William Barr Browder Jr., better known as simply “Bill” or “Browder” to lawyers, friends and judges, was born in Huntsville, Texas on November 10, 1910, to the marriage of the Honorable William Bridges Browder, District Judge of Walker, Montgomery and San Jacinto Counties, and Anna Barr Browder and died at the age of 99 at his home in Lampasas, Texas, on July 8, 2010. Mr. Browder was reared in Conroe, Texas, and educated at Sam Houston State Teachers College, the University of Texas, University of Arizona, and the School of Law at Southern Methodist University, where he was awarded his LLB in 1936.

Mr. Browder married Billie Vick of Jackson, Mississippi, on December 26, 1937, and they made their first home in Conroe, Texas. To their marriage were born two children, William Barr Browder III of Lampasas and Eppie Vick (Vicki) Browder Leaverton of Austin.

Mr. Browder’s legal career was the stuff of both legend and lore, the latter being passed around by the lips of lawyers and judges who had the good fortune to have known Mr. Browder. It began in 1936 when he was sworn in as an officer of the court by the Supreme Court of Texas. He served as assistant county attorney of San Jacinto County during the years 1936 and 1937 and practiced law there with his uncle, John C. Browder. In the late 1930s he moved the family to Houston, where he was employed by Humble Oil & Refining Company. After several years, Mr. Browder resigned his position with Humble Oil and joined Latimer Murfee’s firm in Houston, with the name of the firm becoming Murfee & Browder.

After the United States declared war on Japan and Germany, the ensuing war effort required a massive reallocation of petroleum resources. The Petroleum Administration for War was created by presidential order in December 1942 to organize and control the allocation and delivery of fuels derived from petroleum products. Mr. Browder, because of his oil and gas expertise and experience, was called by J. Howard Marshall, Solicitor of the Administration, to serve as one of his counsel. Mr. Browder agreed, and the family moved to Washington, D.C., where they remained until 1945.

In 1945 the family returned to Houston where Mr. Browder was elected President of the Houston Junior Bar Association and joined the firm of Vinson, Elkins & Weems. Mr. Browder began trying oil and gas cases for the firm and continued to do so until the early 1950s when he met Tom Sealy while trying a case in Snyder, Texas. Mr. Sealy was a founding member of the Midland firm Stubbeman, McRae & Sealy, and when he “saw Browder in operation, I hired him.” (Midland Reporter-Telegram, 1986) Lore has it, however, that Mr. Browder was spotted by another partner in the firm, Boyd Laughlin, who recommended his hiring after being thoroughly trounced by Mr. Browder in a case in Levelland, Texas.

The Browders moved to Midland in 1952 where Mr. Browder became the head of the trial section of the firm that eventually became Stubbeman, McRae, Sealy, Laughlin & Browder. He remained with the firm, which continues to carry his name, until his retirement in 2002 after 66 years of law practice.

There is no available record of the number of cases Mr. Browder handled in county courts, state district courts and federal district courts during his career. But there are records to show that he appeared as counsel in at least 330 state and federal appellate cases, including more than 30 in the Supreme Court of Texas and two in the United States Supreme Court. And as pointed out to a respectful audience by the Chief Justice during one of his later arguments in the Texas Supreme Court, Mr. Browder had appeared in that Court multiple times during each of six decades of practice.

Mr. Browder was known and respected by scores of lawyers and judges throughout Texas and the United States. He mentored dozens of young lawyers. He was the author of numerous articles for legal and trade journals dealing with the oil and gas industry. He was a member of the Texas Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, the Texas Bar Foundation and was a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers.

In his 50th year of law practice, Mr. Browder was asked by the Texas Bar Journal to share his recollections and views of the legal profession with its readers. Among his comments were the following:

* Ours is a profession, not a job.

* To the old codgers it appears that too many of the young work at practicing law to live rather than living to litigate.

* All in all, the practice of law can be a good life for any lawyer who has fun living it. The best advice to give any lawyer, young or old, if you don’t love it, get out of it.

Mr. Browder was predeceased by his wife, Billie, in 1985, and by his brother, John Sewell Browder. He is survived by his son and daughter and their spouses, Susan Browder and Mark Leaverton, respectively; his granddaughters, Shelley Browder Boyle of Houston; Catrina Browder Jones of McKinney; Julie Browder Warlick of Ft. Worth; Lindsey Kane Leaverton of Austin; and grandson, David Browder Leaverton of Knoxville, Tennessee; eight great-grandchildren; and numerous cousins.

Mr. Browder will be buried in Waverly, Texas, at the Waverly Cemetery along with his wife, Billie.

Pallbearers will be David Leaverton, Philip Warlick, Josh Jones, Brent Boyle, James V. Hammett Jr., Rodney Satterwhite, Joe Greenhill Jr. and Marc Skeen. Honorary pallbearers will be Milton Bankston, Harrell Feldt, Bill Pennebaker, Charles Tighe, Bob Bledsoe, Al Walvoord and Al Schorre.

The family has requested that memorial donations be made to either the “W. B. Browder Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund,” c/o Texas Tech Law School Foundation, 1802 Hartford Avenue, Lubbock, TX 79409-0004; or to the Waverly Cemetery Association, P. O. Box 307, New Waverly, TX 77358.

Sneed Funeral Chapel in Lampasas, Texas in charge of arrangements 512-556-1183