WALTER LEE JEFFERSON

1933-2018

Walter Lee Jefferson, a wonderful father and outstanding long time Houston attorney passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Saturday, the 1st of September 2018.

Born in Kirbyville, Texas to Thomas and Margaret Jefferson, Walter spent his childhood growing up in the tall piney woods of Jasper in East Texas. During High School, Walter was president of the local FFA and worked as a radio personality at KTXJ in Jasper. Blessed with a “radio voice” that followed him all the way to the University of Texas, Walter worked in the evenings in Austin as an announcer at radio station KTBC (Known today as KLBJ) and during the day as an aid to then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson as he earned his BBA. In addition, he was accepted as a brother in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. While in college, Walter also served his country in the US Army and was selected to be the voice of armed services radio broadcasting news out of Hokkaido, Japan to American forces in the Korean War.

Upon returning to civilian life, Walter finished his college studies in Austin and married Barbara Emilie Lane whom he met while she was pursuing her degree at the University of Texas. The newlywed couple settled in Houston, Texas where Walter immediately took a job as a reporter for KPRC with his primary assignment covering Mayor Lewis Cutrer’s administration at City Hall while he attended law school at South Texas College of Law. Intelligent and personable, it was during his time spent covering the city hall that Mayor Cutrer took notice of Walter and he was asked by the Mayor himself to join his administration as his Civil Service Director. Mayor Cutrer’s invitation into city politics would be the beginning of a long relationship with Walter that would eventually lead to the formation in 1964 of the law firm of Cutrer & Jefferson that still practices to this day. In 2014, Walter was awarded his 50 year Texas State bar card in a ceremony in Austin, Texas celebrating five decades of practicing law.

Walter was a loving family man and adored his wife and three children. Family was always his number one priority. As his children grew up, he always took time out to spend with them. Whether coaching little league baseball, taking them camping, playing a children’s tune on his guitar for an eager listener, or just being together, his family was always his greatest love. Walter is preceded in death by his wife Barbara. He is survived by his three children, Randal Jefferson and his wife Elizabeth Kuebler Jefferson, Wesley Jefferson, and Julia Jefferson Alexander and her husband Dean, grandchildren William Jefferson, Theodore Jefferson and Michael Alexander. His warmth, wit and unconditional love will be deeply missed by his family and friends.

The funeral service is to be conducted at half-past three o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 13th of September, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston. Immediately following the service, all are invited to greet the family for a reception in the adjacent grand foyer.

At a later date, the family will gather for a private entombment service in the Texas Liberty Mausoleum at Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston.