Richard Paul Bogatto

Richard Paul Bogatto of Houston, Texas passed away in the early morning hours of April 10, 2017. Dick, as he was known to family, friend and stranger, was born in Galveston, Texas on August 14, 1934 to Veronica (Vee) Drees Bogatto and Anthony Joseph (Tony) Bogatto.

Dick graduated Valedictorian from La Marque High School in 1951. He then attended The Rice Institute and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1955 in economics and accounting. After Rice, he attended The University of Texas and graduated on January 30, 1958 with a Bachelor of Laws Degree. In law school, Dick was honored as a member of The Order of the Coif, The Chancellors, Phi Delta Phi, and the Texas Law Review (serving as Associate Editor).

After law school, Dick married Frances Moratto on April 12, 1958, and soon thereafter served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corp, principally at 4th Army Headquarters, Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

After the JAGs, in 1961 Dick joined the Houston law firm then known as Fulbright, Crooker, Freeman, Bates & Jaworski. He began in the Firm’s Tax Department, and later established the Firm’s ERISA/Employee Benefits Department. He truly enjoyed the practice of law and spent his entire legal career with Fulbright until he retired in 1999. He loved the Firm and considered many of those at Fulbright to be among his closest friends, and not just partners or co-workers. Dick adamantly believed that one needed to enjoy the present, but had to plan for retirement to enjoy the later years, so employee benefits and retirement plans were a perfect career. One of the major accomplishments in his career was the establishment of the Fulbright Defined Benefit Plan for which all retired partners are grateful.

He was a devoted member of Queen of Peace (La Marque), St. Vincent de Paul (Houston) and Holy Rosary (Houston) Parishes. He assisted and supported many charitable organizations, but was particularly fond of serving with Archbishop Fiorenza on the Pension Committee of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

He was a second generation Texan and embodied everything good one finds in Texans. As a lawyer he would tell you to have a contract, but in dealing with him his word was his bond. He was loyal and could be counted on to have your back. Due to respiratory issues as a child, Dick spent his early summers with family friends in the arid climate of the Texas Hill Country running the hills of Mountain Home and swimming in the local springs and rivers. From this he developed a passion for the outdoors and a tremendous love of the Texas Hill County. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, which passions he passed on to and continued to pursue with his children through his final year.

Those who knew Dick knew him to be a man of many disparate passions and endeavors. He loved the opera, ballet, fine dining, good wine, intellectual endeavors and world travel. He also loved country music, needle pointing, sculpting, and hanging out at the deer lease or lake with his family and friends.

Dick was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Anthony Joseph Bogatto, Jr. He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, his three children and their spouses, son Barron and wife Jana Bogatto, daughter Leslie and husband Cullan Hemenway, son Richard and wife Teresa Bogatto, and his four grandchildren – Barrett Paul Bogatto, Carson Ann Bogatto, Madison Ann Hemenway, and Bryce William Bogatto.

A visitation will be held on Monday, April 17th at 5:00 to 8:00 PM with a Rosary recited 7:00 PM at Earthman Bellaire Funeral Home, 4525 Bissonnet, Bellaire, TX. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 AM, Tuesday, April 18th at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 3617 Milam St., Houston, TX. The Rite of Committal will follow at Memorial Oaks Cemetery. A reception with the family will be held immediately following at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home Event Center.

Pallbearers are W. K. Adam, Jack Hawkins, Lawrence Kalinec, Andrew Linbeck, Mark Miller and Thomas Moratto

The family requests in lieu of flowers a memorial donation to either the American Heart Association or one of the Arts of your choice (Dick was partial to the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet).