Joe Walter Hightower

Dr. Joe W. Hightower passed away surrounded by his family on July 25, 2014. He was born September 14, 1936, in Morrilton,AR, to Gene and Verda Hightower. He grew up in the Rio Grande Valley town of Weslaco, TX, where one of his greatest thrills was being scouted by the Cleveland Indians while he threw a no-hitter for the Weslaco High baseball team. He attended Harding University where he graduated summa cum laude and was named Scholar Athlete of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

He earned a master’s and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, and after research positions at Belfast University in Northern Ireland and at Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, he came to Rice University in 1967 and began a distinguished career as professor in the department of chemical engineering. His research specialty, heterogeneous catalysis, was in such demand internationally that he taught over 100 short courses on it and consulted for both U.S. and international catalyst and oil processing companies. He also served the University in administrative capacities including chairing the Tenure and Ethics Committee, serving on the Admissions Committee, and holding posts of Director of Sponsored Research, department chairman, and secretary of the faculty. Joe and his wife, Ann, were Faculty Associates at Baker College for over 30 years. In 2002, he won the C.M. and Demaris Hudspeth Award for Student Life and Clubs for his contributions to student life and student organizations at Rice.

Joe was also active in the American Chemical Society (ACS), and was named a Fellow in 2010. After chairing an ACS committee on automotive catalytic converters in the early 1970’s, he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology as they drafted legislation requiring converters on cars. He was very active in the Houston section, and was a councilor to the national ACS. He chaired the ACS Petroleum Research Fund for five years. He was active in international catalysis circles, twice editing the proceedings of the International Congress on Catalysis. He was chair of the Gordon Research Conference board for half a dozen years. He was a founding member of the Southwest Catalysis Society, and received its Award for Excellence in Applied Catalysis in 2011. He won many other awards, including the American Chemical Society Award in Petroleum Chemistry, the Texas Institute of Chemists Honor Scroll, and the Alpha Chi Sigma Distinguished Alumni Award.

Joe was active in neighborhood affairs, serving several years as block chair and then president of the Southampton Extension Civic Club and leading the effort to establish the Southampton Extension Property Owners Association in its place to secure neighborhood deed restrictions.

The mission that meant the most to Joe, however, was the Hospitality Apartments, a nonprofit organization he helped found in 1968 with encouragement from his friends at Bering Drive Church of Christ. Located just south of the Medical Center, the Apartments provide free housing to families from outside the Houston area in need of extended treatment at the Texas Medical Center. Joe led the ministry’s development from a single World War II “army barracks” rental apartment into a 46-unit, 4-story complex, which has served nearly 7,500 families from 49 states and over 60 foreign countries while being administered 100% by volunteers, and supported by over 20 churches from 9 denominations. In recognition of his efforts, Joe received the Jefferson Prize for Public Service in Houston in 1982 and the award for Leadership in Volunteerism in Houston in 1992. Houston mayor Bill White named February 18, 2007, Joe W. Hightower Day in honor of his work.

As part of the Hospitality Apartments ministry, Joe applied his chemistry skills to baking sourdough bread, which he gave to welcome all Apartments guests, to encourage volunteers, and to thank donors. Over his 43 years leading this organization, he baked well over 35,000 loaves of bread, and his wide circle of friends were all also recipients of loaves.

Joe is survived by his wife of 34 years, Ann; his daughter, Amy, and her husband, Jeff Bird; his brother, Ed, and his wife, Shirley; his niece, Sean, and her husband Bob Carlin and daughters Annelise and Grace; his niece, Shelley, and her husband Dr. Glenn McDonald and daughters Sophie, Hannah, and Olivia; his niece, Susan, and her husband David Pasztor; and his nephew, Edwin Jr., and his partner Jonathan Aspell. Joe was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, and a member of the Bering Drive congregation since moving to Houston in 1967.

Memorial contributions are welcomed for the Hospitality Apartments, P.O. Box 25213, Houston, TX 77265-5213.