LAURA PHARR (RUPLEY) KILE

1957-2019

Laura Pharr (Rupley) Kile left this world gently on Friday after a 3 year struggle with breast cancer. Pharr was born on October 14, 1957 in Houston, Texas. She attended Lee High School (’76) and the University of Texas (’80), where she was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. Shortly after college Pharr entered the real estate industry, which she continued for nearly 40 years, helping many Houstonians to find their dream homes. In the early 1990s, she co-owned Esprit Realty, while also becoming a devoted, kind, and gentle mother. She married the love of her life, Barry Kile, in 2000. They shared 9 years of marriage before he passed away suddenly in June of 2009. She joined Barry in heaven 10 years later on his birthday – August 2, 2019, a testament to her sweet and thoughtful character.

Pharr had a buoyant spirit, peaceful nature, and profound reverence for all life. Her warm heart and green thumb delighted many – feathered, furry, scaled, winged, and walking alike. She found joy in baking, live music, and fresh air, and had fond memories of New Orleans, Santa Fe, and Paris. She nurtured friendships over decades with supportive words and thoughtful tokens of gratitude.

Pharr was preceded in death by her husband, Barry Kile, her father, Robert S. Rupley, and her step-fathers, Edward Scott, Jerry Kaler, and Thomas Eaton Jr. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Katie (Gibson) and Samuel Foster, mother, Laura (LeFevre) Eaton, brothers, Robert and William Rupley, niece and nephews, Melissa, Christopher, and Scott Rupley, his wife, Susan, and their children, Aiden and Rylin Rupley, as well as her step-children, Doris Richardson, Kellye Kephart, and Matthew Strange. She also leaves behind a vast network of close friends across Houston and Austin, who will dearly miss the listening ear, comforting shoulder, and helping hand she so readily provided.

A memorial service will be held in her honor on Wednesday, August 7, at 2 pm in the Founder’s Chapel at Grace Presbyterian Church (10221 Ella Lee Ln, Houston, TX 77042), with a reception at the church immediately following. Her ashes will be interred at Forest Park Cemetery Lawndale, in a family ceremony at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where she volunteered in butterfly and plant conservation efforts (www.wildflower. org/donate), and/or to CAP Houston, where she rescued several beloved pets (www. cap4pets.org).

Pharr was a wellspring of kindness, a light to all who knew her. She is deeply missed.