Matthew August Thanheiser

He was born on May 25, 1958, to Will Hugh and Mary Ellen Thanheiser and raised in Houston along with his older brother Ford and his younger sister Adele. Matt attended Briargrove Elementary, where he was a proud member of the undefeated “national champion” Bears football team. He went to junior high at T.H. Rogers and graduated from The Kinkaid School in 1976. At Kinkaid, Matt met his love, Giggy Martin, and they married in 1984. Matt received his bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and earned his Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law in 1983. While at UT, Matt was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Texas Cowboys, serving as president of both organizations. Matt and Giggy settled in Houston after they wed, and Matt started his legal career at the law firm of Watt, White & Craig LLP. He later joined Haynes & Boone LLP, where he made partner. Matt focused his practice on oil and gas law and in 1995 co-founded the firm of Gaston, Hemingway and Thanheiser. He eventually transitioned to the commercial side of the oil and gas exploration and production business, co-founding a prospect generation firm, Taylor-Thanheiser Production LLC.

An avid outdoorsman, Matt learned to hunt and fish from his father and his uncle, and he spent most childhood weekends riding horses and working cattle with his family on their farms near Brookshire and Columbus. Matt maintained those passions until his passing, spending every weekend his wife would allow at the Mansfield Club in Port Mansfield, leading an annual dove hunt headquartered at Lake McQueeney (where we earned the moniker the “Duke of Dove”) and directing family trips to the National Parks with full travel binder in tow. He was as fine a bird shooter as you will ever find and his fly-fishing casts were textbook, skills that, despite his best efforts, he was unable to pass on to his children (his daughter hooking her father in the head notwithstanding).

In addition to the outdoors, Matt loved the simple things in life: long car rides in the country, small towns, “classic” music like Marty Robbins and the Temptations, “classic” movies like Lawrence of Arabia, the original Star Wars, True Grit and Elf. He loved the Sunday comics, his leather chair, college sports (especially Rice baseball), $5 haircuts, Almond Joys, a good handkerchief, Texas history, family genealogy, and driving the tractor on the farm. He had a “refined” culinary pallet: Pico’s Mex-Mex, Antonio’s Flying Pizza, Cleburne Cafeteria, Baskin Robbins, Bellaire Broiler Burger, Shipley’s Do-Nuts, Sonic (for the ice), Jack-in-the-Box tacos, Harry & David pears, Dairy Cone in Columbus and Cisco’s in Austin. He loved his neighbors, earth tones, Orvis, and his adoring dogs, Muffin, Lucky Penny and Callie. Matt was proud of his lifelong relationships with his friends; he cared for them with humor, loyalty and respect.

Matt was a dear husband, a devoted father, and a gentleman. He was a stickler for a clean car, well-shined shoes, and maintaining eye contact. He was a legendary backyard quarterback and an old-school coach, managing some of the most talent-strapped teams in Post Oak Little League history to solid mediocrity. He was a steadfast and thoughtful counselor and mentor, always willing to pass along his sage advice to those who asked.

Along with Giggy, Matt was a faithful member of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church and was actively involved with a number of charitable organizations in Houston, including Bo’s Place and MD Anderson, where Matt was treated for and beat non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2010. He was also serving on the board of trustees of The Kinkaid School at the time of his passing.

Matt was predeceased by his father Will, his uncle Charlie, and his brother Ford. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Giggy, his daughter Ellen, his son Hall, his son Will and daughter-in-law Haley, his mother Mary Ellen, his sister Adele, and countless friends.

A private memorial service will be conducted for the family at St. John the Divine at 10:00am on Wednesday, September 2nd. A video stream of the service will be available at www.sjd.org/thanheiser.

The family requests donations be sent in Matt’s memory to Bo’s Place at www.bosplace.org, MD Anderson at www.gifts.mdanderson.org, or the Texas A&M Foundation, Will Thanheiser '46 President's Endowed Scholarship Fund, 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, Texas 77840. You may also access these sites directly by selecting their links below.