George Michael "Mike" DeGeurin

1945 - 2024

George Michael "Mike" DeGeurin
01/09/1945 - 08/10/2024
Famed defender and friend, Mike DeGeurin, died on August 10, 2024, at the age of 79, with Gayle, his wife and soul mate, at his side. His family had been with him every day and night in his final illness, as he rallied until he couldn't.
Always a competitor, to him every shot, every stroke, was two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Affectionately known as "DeGeura-math," the score was always tied, with the winning shot on the line and the ball in his hands. He did not miss a winning putt.
Mike was born on January 9, 1945, in Austin, Texas, to his loving parents, Marguerite and E.M "Mack" DeGeurin, and welcomed by his four-year-old brother, Dick. Mike grew up with sports and law in his genes. His dad, a lawyer and an avid golfer, gave Mike an enthusiasm to pursue both. His mother, a great storyteller, had a quick wit, always adding a chuckle or a bit of a secret at the end. Mike was a natural athlete, a team player, starting his baseball career at six years old, as a second baseman for the North Austin Lions Club Little League; making the all-star team every year he played. He continued playing through Bryker Woods Elementary, O. Henry Jr. High, and Austin High, along the way also making the varsity Basketball and Football teams. Throughout his grade school years, Mike's positive and friendly personality made him one of the most popular people in school, so much so his classmates elected him president of their class in junior high and high school. In 1961, Mike and Gayle met in high school; she freshly arrived from Corpus Christi, and he, the friendly person he was. They became friends, and the story began for them.
When Mike was about 14, his parents encouraged him to take up golf more seriously, so he enthusiastically became an astute student of Harvey Penick. He never forgot Harvey's lessons, and would often quote them verbatim.
Mike was accepted to the University of Texas in 1963, and joined Phi Delta Theta, where he made lifelong friendships-which, in truth, were the only kind of friendships Mike made. Known as "Hawkeye" or DeGeurin to his friends, Mike was a merrymaker, and good times followed him.
After graduation from university in 1967, during the Vietnam War, Mike enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard, and was sent to Fort Huachuca, Ariz., to train as a soldier. Proving his mettle, he survived the brutal basic training in 115-degree heat, and was named an outstanding cadet by his drill instructors. He ached about his friends serving overseas, and wrote them as often allowed. He was a self-sufficient fellow, and during high school and college, he worked at Clyde Campbell's University Shop clothing store, developing his impeccable sense of style known to family and friends as DeGeur-wear.
Mike and Gayle married in 1968, and Mike entered the newly created Law School at Texas Tech, in Lubbock, a terrain in the high plains of Texas, as bleak and sandy-dry as the two of them could ever imagine. Gayle continued to teach elementary students to support them as he studied the law. He bought a used three-wheel U.S. Postal delivery vehicle to transport himself and infant Michael around town, before seat belts and car seats were invented. He graduated from the first full class at Tech Law School, in 1972, along with his friend Newal Squyres. His first "fee" as a budding lawyer was a handmade quilt that is with his family today.
Mike and Gayle returned to Austin with Michael, Jr., their two-year-old son, where Mike started his legal career as a briefing attorney for Judge Wendell Odom on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' highest criminal court. Though the business of that appellate court could be pretty grim, Mike started a personal tradition of opening each private session of the court with a joke. Again, his personality affected those around him, and the judges enjoyed two years of Mike's collegiality.
He, Gayle, and Michael then moved to Houston, where Mike became a law clerk for U.S. District Judge John V. Singleton. There he observed, up close, how jurists think and make decisions. When his commitment to Judge Singleton ended, his brother, Dick, urged him to join the Harris County District Attorney's office to learn trial work by prosecuting criminal cases, but Mike declined because he didn't want to put people in jail; he wanted to help people. Instead, Mike hung his own shingle and started at the bottom, defending indigent people by taking court appointments. He became so effective and worked so hard on his cases that one of the State District Judges refused to appoint him again, telling Mike that he had "filed too many motions!" Gayle worried their funds were going to bus fare for his clients, yet they both knew this work was vital to his core desire to defend those in need. They persisted. He was hooked by Houston; he loved the idea that anything, anyone could make a difference here.
When, in 1974, the federal courts created a Federal Public Defender's Office in the Southern District of Texas, Mike was one of the first hires of Roland E. Dahlin II. It was challenging and often thankless work, but once again, Mike's personality and work ethic came through, and his reputation in the legal community, already getting notice from his state court cases, grew among the federal bars. Mike's successes attracted the attention of legendary lawyer Percy Foreman, who asked Mike to join him and brother, Dick, to form the firm Foreman, DeGuerin, and DeGeurin. (The brothers spell their names differently, with Dick spelling it the correct way and Mike spelling it the right way.) Mike stayed with Percy until his death, in 1988, and continued to uphold Mr. Foreman's legacy of practicing law with equal amounts of book smarts and trial skills.
Mike is considered a mentor to the Foreman DeGeurin law firm members, Paul Nugent, David Gerger, Heather Peterson, Jennifer Carrol, Michael DeGeurin, Laura DeGeurin Robertson, Andres Sanchez, John Parras, and countless other brilliant young lawyers who came to call him a friend. He led by example; his good humor, professionalism, work ethic, respect for the justice system and zealous representation of his clients was infectious. He would not hesitate to help other lawyers, often staying well past the end of his docket just to listen to and advise attorneys in the halls of the courthouse. A tireless advocate for his clients, it was difficult to get to the office before him or leave after him, as can be attested to by his dedicated and loyal team at the office, Blanca Lujan and Jazmin Padilla. He never charged for an initial consultation, and would spend hours with a potential client taking care to make sure that, even if they did not hire him, they left the office better off than when they walked in. Much like his mentor Percy, he worked on cases to the very day he died.
Mike practiced throughout Texas, across the United States, Mexico and internationally. He never felt like an outsider; he was as comfortable in a small, single-room rural courthouse as arguing en banc to the 5th Circuit. He had the remarkable ability to diffuse the high stress of the courtroom or any situation with a bit of humor and a well-timed story.
Mike was a champion for justice. He earned the confidence and trust of Houston's diverse communities by advocating for the client regardless of ethnicity or socio-economic status. Word of his commitment and skill spread, and many would come to him to fight for their loved ones. knowing they could have no better representation. Families trusted his counsel and efforts because they felt his loyalty and true caring. When asked "how could you represent someone accused of a crime?" Mike would respond, "sometimes you do it for the client, sometimes for the family and sometimes for the Constitution." He believed that it is a lawyer's responsibility to equalize justice, to stand up for the underdog, and would tell jurors, "We don't have a perfect system of justice, but we do have the best system."
Mike represented many high-profile defendants, but there were many more clients that never made the news, whose cases were equally important, especially to the client. There was no case too big or too small. He described himself as a trial lawyer, and would try each case with maximum effort, from traffic tickets to capital murder. During trials, he would sketch each witness, and would often use those sketches in closing arguments. He was known for his "Colombo" style ease, sometimes appearing to stumble into a winning cross-examination and inevitable acquittal, never telling anyone it was his way to get the jury's attention and help.
Mike and Gayle were lovers of the outside boundaries of the courthouse, be it on the beaches of the Gulf Coast, or the brush country of South Texas. Together, they spent many hours walking Surfside beach and building driftwood fires, or sitting around a South Texas campfire. Mike enjoyed hunting, and did so for years on Sweetie Bruni's El Jarral ranch, and later, on brother-in-law, Bob Ross', La Chimenea. Mike was a crack shot, whether shooting quail on the San Chicago ranch with his friends or winning pigeon shoots. For him, the best part of it all was the stories afterwards.
Mike liked to travel for business, but even more so with family and friends. He enjoyed walking the streets of New Orleans with his compadre, Hilmar Moore. There, they befriended an artist named Frugé, who they found passed out, along the Jackson Square fence line, with his paintbrush in his hand. Meeting characters and telling stories was their passion. More recently, Mike, Gayle, Chula, and Ramon walked the Camino de Santiago, in Spain, and climbed Machu Picchu, in Peru.
Mike and Gayle, artists in their own right, have been great patrons of the Houston artist community. Mike enjoyed a deep friendship with renowned artist Bob Camblin, having bonded over their love of mystery. From an early age, Mike loved to bury treasures. He would often bury a treasure and leave the map for his kids, grandkids, or friends to discover. Often disguised as treasure left behind by Old Velasco, he reveled in the joy and excitement of those who found the treasure. He and Camblin and Lollie Jackson buried and painted maps of treasure, some yet to be uncovered.
Mike was also a supporter of the Rothko Chapel human rights programs. He enjoyed listening to and meeting other peace advocates from around the world. He was the champion of those who were oppressed, or for those who fought oppression. He shared many good conversations with great leaders in the community, such as the late Sissy Farenthold, Rev. Bill Lawson, and Sheila Jackson Lee.
All along the way Mike and Gayle were growing their family. Michael DeGeurin, his firstborn and namesake, is now an accomplished lawyer in his own right, and a father of Hannah and Charles, both as empathetic and creative as their grandfather. Katherine Houston is his first daughter, who inherited Mike's compassion and artistic ability, and the mother to three boys, Geurin, Reid, and Ross, who share their grandfather's love of baseball. Laura Robertson is his youngest daughter, who shares her father's love of people, athletics, and law, and is the mother of Gayle, Keen, and Kaki, each an athlete, artistic and scholarly like their grandfather. Mike's youngest son, Mack, is an accomplished journalist. Mike also had many nieces and nephews and godchildren that loved him as much as he loved them.
All who know Mike know his good humor, values, and priorities: family, friends, clients. His pride in his family knew no limits, and included a large extended family; his wide circle of friends stretches back to elementary school. His care and compassion for his clients is legendary, even among the normally cynical and tough-minded courthouse crowd. Mike always believed there was good in everyone, and part of his method was to look for that good and present it to the jury, the court, and even the prosecutor in such a way that none of them could deny it. As he often said, "You can be a buzzard or a bee: you can look for the rotten in life, or you can look for the flowers and honey; and you will find what you look for." Mike's family and his clients knew he cared, that he had compassion, that he had courage, and that he would fight for them. He was the example of empathy, courage, grit, intelligence, and humor that all who knew him looked to for guidance and strength, and he personified the adage "It's not the size of the man in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the man."
In addition to his wife, Gayle, and his children and grandchildren mentioned above, Mike cherished his daughter-in-law, Ginger Patrick DeGeurin; sons-in-law, Eric Houston and Will Robertson; brother, Dick DeGuerin, and his wife, Janie, their children, Michele, Carlin, Kayla, and Lori, and four grandchildren; sister-in-law, Chula Ross Sanchez, and her husband, Ramon, and their children, Monica, Andres, and Chiqui, and nine grandchildren; sister-in-law, Susu Scott Ross, and children, Robert and Christopher, and four grandchildren; brother-in-law, Tim Walker, and his wife, Suzette, and their children, Bronwyn and Stewart, and their grandchild; his Aunt Jeanne Adams, from Corpus Christi; and godchildren, Michael and Phillip Moore, Tessa Ward, Tucker Phillips and Will Rhodes; and all the kids he coached for years, ball playing or fishing.
A Memorial Service will be held at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 5501 Main St. Houston, Texas 77004, on Monday, August 19, 2024, at 11:30 a.m. Reception to follow at Church reception, Fondren Hall. Live Stream https://www.stpaulshouston.org/stream . In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions may be made to Galveston-Houston Immigration Representation Project/GHIRP, http://www.ghirp.org/donate, or to Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross, Houston, Texas 77006: Attention: Human Rights Programming.