E. David Begala

The son of Edward Joseph Begala and Emma Kranich Begala, he spent his final day surrounded by his five children and four of his nine grandchildren. He received Last Rites from his friend and priest of many decades, Fr. Tom Rafferty. Mr. Begala listened to Frank Sinatra croon as his family told stories, prayed, and said their goodbyes.

E. David Begala was born in Livingston, New Jersey, attended James Caldwell High School, and graduated from Upsala College in New Jersey, where he was a standout miler on the track team. He served in the U.S. Army, and then spent decades in the oil patch. His work took him, as he often said, "every place there's oil in the ground," from the former Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, to Indonesia and Nigeria; Central Asia and South America; and especially Alaska, where he loved to fish. His love of sports and the outdoors was lifelong, and it lives on in his children and grandchildren. Many of his happiest moments were spent at his beloved farm outside the village of Andes, New York, in the Catskill Mountains.

He is survived by his five children: Kathleen (and Yves Istel) of New York; David (and Becky) of Houston; Paul (and Diane) of Virginia; Chris (and Jeanie) of Houston, and Michael of Newport Beach, California, as well as nine grandchildren: John, Billy, Sam, Nicole, Charlie, Grace, Christopher, Patrick, and Katherine.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from four o’clock in the afternoon until six o’clock in the evening on Friday, the 21st of October, in the drawing room of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

The funeral mass is to be offered at eleven o’clock in the morning on Saturday, the 22nd of October, at St. Theresa Catholic Church, 6622 Haskell street in Houston, where Rev. Thomas F. Rafferty, is to serve as celebrant.

A private Rite of Committal is to follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that, in memory of E. David Begala, contributions be made to MD Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-486 or www.mdanderson.org/gifts.