705 (Please be sure to note where you would like the gift applied); to Houston Hospice houstonhospice.org, 1905 Holcombe Blvd. Houston TX 77030-4123; or to the charity of one’s choice.

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