Jack Edward McGehee Jr.

Jack Edward McGehee, Jr. lived his life to the fullest every day in loving service to his family, the oppressed and marginalized, the God of us all, and his country. He passed into the arms of his Savior on October 23, 2026, at home surrounded by family. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and the thousands of lives he touched in the civil courts fighting for justice, through his nonprofit work with Together in Hope which he founded with his wife Diane, and the multiple service organizations he helped start and through which he served his community. Jack was board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys, and a Civil Trial Specialist of the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He served as president of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and of the Houston Trial Lawyers’ Foundation and Association. He also was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates and the International Academy of Trial Advocates. Jack taught Civil Trial Advocacy at the University of Houston Law Center and as a visiting professor at Emory’s Trial Techniques Institute. He gave more than three hundred speeches and publications, teaching other lawyers how to do what he did. He never kept a thing he knew to himself. In 2022, Jack received the Texas Watch Champion of Justice Award for his unrelenting advocacy on behalf of those unjustly treated by our society. As a man of deep faith, he considered the congregation at Bering Memorial United Church of Christ to be family and sought to embody and empower their witness of a fully inclusive Gospel where all are welcome and celebrated in all of their identity as beloved children of God and worthy of dignity and respect.

Jack is preceded in death by his beloved grandson Charles Theodore Feiler “Teddy,” his parents, Jack Edward McGehee Sr., and Janet Wanger McGehee, his sister, Cynthia Elaine McGehee, and his beloved dog, Charlie, who was his constant companion and guarded him until the end. He is survived by his wife, Paula Diane McGehee and his children and their spouses: Jennifer Elaine McGehee, David Paul Feiler and his wife Tory Pottinger Feiler, Jonathan Douglas Feiler, Benjamin Charles Feiler and his wife Summer Peake Feiler, Daniel Clement Feiler and his wife Sarah Allain Feiler, Rebecca Paige Martin and her wife Kimberly Noel Smith, and 4 grandchildren: Luke Feiler, Colin Feiler, Pierce Feiler, and Mary Alice Feiler, as well as his sister, Leslye Lynne Huebsch, her husband Kenneth R. Huebsch, Sr., and his nephew Kenneth R. Huebsch Jr and his wife Cayce L. Huebsch, as well as numerous other nieces, nephews, and godchildren around the world.

Jack grew up in Pennsylvania, where he was quarterback of his high school football team. He was a graduate of the West Point Military Academy and served his country for 14 years who achieved the rank of Major, U.S. Army Ranger. He remained closely connected with his high school and West Point classmates throughout his life. The Army sent him to law school at St. Mary’s, where he received his Juris Doctor, followed by an LLM from the University of Virginia

Law School. Following law school, Jack served for three years in the Pentagon as the lead medical malpractice prosecutor. After completing his service in the Army, Jack moved to Houston, Texas, and began representing children with brain injury. His representation took him all over the country. Always dedicated to the cause of justice, Jack taught himself to fly so that he could have better access to his clients, especially those in small towns. Flying became one of his life’s great joys. “When I am at 40,000 feet, it’s just me, God, and the whole universe!” Jack was known to say.

Jack was as generous as he was gifted. He is the author of “The Plaintiff’s Case,” sharing his years of trial experience with other plaintiffs’ attorneys and contributing all proceeds to TTLA. He cared deeply about helping the next generation of attorneys, serving as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the University of Houston Law School, and teaching at hundreds of continuing legal education seminars. His generosity endures through Together in Hope, the 501 (c )(3) nonprofit he founded with his wife Diane in 2009, by empowering impoverished communities in the US, the Philippines, and other countries around the world. Perhaps most importantly, was how Jack treated people. He went out of his way to show kindness, dignity, and respect to those who are so often ignored by society. He was the ultimate tipper, always eager to recognize hard work, because he valued each person and their work as just as important as his own.

Jack loved flying, hiking, sports, running, hanging out with family, good food -especially a good steak, and the adventure of traveling to beautiful places. His family and friends take comfort in the many beautiful memories they created with him and in knowing that his life was truly well lived in service to others. They carry his legacy of compassionate service with them.

Jack embodied the truth that the impossible dream is only impossible until it’s not. As he always said, “If it’s wrong, fight it. If it’s right, fight for it!” And with that motto, he helped achieve the impossible dream for thousands of people.

Well done, Jack! May we all pass on your legacy by living as compassionately and courageously as you did. The world is a better place because you were in it.

A Celebration of Life for Jack Edward McGehee, Jr. will be held on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 2 pm at Bering Memorial United Church of Christ, 1440 Harold Street, Houston, Texas 77006. The service will also be livestreamed on the church website at www.beringchurch.org/live

Jack’s generosity continues even in his death. In lieu of flowers, Jack asked that donations in his memory be generously given to Together in Hope to build and operate a dental clinic for the homeless and underserved in the Philippines. Checks may be made out to “Together

in Hope,” memo “Dental Clinic” and mailed to Together in Hope, 10370 Richmond Ave #1300, Houston, TX 77042