Archer McWhorter Jr.

Born Archer McWhorter, Jr. on August 27, 1943 in Great Falls, MT to Lucille (Taft) McWhorter & Archer McWhorter, Sr., he went by “Mac” and was raised in Southeast Houston, TX, with his siblings, Rick, Lynn and Kathleen. His childhood included family trips, golf at Golfcrest Country Club, swimming, waterskiing and bowling, and summers working for his Dad’s business.

He attended Jesse H. Jones High School and graduated in 1961. He had a sharp mind and an affinity for mathematics. He went on to attend Rice University from 1961-1963, where he made new friends that first became college roommates but went on to become lifelong friends, raising families and doing life together. Much could be written about his poker days in college with marathon games that lasted all night. It was around this time that he met Dava Jackson on a blind date, who he would later marry June 22, 1968, in Houston, TX. They were married for 58 years.

During those college years, many a day was also spent on Dickinson Bayou waterskiing with his college roommates and their girlfriends who would eventually become their wives. Mac and Dava even had custom slalom skis made, and Dava would stand on Mac’s shoulders as he slalomed.

Mac continued his education at UofH, earning both a BBA and MBA there, finishing in 1970 and then he and Dava headed to the University of Michigan where he would spend four years in Ann Arbor completing a doctorate in Statistics and Management Science where his dissertation was “A Simulation Study of the Kalman-Bucy Random Coefficient Regression Model: Specification, Estimation and Forecasting”. While there, their first son Archer McWhorter III (Trey) was born. Summers involved golf at the university course, but the winters led to a new favorite sport: paddleball.

The family of three returned to Houston and Mac began teaching at UofH. He joined the UofH faculty in 1974, earned tenure, served as a department chairman beginning in 1979, and taught generations of undergraduate and graduate business students, receiving the CBA Distinguished Faculty Member award and numerous awards for teaching excellence before retiring in 2020. Also in 1974, Mac and Dava welcomed their 2nd son, Christopher Michael McWhorter.

In 1976, Mac would co-found Actuarial Research Group (ARG), applying his extensive education to advising healthcare systems and physician groups on medical professional liability. ARG’s clients included large hospital systems in 19 states throughout the country and many in the Houston area. ARG operated from ~1976 to 2025. Over the years there were also side-projects including one with NASA to estimate risks associated with a mission to Mars, and development of a national database of hospital malpractice claims.

But Mac’s favorite role began in July 2003 when his first grandchild was born. From that point forward, Dava and Mac were “Nan and Macky”, and nothing made him happier than playing with the grandkids, going to swim meets, lacrosse tournaments and volleyball games, or skiing the slopes at Beaver Creek with the whole family (while wearing the same ski suit he had worn since the 1970’s).

As a grandfather he never slowed down, though, and continued to take care of the yard every week. Neighbors and friends knew it was yard day when Mac was out mowing, edging and sweeping in his distinctive bucket hat with a white towel around his neck. He enjoyed yardwork and continued until just a few years ago.

He was a devoted reader of the Wall Street Journal. You could find him every morning standing at the counter eating his raisin toast, drinking orange juice, and reading every page of the WSJ. And he and Dava were avid movie-goers, usually seeing all of the movies nominated for Best Picture every year.

Mac and Dava travelled with friends and family, with personal highlights for him including the fjords of Norway, Italy, France & Normandy, Whistler and annual family trips. They were known for their parties, from Astros games to Oscar nights and Halloweens that attracted the whole neighborhood to their front porch.

Mac had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh. He introduced his kids and grandkids to great comedians like Bob Newhart, The Smother Brothers, Jonathan Winters, Steve Martin and Monty Python. Dava will say that he never lost his sense of humor despite the terrible toll his disease took on his ability to communicate. And to the very end, he listened to our stories and smiled.

Friends, family and even acquaintances will also remember his incredible generosity, and much, too, could be written about that. But chances are that if you are reading this, you already know something about this, and no further explanation is necessary. So, Mac leaves a legacy of lifelong friendships, a loving family, of generosity and achievement, and we will miss him dearly. But we are encouraged in the knowledge that he is at home with his Savior, that his voice has been restored, and that we will one day see him again.

Mac is preceded in death by his parents, Lucille (Taft) McWhorter & Archer McWhorter, Sr. and survived by his wife, Dava, two sons and daughters-in-law, Archer (Sarah) and Chris (Rebekah), and four grandchildren, Saylor Grace McWhorter (23), Archer Mading McWhorter IV (18), Brooks Jackson McWhorter (13) and Elisabeth Katherine McWhorter (12) and his three siblings, Richard “Rick” Taft McWhorter (Peggy), Rilma Lynn McWhorter (Armando) and Kathleen McWhorter (Hasan) and many nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family.

A memorial service is planned for September 19, 2026 @ 1pm at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at 5501 Main St, Houston, TX 77004. The service will also be available online here. A reception will follow at the church.

The service will also be available online here.”: https://player.video.wowza.com/hosted/spgyvss6/player.html

Charity (in lieu of flowers):

· Global Child Advocates - 1450 W. HWY 290 #815, Dripping Springs, TX 78620

· Tunnel2Towers - Tunnel to Towers Foundation, 2361 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10306

· Samaritan’s Purse - Samaritan’s Purse, PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607

· Young Life - Young Life - P.O. Box 5186, Boone, IA 50950-0186 (specify area TX495)