WILLIAM “BILL” G. WOODFORD

1939-2020

William “Bill” G. Woodford died January 13, 2020, at Houston Methodist Hospital, after a brief illness.

Bill was born May 6, 1939, in Hereford Texas, to Lisle and Eunice (Gilbreath) Woodford. Bill was an excellent student, was active in Scouts and worked as a disc jockey at KPAN while attending Hereford High School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1961 from U.T. where he was president of his fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha. He received his law degree from U.T. in 1964, having served as Associate Editor for the Texas Law Review (19631964) and being named a Chancellor as well as becoming a member of Phi Delta Phi. After clerking for the Hon. Joseph C. Hutcheson,

Jr. for the Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, he joined the law firm Baker Botts in 1965 where he spent the entirety of his career, becoming a partner in 1972.

Bill represented Tenneco Inc. and Roy Huffington’s Huffco among others. He was an extremely respected corporate attorney who created the contract to transport liquefied natural gas from Indonesia to Japan, and eventually became head of the corporate section of Baker Botts. Bill’s work included a lot of international travel and very long hours. He enjoyed his work immensely. Later in life, he channeled his lifelong love of the arts and became an avid photographer, taking and developing his own prints. He was a talented artist, and became a published photographer of the Houston Ballet. He was generous in sharing some of his works by gifting them to friends and family.

A close friend described Bill as a righteous, upright, honest and virtuous human being. He will be missed by many.

He is preceded in death by his parents and older brother Tom Woodford, he is survived by three nieces, Karen (Dan) Flanagan, Ann McGowan and Jean Woodford (Tom Norris) and several cousins. A private service will be held this spring. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet Street, Houston, Texas 77005.