Craig Porter, attorney in San Angelo since 1951, died in Regency House on September 20, 2020, one month shy of his 96th birthday. He was born in Colorado City, Texas on October l8, 1924, residing there until entering the United States Army Air Corps on November 11, l942. During his military service, Porter received his pilot rating and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on April 15, 1944, and thereafter was a flight instructor of cadets until January of 1945, when he entered training to receive the rating of flight engineer for the B-29 aircraft. In July of 1945, Craig became part of a B-29 crew at Tucson, Arizona, and was discharged in November of l945, following the end of World War II.
On April 20, 1944, Craig married Sue Landers, also of Mitchell County, the wedding service occurring in the same little Episcopal Church in Colorado City where his maternal grandparents had been the first couple married in April of 1885. The courtship of Craig and Sue had been started when they were sophomores in high school and continued thereafter through more than sixty years of marriage, when Sue died in March of 2005. Craig was also preceded in death by his older son, J. Craig Porter, Jr., who died in April of 2013, and by his only sibling, Charles Earnest Porter, of Ocala, Florida. On October 18, 2014, Porter married Myrta Harper Rathbone of San Angelo, and she now survives him. Craig is also survived by his younger son, Judd R. Porter, and wife, Koleta of San Angelo; his granddaughter, Amber Porter Harlow, and husband, Adam Harlow and his great-granddaughters, Francis Jean Harlow and Josephine Grace Harlow, all of Johns Creek, Georgia; his step-daughter, Julie Hargraves and husband Perry along with their family, of San Angelo; by his niece, Lee Porter Housley, of Ocala, Florida; niece, Kay Carter White and husband Curt of Dalhart, Texas; nephews Ike Carter and wife Beth of Dalhart, Texas; Ross Carter and wife Shelly of Clayton, New Mexico and by a number of cousins.
After Craig’s military service, he and Sue moved to Austin in February of 1946, where he attended undergraduate classes at the University of Texas, with graduation from its School of Law in January of l95l, when the couple and their two small sons moved to San Angelo to commence the practice of law. Although knowing only two persons in San Angelo at the time of their moving to San Angelo, the family soon became truly blessed with the formation of new friends, fellow Parishioners of their church and colleagues in the legal profession. Porter practiced law by himself from February of 1951 until April of 1952, when he became employed by Figuers Mortgage Company in San Angelo. In January of 1953, he became an associate of the firm of Upton, Upton, Baker and Griffis, where he became a partner in the firm in January of 1960. In January of 1966 Porter, P. B. Shannon and James D. Johnson formed their law firm of Shannon Porter & Johnson, where he continued to practice law until his retirement from the firm in January of 2011.
Next in importance to Porter were members of his church family. After their move to San Angelo, the couple became Parishioners of Emmanuel Episcopal Church. They became founding members of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in 1965. At the time of his death, Porter was a Parishioner of the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in San Angelo. Over more than 66 years, Craig had been from time to time a Lector, Lay Eucharistic Minister, Sunday School teacher and Sunday School Superintendent, as well as a member of and Senior Warden of the Vestries at his churches.
As an attorney, Porter was a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Tom Green County Bar Association; a Fellow of the American College of Probate Counsel; a Life Member of the Texas Bar Foundation; a Director and Chairman of the Board of the State Junior Bar Association of Texas. His greatest joy in the practice of law was in the area of civil litigation. He liked to recall a particular jury trial where he was successful in having his stroke-impaired and very elderly ranch-woman client, present successfully her defense to an allegation of a forged deed, by shaking and nodding her head in response to his questions, without a single spoken word from her.
In his non-professional life, Porter had served as a director of Southwest Bank and San Angelo National Bank, a board member of the Concho Valley MHMR Board in San Angelo, a member of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, a board member and Chairman of the Board of the Miss Wool of America Pageant, a director of and President of San Angelo Country Club and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hall Children’s Crisis Foundation, a charity originally created by one of his clients.
Beyond Porter’s love for his family members, his church and his friends, clients and colleagues in the legal profession was his passion for travel and for playing golf and following the efforts of the professionals of the game of golf. He first became acquainted with golf as a caddy at 10 years of age at Colorado City Country Club, carrying the golf clubs of the elderly club members there. After the ending of military service and college years, Craig had the good fortune to supplement his poor efforts at the game through the fellowship gained with the wonderful men making up the golf groups he played with on a regular basis at San Angelo Country Club.
As for traveling, and although enjoying the pleasure of trips to Germany, Great Britain and Scotland, and many of the metropolitan areas of the United States, his greater joy was to drive through and enjoy the vistas of flowing waters, snow covered mountaintops, western desert areas and canyons of the National Parks of America, and areas in British Columbia and Mexico, which he viewed with Sue and their granddaughter during his first marriage, and thereafter with Myrta in the more recent years of his life.
A memorial service to be held at the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd, located at 3355 West Beauregard, in San Angelo, at 1:00 pm on Friday, September 25, 2020, with the Rev. Hal Scott officiating. A private burial will follow in Fairmount Cemetery. Face masks and social distancing will be observed. Pallbearers for the burial are Curt White of Dalhart, Jonathan R. Davis, Stanley F. Joynton, Patrick L. Shannon, Brandon Archer and Judge William Greendyke of Houston. The family suggests that memorials be directed to the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd, Meals for the Elderly or the charity of one’s choosing.
Funeral Service
Friday, September 25, 2020
1:00PM
Anglican Church of The Good Shepherd
3355 W. Beauregard
San Angelo, TX 76904
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