John Pleas Pleasants Doyle

John Pleasants Doyle, age 77, a devoted and beloved husband, father, grandfather and loyal friend passed away on the 2nd of April 2011. He fought a long and courageous battle with respiratory disease. He was known as Grandaddy to his 12 grandchildren and as Pleas to his countless friends. Pleas was born on the 29th of December 1933 in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Nordheim High School in Nordheim, Texas in 1951.

Pleas returned to Houston where he earned a degree in Architecture from the University of Houston and was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. Upon graduation, he received his ROTC commission and served 2 years in the army in the quartermaster corps. A life-long Houston Cougar fan, he was a past president of the UH Alumni Association and was recognized as a distinguished alumnus. A parishioner of St. Anne’s Catholic Church, Pleas served many years as an usher.

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo was a labor of love for Pleas and Joan serving as committeemen for over 30 years. Pleas served on the International Committee and was made a Diplomat of the International Committee in 2007. He was also a member of the Corral Club and Western Art committees and was appointed a Lifetime Director of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.

An accomplished outdoorsman and rancher, Pleas loved to hunt, fish, and to check on his beloved Charolais cattle at the family ranch – Talk Ranch. He also loved being with his family feeding the deer and boating on Canyon Lake.

He is preceded in death by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. O.P. Talk; his mother, Earlene Talk Doyle; his uncles, James and Arthur Talk; and his cousin, Arthur Talk. He is survived by his devoted wife of 55 years, Joan, who lovingly cared for him during his illness. He is also survived by his children, May, Pleas Jr., James, Joanie, and Arthur; his daughters-in-law, Theresa Doyle and Kristy Doyle; his sons-in-law Bert Bentley and Carlos De Ayala; and his grandchildren, Julia, Bryan, Mary, and Carol Bentley, Jenna and Jayme Doyle, Carlos, Paul, and Christopher De Ayala, and Connor, Arthur, and Megan Doyle.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in afternoon until eight o’clock in the evening on Wednesday, the 6th of April, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, where a Recitation of the Holy Rosary is to commence at seven o’clock.

The Memorial Mass is to be offered at ten o’clock in the morning on Thursday, the 7th of April, at St. Anne Catholic Church, 2920 Westheimer Road in Houston, where the Rev. Jay F. Walsh, C.S.B, is to serve as Celebrant.

Prior to the memorial service, the family will have gathered for a private Rite of Committal at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston.

Serving as Honorary Pallbearers during Thursday’s services are his grandsons.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests that contributions in Pleas’s memory be directed towards the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo General Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 20070, Houston, TX, 77225.