Sam Byron Hulsey

1932 - 2020

Sam Byron Hulsey FORT WORTH--The Right Reverend Sam Byron Hulsey died Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. MEMORIAL SERVICE: A memorial service will be held when it is safer to gather. Bishop Hulsey's body was donated to the Willed Body Program at Southwestern Medical School, Dallas. Later, his ashes will be buried in Old City Greenwood Cemetery, Weatherford, Texas, and at his family farm in Parker County. Arrangements will be handled by Thompson's Harveson & Cole Funeral Home. Hulsey, raised in Fort Worth, returned to his hometown after retiring in 1997 from The Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas where he served as bishop for 17 years. He was born Feb. 14, 1932, at the old All Saints' Episcopal Hospital, and he graduated from Paschal High School, Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., and the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va. He also studied at St. Andrew's Scotland and was awarded honorary degrees by Virginia Seminary, The University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., and the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in Austin. Prior to his election as bishop, he served the Episcopal parishes of St. John's, Corsicana, St. Michael and All Angels in Dallas, St. Matthew's, Pampa, St. David's Nashville (Tenn.), and Holy Trinity, Midland. Among his proudest accomplishments were helping found several West Texas hospices and serving as planning committee chair for the Episcopal House of Bishops when the church was struggling with whether to ordain women and gays. He served as a board member for the National Association of Episcopal Schools, as vice president of the Texas Conference of Churches, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church and for 16 years on the board of the Seminary of the Southwest. In Fort Worth he has volunteered for Oakwood Cemetery, Communities in Schools, TCU, The Van Zandt Cottage Board, Meals on Wheels, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth as a spiritual director, the Fort Worth Symphony and Opera and All Angels Church, as well as the Planned Parenthood Fort Worth Community Board. He valued his previous memberships in the Cattle Country Clericus, River Crest Country Club and the Fort Worth Club. SURVIVORS: His widow, Isabelle Brown Hulsey; his daughter, Ashley Hulsey of Philadelphia; his son, Byron Hulsey of Woodberry Forest, Va. Stepchildren include Ruthie Porterfield of Houston, Beth Phillips and Huck Newberry of Fort Worth. Grandchildren are Ben and Claire Hulsey of Woodberry Forest, Va. Stepgrandchildren include Rachel and Daniel Kittner, Marshall, Perry and Brownie Porterfield, Sydney, William and Porter Phillips and Marilyn, Isabelle, Oliver and Mack Newberry. Sue Measles, Oscar Mondine, Dulce Metheny and Maria Curtis have been of particular support in recent years as have his newest caregivers, Cheryl Cunningham and Grace Iban. Hulsey kept up with dozens of godchildren and legions of friends, many of whom brightened his last months at Selby Hill. Hulsey's first wife, Linda Johnson Hulsey, predeceased him in 2001 after 41 years of marriage. Hulsey was a devoted Democrat, lifelong learner and an early champion of the rights of women, as well as of gays and lesbians, refugees and immigrants. He spent 20 happy summers on Deer Isle, in Maine, and as much time as possible in Parker County, Texas, where his grandfather and grandmother bought land and a small log cabin, now on the Texas Historic Register, in 1902. He loved flowers, books, music, art, newspapers, chocolate, dogs, phone calls and correspondence. He was full of compassion and fun and loved bringing people together for meals, where he often told the server to give him the bill even before instructing his guests where to sit. MEMORIALS: Memorials are suggested to Communities in Schools, 5601 Bridge St., #501, Fort Worth, TX 76112; Episcopal Relief and Development, 815 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10017; Planned Parenthood Greater Texas, 6464 John Ryan Drive, Fort Worth, TX, 76132.