EMILIE “MIMI” KILGORE
11/13/1935 - 11/24/2022
/ Houston’s own Emilie “Mimi” Kilgore died peacefully on Thanksgiving morning. She was born Emilie deMun Smith (November 13th, 1935 – November 24th, 2022) in Houston Texas to Lucy Thompson Smith and Charless Cabanne Smith both of St Louis, Missouri. Mimi grew up in Houston, where she attended River Oaks Elementary School and graduated from The Kinkaid School. During WWll, she lived at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio with her mother Lucy, older sister Susan, and younger brother Cab, while her father Col. Cabanne Smith served in Europe under General Patton in the U.S. Third Army. Mimi and her sister Susan made their debut together at the Houston Country Club. Mimi graduated magna cum laude from Smith College, having spent her junior year abroad in France. After college,
Mimi moved to New York
City where she worked as an art librarian at the Frick Collection, the beginning of a lifelong career in the arts. Mimi spent summers in Pointe aux Barques, Michigan (a community that her paternal great-grandfather helped launch) and East Hampton, NY.
In New York, she met and married William S. Gilbreath III of Birmingham, Michigan, and their son Cab was born in 1959. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1963.
She met her second husband, John E. Kilgore, Jr. of Wichita Falls, Texas in New York; they were married in 1965 and their son Alexander was born in 1967. In 1970, Mimi and John Kilgore moved to Houston with her two boys.
It was also in 1970 that Mimi met the artist Willem de Kooning, beginning a long and meaningful relationship between the two that would last until his death.
Back in Houston, Mimi supplemented her education in the arts, earning a master’s degree in fine arts. Following in the footsteps of her mother Lucy, who had co-founded the Cushman art gallery in Houston, Mimi served on the Board of Directors of the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, Guild Hall of East Hampton NY and the Houston Seminar, where she developed a survey course of local artists and galleries. Mimi (twice) served as Commissioner of the Municipal Arts Committee of the City of Houston. She was also an instrumental board member of Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston, warding off encroaching developers by getting its current site declared a landmark building. Mimi was a friend to and champion of artists in Houston, New York and around the world.
Mimi was hired by Ben Love to acquire and direct an art collection for Texas Commerce Bank and their new Houston headquarters building, now Chase tower.
She also served as Director of Fayez Sarofim’s art collection from its inception until well into her eighties.
After the untimely early death of her sister and best friend Susan in 1977, Mimi co-founded (with her brotherin-law Bill Blackburn) the Susan Smith Blackburn
Prize, the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women writing for the English speaking theatre. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman said of
Mimi, “Mimi Kilgore led the charge to identify and produce women writers for the English speaking theatre. We all became friends because of the yearly Blackburn Prize ceremonies. Her spirit was mighty; her standards were high, and her gracious manner her crowning glory.”
She was able to transform the loss of her sister into a groundswell movement that has become a renowned international sisterhood.
Mimi herself was recognized with numerous honors during her lifetime, including Phi Beta Kappa, the Smith College Medal, a Lilly Award, and TCG’s National Funder Award. She belonged to several clubs, including the Bayou Club of Houston, Maidstone Club of East Hampton and The Coffee House of NYC.
Throughout her life, Mimi was able to navigate disparate worlds seamlessly and was widely recognized as a great connector of people.
She brought together artists across multiple mediums and connected many artists with patrons.
Mimi was preceded in death by her parents, Lucy and Cab Smith, her sister Susan Smith Blackburn and her brother Cab Smith. She is survived by her two sons, Cabanne Gilbreath of Austin, Texas, and Alexander Kilgore of Springs, New York, and her two grandchildren, Jules de Mun Gilbreath of Austin, and Panther Nova Frasher Kilgore of Springs.
A celebration of her life will be held later in Houston, New York and Pointe aux Barques. Private family burial at Glenwood Cemetery Houston and Pointe aux Barques, Michigan.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in honor of Mimi may be made to The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, PO# 22953, Houston, Texas 77227.