Acree Carlisle

1934 - 2016

Acree Bishop Carlisle
1934-2016
Acree Bishop Carlisle passed away peacefully at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas on June 10th, 2016. He was born November 20, 1934, in Uvalde, Texas. He is preceded in death by his parents, Acree Bishop Carlisle Sr. and Mary Edith Saunders Carlisle, and his sister Mary Joycelyn Carlisle.
Acree was an architect, artist, photographer, writer, bird-watcher, traveler and story teller. He was an avid reader with far-ranging interests in art, photography, Texas, wildlife, many many historical subjects (especially the experience of American Indians), biology, geology and genetics. He was also a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, neighbor, friend and colleague. He loved his family and friends with all his heart.
He grew up in Uvalde, Texas in a wonderful and loving family, and enjoyed many a great outdoors adventure. He recently told one of his daughters that he knocked some of his teeth loose after being thrown from a horse he was riding alone around town when he was 6 years old. That did not deter him from having a life-long love of animals, great and small. He would, in his later years, write many stories about coming of age in West Texas.
He attended Uvalde Jr. College and later, at the University of Texas at Austin, took his Bachelor's degree in architectural engineering. He then surrendered his bachelor's status to fellow student Corinne Orr of Kerrville, to whom he proposed in the UT Student Union. He sold his last Uvalde cow and calf to pay for the engagement ring. After eloping to Piedras Negras, Mexico, Acree and Corinne proceeded to enjoy 58 years of marriage.
Acree was an architect for the University of Texas at Austin for several years in the late 1960s/early70s, overseeing the design and renovation of medical school buildings (including MD Anderson Hospital). At UT-Austin, he developed the famous Acree Carlisle numbering system which is still in use at UT's MDA. (Many of the nurses and doctors at MDA learned about the origin of this logical numbering system during Acree's many visits there for chemotherapy and surgery.)
He and Corinne moved to Houston in 1973 to start the Houston office of Page Sutherland Page, an architectural firm he had worked for previously in Austin. He was licensed to practice architecture in 22 states and became a senior partner in PSP Houston, specializing in hospital and medical facilities. After semi-retiring in the 1990s, he returned to his early love of drawing and painting—and in media ranging from pen and ink, watercolors, oils, and pastels; and with subjects spanning wildlife, flowers, landscapes, seascapes and, ultimately, portraits. Much of his subject matter originated in West Texas; on wildlife preserves; and on the shore and docks of Galveston.
Acree also discovered a love of writing and storytelling to go with his various artworks. During the years that he attended art shows to display and sell his art, he enjoyed telling historical stories about Texas. He was especially fascinated by the true American Indian stories relating to the Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker family in the 1880s. In recent years, he enjoyed participating in his "GAS Group" (Geriatric Art Society) and attending monthly meetings at the Houston Photographic Society. You can see much of his art and read stories at www.facebook.com/artandtales.
Acree had a particular love of Big Bend National Park. In the last 15 years, he traveled to Big Bend every year, often taking daughters and grandchildren along to enjoy the rugged beauty of that unique part of Texas. He knew the names of all the mountain ranges and tall peaks. He often photographed and painted the Chisos Mountains located in the center of the park.
He hiked many of the trails--even the Lost Mine Trail, which travels up 2.2 miles, almost straight up 1200 feet. He loved photographing the wildlife, which necessitated his having a few close encounters with black bears! He always hoped to see a mountain lion, but only saw the tail end of one as the lion crossed into the woods from the parking lot in front of his cabin. He would often regale park visitors with the stories of the Comanche Indians who, in the 1800s, traveled through Big Bend on their way to Mexico.
Kind to animals and strays everywhere, Acree was known to carry dog food in the back of his car to feed hungry animals whenever he saw them. He always maintained birdfeeders and took care of dozens of fish in his backyard Koi ponds. Corinne and Acree have been feeding a local wild fox and other wildlife daily for many years.
A hardworking, loving and kind man, Acree was also a man of exquisite intelligence. When he once took an IQ test for the draft board, he achieved one of the two highest scores ever seen by the officer administering the exam. Mainly, he was a man of integrity—indeed, as it is said in West Texas, "a man you could cross a river with."
Acree is survived by his wife, Corinne, and brother and sister-in-law, Dewey and Martha Carlisle of San Antonio. He is also survived by his daughters Karen Duban and husband James, Bonnie D'Amico and husband Joe, and Suzanne Crowley and husband Dan. He is survived by 9 grandchildren: Edmund (and wife, Sarah), Seth (and wife, Elizabeth), and Nathaniel Duban; Simone, Brandon, and Brian Batton; and Caitlin, Lauren, and Cameron Crowley. Acree was very pleased to have lived long enough to meet his great-grandson, Carlisle James Duban.
The funeral services will be Thursday, June 16th at 10 am at Klein Funeral Home Champions, 16131 Champion Forest Dr, in Spring, Texas. Friends and family are also invited to a visitation at the funeral home on Wednesday, June 15th, from 6 – 8 pm.
In lieu of flowers, the family would gratefully appreciate a memorial donation to the non-profit organization PrideRock Wildlife Refuge, 17194 Co Rd 329, Terrell, Texas 75161 (www.priderock.org) , The Houston Humane Society or the charity of your choice. Much of Acree's wildlife artwork is of animals that are or were cared for at PrideRock Wildlife Refuge.