Donald Willy

Federal Judge Donald Joseph Willy, 72, of Sugar Land, Texas passed away Thursday, April 11,2024. He will be laid to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cameron, Texas following a Funeral Mass on Thursday, April 25th at 10 AM at Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, Tx 77002.
Donald was born in Kansas City, Kansas and grew up in Olathe, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.S. in Chemistry in 1973, University of Kansas J.D. in 1975, and Oxford University, M.S. in Economics in 2003. He had a private law firm practicing environmental /oil law until he was awarded a presidential nomination by George H. W. Bush and confirmation by President Clinton appointment to Federal Administrative Law Judge in 1994. He presided over cases as an ALJ until his death. He completed the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) requirements and became a Reserve Deputy with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department in 2007 translating FBI law and initiatives to local Fort Bend Sheriff deputies.
He is preceded in death by grandparents, Joseph E. & Ida Mae (Cosby)Ford; parents, Donald G. & Marie (Ford) Willy and 1st wife, Susan J. with whom he had three stepchildren, Jeffery, Zachary, and Rosetta.
Don leaves behind wife, Barbara Willy; stepchildren, Brandon, Courtney and Shaun; eight grandchildren; brothers and sisters-in-law, James M. & Nancy Willy, Stephen F. Willy, Gregory F. & Tammy Willy, Paul R. & Belinda Willy; sister and brother-in-law, Pat & John DeVeau; Goddaughter, Ellen, twelve nieces and nephews and, thirteen grand-nieces and nephews.
He proudly maintained a contact list of 6000 people around the world with whom he tried to stay abreast of their life happenings and in contact with on some regular basis. He considered many co-workers' family and privately wrote of his memories with the many people he admired, loved and shared adventures and meaningful conversations. In his court room, he strove to make every person feel heard and felt he had an ability to explain complex law in simple terms. He knew he was making decisions that affected lives and truly cared about the wellbeing of each and every person in his court.
Don packed the interests of several lives into one lifetime. He was a parishioner of St. Lawrence Church of Sugar Land, a Grand Knight with the Knights of Columbus and supported the work of Catholic charities with ongoing donations and his time for decades. His certifications and memberships were numerous. As a private attorney, upon learning of emissions into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, he became instrumental in case law ensuring those practices were changed. Over the course of his life, as an avid reader, he collected both rare and common military and law books cataloguing nearly 4000 volumes which will be housed together with his wife's environmental collection in a small library building at the family ranch. As the eldest sibling, he became a pilot, which influenced three of his brothers to obtain pilot licenses and buy a plane. He fondly remembered flying into small Texas runways giving him a great sense of adventure, especially in the early years of his piloting.
If you knew Don or even simply met him, you know he loved dogs. They were his children before human children arrived in his life and beloved family members after. He used the topic of dogs as an icebreaker in his court sometimes and regularly asked people to share stories of their dogs. He sent birthday cards to dogs as regularly as he did to people. He championed his wife's role as Chairman of Sugar Land Animal Shelter's Advisory Board often participating in the review of ordinances. In 2024, he proudly committed to becoming Co-chair in her fundraising efforts to raise funds to build a new animal shelter and create and endowment fund for the innovative approach to sheltering the hundreds of Houston metro's stray dogs that found their way into his city of Sugar Land. Since 2020 he and wife Barbara collected data on strays in their community. Don dubbed these" Willy Reports", about which he humorously complained, but carefully completed when his wife traveled. The reports brought him into the lives of hundreds of animals besides his own. Together they often offered three months of dog food, vet care and behavioral training to people struggling to make their relationship with their pet work as Don believed dogs bonded with their people for life. Over the years, twelve dogs and fourteen cats found a lifelong home with the Willy's and many more were fostered temporarily.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Sugar Land Animal Shelter Judge Donald J. Willy Memorial Fund. You may also simply pay a kindness and prayer forward to somebody you encounter today.