Miles Teel Bivins

1947 - 2009

Miles Teel Bivins, 61, died peacefully Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. He was a former ambassador to Sweden, state legislator, cattleman and descendant of a Texas Panhandle pioneer ranching family.
Memorial service: 2 p.m. Thursday at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Amarillo. Interment: private. Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors, 2800 Paramount Blvd., Amarillo.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Andrews Episcopal School, High Plains Public Radio or the Sen. Teel Bivins Scholarship in care of the Amarillo Area Foundation.
Teel Bivins was born Nov. 22, 1947, in Amarillo. He graduated from Tulane University in 1970. He was awarded a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Southern Methodist University Law School in 1974.
Beginning in 1989, he served five terms in the Texas legislature as state senator for District 31. It was a position he won in his first race for political office. During his tenure in the Legislature, Sen. Bivins served as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the Education Committee, the Nominations Committee and the Agricultural Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee. In addition, he co-chaired the Interim Committee on Public School Finance during the 78th Session and was a member of the Electric Utility Restructuring Oversight Committee in 1999. He also instituted tort reform in Texas.
Sen. Bivins championed public education through measures to increase accountability and spending for public education, end social promotion and increase financial aid for college students. In 2008, his contributions to politics and higher education were recognized by West Texas A&M University through the Teel Bivins Professor of Political Science endowed chair.
In 1999 and 2001, Sen. Bivins was recognized as one of the most influential lawmakers by the Dallas Morning News. In 1997 and 2001, he was named one of the "Ten Best Legislators" by Texas Monthly magazine. Sen. Bivins will be missed by his former legislative colleagues and staffers, many of whom have expressed the honor of having worked with him on behalf of the citizens of the Texas Panhandle.
In 2004, Sen. Bivins was appointed United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden by President George W. Bush. He served as ambassador until February 2006 when illness forced him to resign from public service and return home to Texas.
While most will remember him in business attire, Sen. Bivins had the rough hands of a working cowboy and took a hands-on approach to his family's four-generation involvement in ranching and the cattle business. In 1976, he and his brother Tom formed a partnership, Bivins Brothers. In 1978, Sen. Bivins, along with his two brothers, Mark and Tom, Dale Smith and Jay O'Brien, formed a partnership, Corsino Cattle Co., which is still in operation. He was also active in oil and gas exploration.
Many of his favorite times were spent on horseback on the family's ranch, where he taught his children to be good stewards of the land. Sen. Bivins' love of the outdoors also extended to sports. He was an avid snow skier and enjoyed numerous heli-skiing trips to some of the most challenging mountains in Canada. He also enjoyed mountain biking with friends and family in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Ambassador Bivins passed along his love of fishing at the 4UR Ranch in Creede, Colo., to his sons, Andrew and Will.
The family wishes to extend its deepest thanks to Linda Griggs, Sharon Miner, Sandra de los Santos, Ronda Johnson, Nona Anne Terry and Alexis Freyer. They are also thankful for the special care given by Kay Russo, Sammy de los Santos, Ray Gonzales and Margie Andrade as well as the wonderful staff at Goodcare Services and BSA Hospice.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lee Truscott Bivins and Betty Teel Bivins Lovell, and one brother, Levi Bivins.
Survivors: Brothers, Mark Bivins and Tom Bivins, both of Amarillo, and their wives; his beloved children, Andrew Montgomery Bivins and his wife, Wendy Ryan Bivins, of Amarillo, Katherine Teel Bivins of Amarillo, William Terrill Bivins of Amarillo and Carolyn Hamilton Bivins of Houston; grandson, Nolan Montgomery Bivins; and numerous nieces and nephews.