William Mac GANN

William Mac Gann passed away on Tuesday, the 22nd of November 2011, at his home in Houston after a courageous battle with cancer. At the time of his death his beloved wife, Elizabeth Ann, was at his side as Mac peacefully went to sleep after a short recurrence of the disease he had successfully fought for several years.
Mac, a trial lawyer in every sense of that term, was one of the first attorneys to gain Board Certification in Personal Injury Law and actively practiced until his final illness. Born in Laneburg, Nevada County, Arkansas, on the 30th of August 1931, Mac was the youngest of seven children born to Claude McRae Gann, a farmer, and his wife Emily Ward Gann. Reared in the hard-scrabble years of the Great Depression, Mac and his siblings all persevered to receive educations and lead successful lives, despite the death of their father when Mac was only 18 months old.
Entering the United States Army during the Korean War, Mac was honorably discharged in September 1956. Following his military service Mac served as a claims adjuster and worked his way through the University of Houston School of Law, graduating with honors in 1962. From the outset it was clear that Mac had found his calling trying cases in Houston and throughout Texas. For many years Mac was a partner in the well-known firm of Miller Gann & Perdue, with Mac and Jim Purdue trying, and winning, many of the largest personal injury cases of that time.
After Miller, Gann and Perdue, Mac and his law partner of 38 years, E. Ray Edwards, formed the firm now known as Gann & Edwards. Licensed in the State and Federal Courts of both Texas and Arkansas, Mac continued his extremely active schedule as a trial lawyer, up until his death. Mac was honored with induction into the American Board of Trial Advocacy, an honor bestowed by colleagues to only the best and most experienced trial lawyers in America. Throughout his career, Mac was regularly selected as a "super lawyer" in the field of trial law.
Mac's greatest talent, however, was his talent in making friends. His demeanor was always pleasant, making friends of opposing lawyers and their clients. Behind his genuinely friendly disposition and his many home-spun stories, was a steel-trap legal mind which enabled him to explain complex matters to the "just folks" he enjoyed so much. If wealth can be measured in terms of the number of friends accumulated in a lifetime, William Mac Gann died the richest man in the world.
Mac Gann was preceded in death by his father and mother, his brothers, J.C. Gann and Carl Gann; his sisters Jane Gann Roberson, Ruth Gann Tate and Edna Gann Robins.
Mac is survived by his loving wife, Elizabeth Ann Gann; daughters Danna Lynn Bigner and her husband Jim Bigner, Lauren "Lucy" Neumann and her husband Christopher Neumann; his brother John Ward Gann of Little Rock, Arkansas; his sister-in-law Beth (Mrs. Carl) Gann of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and his godson, Dr. John Eakin, M.D. of San Diego, California, as well as numerous cherished nieces and nephews, all of whom were deeply impacted by Mac's influence.
A celebration of the life of Mac Gann is to be conducted at two o'clock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 8th of December, in the Jasek Chapel of George H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
In lieu of customary remembrances, the family has requested that donations in Mac's memory be directed to Kid's Meals Houston, 205 West Crosstimbers Street, Houston, Texas 77018. Donations may also be made online at www.Kidsmealshouston.org.