MARY E. BACON

1930-2018

Judge Mary Bacon passed away peacefully on March 1, 2018 after a very brief illness. She was 87.

Judge Bacon was preceded in death by her loving husband of more than 60 years, Robert Bacon, in 2013. She took on widowhood with a vengeance, vowing to say “yes” to all opportunities, to travel the world without regard to logistical challenges, to explore Houston like, as she put it, a “tourist in her own city”’ and to revel in the company of her beloved children, grandchildren, daughters- and son-in-law and her great-grandson. She succeeded in doing all those things until the last week of her life.

After raising four kids, Judge Bacon enrolled in what was then known as the Bates College of Law, now the University of Houston Law Center. After graduating law school in 1972, Judge Bacon hung out her shingle in a converted motel and took on her first client at the age of 42. After specializing in family law for 10 years, Judge Bacon became an associate judge to State District Judge Henry Schuble. In 1983, Judge Bacon was appointed by Governor Mark White to

the 338th Criminal District Court, where she presided until her retirement in 1998. In 1999, Governor George W. Bush appointed her to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, where she focused on furthering employment education for female prisoners.

Judge Bacon is survived by her daughter Elizabeth Johnson and her husband Chuck; her son Bobby Bacon and his wife Annie; her son Tom Bacon and his wife Laura; and her son Doug Bacon and his partner Amanda Amert; her granddaughter Katy BaconMadigan and her husband Jesse; her grandson Drew Bacon and his fiancée Tallent Ricca; her grandchildren Taylor Bacon and Robert Bacon and their mother, Allison Temple Bacon; and her great-grandson, Russell Bacon-Madigan.

Judge Bacon’s children want to express their gratitude to the nurses and staff at Houston Hospice for their immeasurable compassion and tenderness.

No services are planned. Memorial donations would be welcomed to the Houston Grand Opera (510 Preston St, Houston, TX 77002), or to The University of Houston Law Center, for addition to the endowment of the Judge Mary Bacon Award (UH Alumni Relations, 3204 Cullen Blvd/Room 201, Houston, Texas 77204 (attn: Nancy Clark)).