Venable Bland Proctor, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather passed away on Thursday evening, the 2nd of January 2025, at the age of 83. He was born on the 24th of January 1941, to Frederick Cocke Proctor of Victoria and Roxana Barclay Proctor of San Antonio.
Venable graduated from Victoria High School and left Victoria to pursue his education at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and then his beloved University of Texas at Austin. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta, and he obtained his law degree from the UT School of Law. Upon returning to Victoria, Venable began his lifelong career as an attorney – the fourth generation of Proctors as lawyers in Texas - with the O’Connor Braman families, first alongside his father and then with his son, Bland Proctor.
Venable was an avid fisherman, and it led to his strong commitment to conservation and being one of the founders of the Gulf Coast Conservation Association, the initial goal of which was to outlaw gillnets and to declare red drum and speckled trout as game fish. The organization, now known as Coastal Conservation Association, CCA, expanded across Texas and now has chapters across the Gulf Coast and the east and west coasts of the United States. Venable chaired CCA’s Governmental Relations Committee, and he eventually served as CCA’s Chairman for several years. In Victoria, he served on many boards including Citizens Medical Center, Victoria Public Library, and Victoria County Navigation District.
Venable is survived by his loving wife, Rebecca Krueger Proctor; children, Elizabeth Proctor of San Antonio, Madeline Proctor and husband John Tanner of San Antonio, V. Bland Proctor, Jr. and wife, Melissa Hultquist Proctor of Victoria; and brother Fred C. Proctor and wife Chris of Austin. He leaves seven grandchildren: Augustine Thomas Valega, Mary Elizabeth Valega, Maxine Elizabeth Pharr and husband Cory Shershun, Walter Proctor Gill, Venable Barclay Proctor and wife Sarah Starr Proctor, Frederick Robert Proctor, and William Bland Proctor; and two great grandchildren: Madeline Margaret Shershun and Sally James Shershun. Venable is preceded in death by his parents and sister, Roxana Proctor Tom.
A Memorial Service will be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 7th of January, at First Presbyterian Church, 2408 N. Navarro Street where the Rev. Dan Fultz is to officiate.
Prior to the service, a private interment will have taken place at Memorial Park Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers were Venable Barclay Proctor, William Bland Proctor, Frederick Robert Proctor, Augustine Thomas Valega, Walter Proctor Gill, and Cory James Shershun. Honorary Pallbearers are Jay Cliburn, Robert Knight, Bill Seerden, Jim Stofer, and Lee Swearingen.
A celebration of Venable’s life will be held at the Proctor home, 507 N. Glass St., following the service.
In lieu of customary remembrances, the family asks that you consider a memorial contribution in his name to CCA Texas, 6919 Portwest Drive, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77024 or at CCATexas.org/donate; or Citizens Medical Foundation, 2701 Hospital Drive, Victoria, TX 77901.
The family wishes to acknowledge the loving care and friendships Venable received at Morada Victoria.
Please view Mr. Proctor’s online memorial tribute page at rosewoodfuneralchapel.com, where memories and words of comfort and condolences may be shared electronically.
