83R15157 MGR-D
By: Bohac H.R. No. 1450
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, A remarkably full and generous life came to an end
with the passing of pioneering Texas attorney Wilminor Morris Carl
of Houston on November 30, 2011, at the age of 106; and
WHEREAS, Descended from a family of lawyers, including Texas
state legislator and district judge William H. Stewart, Wilminor
Morris was born in Galveston on June 4, 1905, to William Carloss
Morris and Willie Stewart Morris; she was raised in Galveston's
historic district and then moved with her family to Houston when she
was in her teens; and
WHEREAS, Miss Morris graduated from high school at the age of
15 and received her undergraduate degree from Rice Institute, now
Rice University, in 1925; she went on to study for a semester at the
University of Wisconsin Law School before earning her law degree
from The University of Texas in 1929; and
WHEREAS, During her student days in Austin, Miss Morris met
and married William Noble Carl, and they shared a fulfilling
relationship that lasted 62 years, until his death in 1991; the
couple became the parents of four children, Wilminor Carl Gardner,
William Noble Carl, Jr., Mary Carl Briner, and Thomas Stewart Carl;
and
WHEREAS, One of the first women to be admitted to the bar in
the Lone Star State, Mrs. Carl shared a practice with her husband,
taking the firm's pro bono cases as well as keeping the books; after
Mr. Carl left to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II,
Mrs. Carl bought a suit and a briefcase and ran the practice until
the end of the war, when she resumed her primary role as a
homemaker; she continued, however, to practice law part-time, and
she became an inspiration and a mentor to several generations of
young women who aspired to a legal career, often hosting tea parties
where she would encourage them to persevere; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Carl chaired the Women's Section of the Houston
Bar Association in 1950, and the following year she became the first
woman to serve on the association's board of directors; a member of
the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas, she was
active in the National Association of Women Lawyers until late in
her life, serving as a state delegate for a number of years and also
as vice president; in 1999 she was a featured speaker at an event
celebrating women attorneys that was hosted by the Texas Journal of
Women and the Law; and
WHEREAS, In addition to devoting significant time and energy
to her profession, Mrs. Carl gave generously of her talents and
resources to a number of area organizations; she served as a regent
of the Samuel Sorrell Chapter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution and held membership in the National Society of The
Colonial Dames of America; she was also a member of the Association
of Rice Alumni, the Rice University Century Club, the
English-Speaking Union, and the President's Advisors of Houston
Baptist University; a woman of strong religious faith, she attended
Second Baptist Church and the E. P. West Bible Class for many
years; she was also an avid golfer, hitting the links well into her
nineties and winning prizes in the senior division at Sugar Creek
Country Club; and
WHEREAS, Wilminor Carl impressed all who knew her with her
intelligence, her dignity, her quick wit, and her Southern
graciousness, and those who were privileged to share in her
friendship and love will forever remember her with great tenderness
and affection; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Wilminor Morris Carl
and extend sincere condolences to the members of her family; and, be
it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Wilminor
Morris Carl.