Richard Dennis Watt

On Tuesday, the 18th of February 2020, Houston said farewell to one of its stalwarts in the legal community and to a true individual, friend, and gentleman in Dick Watt. Dick and his late wife, Mary, lived in West Houston for forty-six years where they reared their two daughters and became beloved members of the institutions they touched, including the Joy School, the Kinkaid School, Episcopal High School, Houston Country Club, and the Houston legal community where Dick practiced law for over four decades.

He is survived by their children, Ashley and Christina; by his sister, Sally McCreary; and brother, Donley Watt, Jr.

Dick was born on the 22nd of August 1947 and raised in Athens, Texas. He was proud of his hometown and loved telling tales of its characters and the adventures of his childhood. He was a star running back and defensive back for the 1964 District Champion Hornets, and set numerous school offensive and defensive records, many of which continue to stand.

His efforts as a student athlete were rewarded when Coach Darrell Royal honored him with a football scholarship to the University of Texas. Coach Royal and his teammates over the next four seasons had a profound impact on his life. There was no more enjoyable time than sitting by the fireplace listening to his stories of the trials and triumphs of those young men and the coaches they so admired. He was especially proud of what his teammates made of their lives as productive members of society and ascribed this in part to the lessons learned as students of Coach Royal and his staff.

After graduation, Dick went on to law school at the University of Texas Law School, where in addition to his scholastic pursuits he was a founding member of the 805 Club.

Graduating from law school in 1972, Dick returned to Athens where he practiced law for a short time before moving to Houston, where he met the love of his life, Mary Williams, a whirlwind ranch girl from Monahans, Texas. They married in 1982, and Ashley and Christina came along soon after. Wanting their children to enjoy the benefits of her ranching heritage, Mary and Dick established the Antina Ranch in Ward and Crane Counties in 1995, and thereafter, the family spent summers and holidays on the ranch learning the skills and values of cowboy life.

Dick was known as one of Texas’ premier energy lawyers and was a sought-after counselor and advocate for both individuals and family ranches, small oil companies, and industry dominant corporate giants. Among other recognitions to his credit were service as past Chair of the State Bar of Texas Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section, as a former Co-Chair of the Texas Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Section Pattern Jury Charge Project and Pattern Jury Charge Committee, and as Recipient of the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law at The University of Texas’ Ernest E. Smith Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a perennial selection among the Best Lawyers in America and the Texas Super Lawyers. At the time of his death, Dick was of counsel with Houston’s Pierce and O’Neall, LLP. Previously, he was a founder of two well-known oil and gas and litigation law firms in Houston, first Watt, White, and Craig and later Watt, Beckworth, Thompson & Henneman.

Dick loved the idea and ideals of the law. Dick believed that ours was a nation in which the adherence to the rule of law was the foundation of our society and that the furtherance of that principle was essential for our country to function properly. His adherence to such principles was the result of studying Constitutional Law at Texas under the esteemed law professor Charles Allen Wright during a critical time in our nation’s history.

Perhaps Dick will be best remembered as a friend. Many colleagues and friends remember Dick for his camp cooking at the ranch, his love of cattle and horses, quail hunting, and West Texas sunsets over the Pecos River. And it was an honor to sit beside Dick at a high school or college football game, to meet the old teammates, and to enjoy his incisive commentary sprinkled with great stories. He will be missed on the golf course and in the hunting camps as much as the courtroom, where his competitive geniality was his calling card.

Friends are cordially invited to gather and share remembrances of Dick during a reception to be held from five o'clock in the afternoon until seven o'clock in the evening on Monday, the 24th of February, in the grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

A memorial service is to be conducted at three o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 25th of February, at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston, where the Rev. Martin J. Bastian and the Rev. Johnathan V. Adams will officiate.

Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception at a venue to be announced during the services.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in his name be directed towards the Richard D. Watt Memorial Scholarship at the University of Texas Law School. Memorial contributions can be mailed to The University of Texas Law School Foundation, 727 East Dean Keeton, Austin, Texas, 78705. (www.utlsf.org/watt)