Curley Pharr Duson Jr.

Pharr attended El Campo schools, New Mexico Military Institute and the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a Bachelors of Business Administration and was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He served as Captain in the 66th “Black Panther” Division of the U.S. Army Cavalry in the European Theater during World War II. At war’s end, he joined the firm of Rotan, Mosle & Company, where he learned the brokerage and investment banking business from the ground up. During his years in the business, he served as Managing Partner and President of Rotan, Mosle & Company, Vice President of Clark Dodge & Company, head of the Southwestern Investment Banking Unit of Kidder Peabody and Director of Client Services with Vaughn, Nelson, Scarborough and McConnell, LP. Also, Pharr served as Governor of the National investment Bankers Association (IBA), Chairman of the IBA Texas Group and member of its Syndicate Oil and Gas Committee. He participated as Governor of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and as Chairman of NASD’s Texas Business Conduct Committee. He was a member of the Regional Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange and was an Arbitration Panelist for the NASD and the American Stock Exchange. Pharr also served as Chairman of the Audit Committee for Fairmont Foods and on the Boards of Western National Bank of Houston, Mid-Texas Communications Systems, Lone Star Video, Kimbark Oil and Gas, Hallador Petroleum and U-tote-M, Inc. He relished the fellowship of his business colleagues across the country. Over the course of his career, he became known as the organizer of magnificent dove hunts across the border in Mexico. Many business friends considered an invitation to “a Duson hunt” to be the ultimate career coming-of-age, and Pharr loved those hunts. Pharr retired in 1997.

Pharr served as both Deacon and Ruling Elder of St. Philip Presbyterian Church, of which he was a founding member. He sat on the Boards of Family Service Center and the Mental Health Associations of Texas and Houston, participated as local Chairman of the American Cancer Society, and was involved actively in the Bayou Preservation Society of Houston. He was a member and Director of the Houston Country Club, Director and President of the Coronado Club and a member of Allegro.

Pharr’s roots reach deep into the heart of the rice country in Louisiana and Texas and he was nowhere more content than hunting the Duson farms around El Campo. Following retirement, he immersed himself in the activities that he had relished for so many years, including golf, bird hunting, boating, farming, tennis and Longhorn football. He left to his children and grandchildren the powerful legacy of the love of the outdoors, especially the Texas hill Country lakes, the Southeast Texas farmlands, and the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Pharr is pre-deceased by his first wife and mother of his children, Betty Jo Tomforde Duson; by his parents and brother, Craddock K. Duson; and by his beloved wife, Gladys Averill Duson, with whom he lived most of the final, happy years in Victoria, Texas.

Pharr is survived by his adoring three children and their families, Dr. Betty McNaughton Duson and her husband, Dr. Alfred J. Kahn, Molly Duson Naylor and her husband, Skip and Stephen Pharr Duson and his wife Sherry. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Bradley Naylor and his wife Elizabeth, Matt Naylor, Andy Kahn, Will Duson and Grace Duson, as well as two great grandchildren, Abigail Naylor and Luke Naylor. He also leaves behind his brother’s children, Doug and Libby Duson; his cousin, Carolyn Lange and her children and their families; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Tomforde, Jr.; and special family in El Campo and Dallas. Pharr will be missed by many dear friends in southeast Texas and in Colorado, for he was a kind and honest man, a loyal friend and was dearly loved by many.

The family wishes to express their gratitude to Dr. Michael Perdon and his staff for their excellent and compassionate care of Pharr during his final months, to the staff and residents of The Hallmark for quickly creating a warm and welcoming home after Pharr’s return to Houston; to Ginger Herren for her faithful friendship and expertise; and to the staff of Houston Hospice who were there for Pharr and his family in every way through his last few days. Above all, we are deeply grateful to Mrs. Jessie Andrews and her team of Mable Haywood, Kesha Hines and Lincoln Rhoden for their competent and tender care of Pharr during his final months. Their love and assistance went far beyond what might be expected and they were truly angels in disguise.

The funeral service and celebration of Pharr’s life is to be conducted at ten o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 31st of May, at St. Philip Presbyterian Church, 4807 San Felipe Road in Houston, where the Rev. Alice Geils Nord is to officiate. Immediately following the service, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent gathering area.

The interment service is to follow at two o’clock in the afternoon, also on Tuesday, at the Garden of Memories Cemetery in El Campo, Texas.

Serving as honorary pallbearers during the services are E. Cliff Wilson, Conrad Bering, Rodgers Dockstadter, Dick Ramsey and members of the Hungry Jack’s Monday Lunch Group.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests that donations be directed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 2425 Fountain View Dr., Houston, TX, 77057; St. Philip Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, 4807 San Felipe Rd., Houston, TX,