Joseph Lee Maverick

Joe so wanted to be able to say he was 90 years old. He just missed it by 3 months. But those 89 years were jammed full of a wonderful life. He got his dream girl at 15 and kept her for 68 years of marriage. He was her first kiss, and across the years of their life together, they never stopped kissing.

He manifested his dream retirement, and they traveled the world for the past 30 years. He left an inch thick folder sitting on the desk with all his plans for what was to be their 90th birthday/70th wedding anniversary trip in a year. It was to be a 2-month jaunt across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary, then on to Hamburg, Norway, Berlin, Paris, London, then back across the Atlantic to New York. But honestly, why stop there. On to cruise the coast of Canada, ending back in New York. It was a trip that would have exhausted a 20-year-old. But I promise you, they would have done it. We rolled our eyes every time he declared, “We are getting old. This will be our last trip”.

He was able to build his dream model railroad “empire”, well known in the Wimberley area, culminating a lifelong love of O-gauge trains. It was a complex setup that he spent hours designing. It was AMAZING.

He was a commercial real estate lender by day and warrior by weekend, jumping out of planes as a Paratrooper and leading tanks as a Battalion Commander. He earned his master Parachutist’s Wings and was a member of the Green Beret Sport Parachute club. Let’s just say, he liked adventure. He served his country in the Texas National Guard and retired as a Colonel after 28 years.

While he was technically a Colonel, he was known as General Joe by friends and family for his precision planning of our yearly summer backpacking trips in the Colorado Rockies. The man could read a map of anywhere. Our first tents were army ponchos snapped together. He and the other fathers may or may not have enjoyed some whiskey around the campfire after leading a hoard of kids up the mountain, always telling them, “Just one more ridge and we’ll be there.” Spoiler alert, it was always at least two more ridges.

If you know Austin, you may know “Joe’s Garage”, the parking structure at St. David’s Episcopal Church. Yes, Joe Maverick is that Joe. The garage was named in honor of him as he was so crucial to its construction and financing. He used his real estate expertise to broker a deal that left the church in a financial position that allows multiple ministries to flourish to this day. The ripples in that pond were larger than we could have imagined. He was the consummate Churchman.

He grabbed his dream family and took care of all of us without fail. At 89, we still knew we could call him to give us good advice. Who knew when he kept Connie out too late on their first date, gave her free ice cream every time she visited him at his job at the Dairy Queen, filled up her dance card at every cotilion so no other boys could dance with her, and burned her name onto his arm with acid during high school chemistry class that their love would fan into an enormous family of 3 kids, 12 grandkids, and 15 great grandkids. Everyone loved Papa Joe.

Connie was his first love, she held his hand till the end. We are heartbroken but so thankful for his life well lived. Joe and Connie have always been life goals for the rest of us. Joe remained so until the end. He passed after suffering a massive stroke. He will be deeply missed and ever loved.

Joseph Lee Maverick, you were wonderful.

He was preceded in death by his parents Bobby and Mary Lee Maverick, his father-in-law Kenneth Ladd Browne, Jr, mother-in-law Marion Bartel Browne, sister-in-law Marion Browne Palmer, her husband Jack Merril Palmer, brother-in-law Kenneth Ladd Browne III, and sister-in-law Thelmarie Wood Browne. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Connie, and their three children: Connie Maverick Boschert, Joseph Lee Maverick Jr and his wife Terri, and Jennifer Hayes O’Neill and her husband Steve. His brother Peter Lee Maverick and his wife Liz. Grandchildren are Mav Turner and his wife Katie, Elizabeth Bickel and her husband Oliver, Brandon Holle and his wife Sarah, Hunter Holle and his wife Zoe, Kristin Maverick and her husband Neto, Catherine Maverick Michalk and her husband Brian, Joseph Maverick III, Maverick Dragon and her husband Jake, Ashley Riveron Maverick and her husband Ricardo, Alex Hayes and his wife Anna, Avery Hayes and her partner Connor, Dan O’Neill and his wife Marissa. Great grandchildren are Daphne, Julia, and Clair Turner, Kaitlyn and Mikayla Bickel, Calum Holle, Maia and Gigi Zapparolli, Theo, Margo and Lewis Michalk, Arlo, Hugo, and Ivy Dragon, and Santi Riveron, as well as many nieces and their families.

Services will take place at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin on May 31st at 10am. 301 E 8th St. Reception to follow in Sumner’s Hall.