Chip Rainey

Chip grew up in El Paso, although his family has a long history in Austin. He is a direct descendant of Reuben Hornsby, Stephen F. Austin's surveyor, who helped found the Austin Colony in the 1830s.

Chip received a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas in 1982, where he was proud to be a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity. He passed the Texas CPA exam on the first attempt, and he then spent the first 12 years of his professional life in the financial services industry. He graduated from the University of Houston Law School magna cum laude in 1993, and began a prolific career that capitalized on his background in finance, and evolved to include truly innovative niche specialties. He began his legal career with Locke Lord and was one of the first shareholders in the Greenberg Traurig office in Houston, ultimately becoming the founding shareholder of the Austin office.

Chip loved rock and roll and Latin music, fine dining, spicy food and electronic gadgets. Chip loved to travel with his Kindle, and had a passion for adventure and exotic lands. Indeed, his last adventure took him to the Baltic capitals of Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Helsinki earlier this month.

Chip was a member of the Jewish congregation Kol haLev and served on its board in recent years, as well as on the board of the Jewish Community Center of Austin. As a life-long learner, he was touched when the JCCA board announced that the keynote speech for the annual Tapestry of Learning will be named in his memory.

Chip is survived by his bride, Glenda McKinney, and his daughter Jennifer Rainey. Jenn was truly the joy in Chip's life and he worked hard to ensure that he would be able to spend as much time as possible with her. He was proud of all of her accomplishments, and he was humbled that she chose to follow in his footsteps and began studying at University of Texas School of Law this fall.

In Austin, Chip's surviving family includes his mother DeAnnis Barlow Rainey, his sister Dr. Melinda Rainey, his brother-in-law Joel White and his nephews Austin and Sam White. His brother Doak Rainey lives in Plano with his wife Judy Hsieh, and his nephew Howard and niece Michelle Hsieh are both in Austin. Chip's father David Hornsby Rainey predeceased him in 1998.

Services will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, 3901 Shoal Creek Blvd, at 4:30 PM on Thursday, September 15th.