ADELE PERRY HART
1947-2020
FORT WORTH - Adele Perry Hart passed away Monday, May 4, 2020, in
Fort Worth, Texas. She was born August 23, 1947 in Houston to Nancy Little Perry, a homemaker, community leader and amateur architect, and William Cox Perry, a prominent attorney. She attended Lamar High School where she excelled in academics and made many lifelong friends.
Adele attended Sweetbriar College in Virginia and then the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with a BA in English, with honors, in 1969. She was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, and made many enduring friendships during her time in Austin. An avid learner, in 2003 she earned a Master of Liberal Arts from TCU.
Adele’s love for her husband, Mark L. Hart Jr., began at first sight. They married on December 5, 1969 and began their lives together in Houston, where Mark practiced law and Adele worked as a civil servant at the Texas Employment Commission. In 1972 they moved to Fort Worth when Mark opened a Fort Worth office for Vinson & Elkins, later co-founding the law firm of Kelly, Hart and Hallman in 1979. Their love for each other was a rare and beautiful thing, and to many who knew them was the defining characteristic of their relationship.
Throughout her life she was admired and respected as a leader. People were drawn to her infectious smile and her ability to make people feel welcome and accepted. In addition to her full time job as the greatest mother in the world, Adele was a force of nature when it came to volunteer service. She served as board president and chairman of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for more than 10 years, as well as chairman of the FWSO Executive committee. She also co-chaired the FWSO Annual Gala for many years, and was a prolific fundraiser. She served a stint as Chairman of the Tarrant County Red Cross and served on the boards of the Fine Arts schools at UT Austin and TCU. For many years she was active in the Junior League and many other local charities.
Adele enjoyed competition and was an accomplished tennis and bridge player, and enjoyed golf as well. Not only did Adele get the most out of her life, she enabled so many others to do the same. Above all else, Adele was a devoted mother and wife. A selfless love and devotion to others is her legacy.
In her final years, despite being afflicted with a brutal neurological disease, Adele never lost her spirit nor her optimism, and she maintained beautiful relationships with her close friends until the end. Her family will never forget the love and devotion of her caregivers Lorena Ramirez, Leslie Gordon and Shakari Lee, whom she considers family, her bridge partners and teachers Mary Jane Orock and Dotty Klecka, who made weekly trips to her house for two years after she was no longer able to attend her bridge game in person, and of her dear friends Nancy and Bill Hallman and Karen Rainwater, with whom she shared laughs and love until the end.
Adele was preceded in death by her husband, the late Mark L. Hart Jr.
Survivors: Three children, Mark Hart and his wife, Shannon, Mary Lipscomb and her husband, Blake, and Elizabeth Hart Diaz Mathe and her husband, Ivan; her sisters, Nan Perry Nelson and
Mary Perry, who remained her closest friends for her entire life; her grandchildren, Mark, James and Mary Shannon Hart; Jody, Miles and Leo Lipscomb; and Luca Diaz Mathe; her sister-inlaw, Harriet Hart and her husband, Sonny Wallace; and many other extended family members.
A private graveside service will be held at Greenwood Memorial Park.
Memorials: In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions may be directed to the Tarrant Area Food Bank, www.tatb.org, 2600 Cullen St. Fort Worth, Texas 76107, the Women’s Center, www.womenscenterc.org, 1723 Hemphill Fort Worth, TX 76110, The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, www.fwsymphony.org, 330 E. 4th St. Fort Worth, Texas 76102 or the charity of one’s choice.