Edgar Lawrence Leissner

Edgar Lawrence Leissner, age 96, passed away in San Antonio, Texas on October 16, 2020. He was born in 1923 in San Antonio to Edgar Henry Leissner and Fannie Katherine Lawrence Leissner. After graduating from high school, he attended Texas A&M for a year before enlisting in the Army in WWII. In 1943 he married his high school sweetheart, Harriet Belle Upshaw. Following the war, he received bachelor degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering and a master’s in chemistry from Texas A&I in Kingsville, Texas. He worked as a petroleum engineer before earning his doctorate in law from University of Denver in 1968. He became an oil and gas attorney for Valero Energy Corporation. In 1982 he was honored to be the first recipient of the endowed Dotterweich Chair at Texas A&I. Ed enjoyed playing the piano, raising orchids, and collecting stamps. He was a founding member of the Texas Postal History Society.

Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Edgar H. and Fannie Leissner; his wife, Harriet Belle Upshaw Leissner; and his son, Lawrence Ewell Leissner. He is survived by his daughter Kaye Leissner Passmore (Robert) of Corpus Christi, TX; and grandsons, Charles Edgar Passmore (Emily Lomonte) in Seattle, WA, and Lawrence Paul Passmore (Theresa) in Groton, MA; and two great-grandsons.

He will be laid to rest in Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Christ Lutheran Church in San Antonio.