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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A remarkably full and generous life came to an end |
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with the passing of pioneering Texas attorney Wilminor Morris Carl |
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of Houston on November 30, 2011, at the age of 106; and |
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WHEREAS, Descended from a family of lawyers, including Texas |
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state legislator and district judge William H. Stewart, Wilminor |
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Morris was born in Galveston on June 4, 1905, to William Carloss |
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Morris and Willie Stewart Morris; she was raised in Galveston's |
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historic district and then moved with her family to Houston when she |
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was in her teens; and |
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WHEREAS, Miss Morris graduated from high school at the age of |
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15 and received her undergraduate degree from Rice Institute, now |
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Rice University, in 1925; she went on to study for a semester at the |
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University of Wisconsin Law School before earning her law degree |
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from The University of Texas in 1929; and |
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WHEREAS, During her student days in Austin, Miss Morris met |
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and married William Noble Carl, and they shared a fulfilling |
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relationship that lasted 62 years, until his death in 1991; the |
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couple became the parents of four children, Wilminor Carl Gardner, |
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William Noble Carl, Jr., Mary Carl Briner, and Thomas Stewart Carl; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, One of the first women to be admitted to the bar in |
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the Lone Star State, Mrs. Carl shared a practice with her husband, |
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taking the firm's pro bono cases as well as keeping the books; after |
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Mr. Carl left to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II, |
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Mrs. Carl bought a suit and a briefcase and ran the practice until |
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the end of the war, when she resumed her primary role as a |
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homemaker; she continued, however, to practice law part-time, and |
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she became an inspiration and a mentor to several generations of |
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young women who aspired to a legal career, often hosting tea parties |
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where she would encourage them to persevere; and |
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WHEREAS, Mrs. Carl chaired the Women's Section of the Houston |
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Bar Association in 1950, and the following year she became the first |
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woman to serve on the association's board of directors; a member of |
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the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas, she was |
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active in the National Association of Women Lawyers until late in |
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her life, serving as a state delegate for a number of years and also |
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as vice president; in 1999 she was a featured speaker at an event |
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celebrating women attorneys that was hosted by the Texas Journal of |
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Women and the Law; and |
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WHEREAS, In addition to devoting significant time and energy |
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to her profession, Mrs. Carl gave generously of her talents and |
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resources to a number of area organizations; she served as a regent |
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of the Samuel Sorrell Chapter of the Daughters of the American |
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Revolution and held membership in the National Society of The |
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Colonial Dames of America; she was also a member of the Association |
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of Rice Alumni, the Rice University Century Club, the |
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English-Speaking Union, and the President's Advisors of Houston |
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Baptist University; a woman of strong religious faith, she attended |
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Second Baptist Church and the E. P. West Bible Class for many |
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years; she was also an avid golfer, hitting the links well into her |
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nineties and winning prizes in the senior division at Sugar Creek |
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Country Club; and |
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WHEREAS, Wilminor Carl impressed all who knew her with her |
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intelligence, her dignity, her quick wit, and her Southern |
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graciousness, and those who were privileged to share in her |
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friendship and love will forever remember her with great tenderness |
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and affection; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Wilminor Morris Carl |
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and extend sincere condolences to the members of her family; and, be |
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it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Wilminor |
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Morris Carl. |