Hugh Asa Fitzsimons III

1954 - 2021

It was a day of loss for San Antonio when on May 16, the spirit of Hugh Asa Fitzsimons III flew from his body.

Born in San Antonio on November 2, 1954, Hugh, also known as Sunny to his friends, was a third-generation Texan and rancher. Educated at Trinity University and earning a master's degree at UTSA, his fierce curiosity and his zeal for knowledge characterized his unflagging deep reading and wide explorations during lifetime learning.

He held fast to a devotion to restoring his beloved SHAPE Ranch in Dimmit County through use of native grasses, plants, and trees. Passionate about water conservation, he introduced new drought resistant products like olives and honey production to the ranch, to complement his bison herd, raised with the utmost attention to high standards of animal husbandry.

High standards characterized Hugh's life in all his endeavors, no more than in his profound love and delight in his family. On his first date with Sarah Bailey, whom he married on June 30, 1979, he brought her a bouquet of wild flowers from the ranch, thus declaring his two attachments—"wildness" and "ranch." So began a romance and friendship that would shine through their lives and illuminate the lives of their children and grandchildren.

Hugh's childhood friend Alston Beinhorn recalls: "As kids we lived in one of the few houses on Rockridge Lane, surrounded by woods, which we spent our boyhood exploring. Those excursions created bedrock experiences that would shape who we'd become in our life as ranchers, embedded in the land." Another friend, Jack Vexler, described Hugh "as someone who lived life to its fullest and with whom I had unforgettable wild adventures." Telluride writer Rob Schulthies, said, "'Sunny--the nickname fit him perfectly. Hugh was the best friend anyone ever had, and he is golden forever in my memory. "'

Hugh possessed abundant energy and an enthusiasm for contributing where he saw need. He taught history in an inner-city school, at St. Mary's Hall, and San Antonio College. As executive director for the Rock Art Foundation he worked to preserve priceless Native American art painted thousands of years ago in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. He recently won a board seat on the regional Wintergarden Ground Water Conservation District, among his many endeavors as a civic leader.

Hugh's lifelong love of literature and history accompanied his insatiable curiosity. His interests ranged from Native American lifeways, especially those of the Kickapoo resettled in South Texas, natural history, and works that opened up the secrets of ecosystems and landscape. He kept notes, he wrote, and took writing classes, harboring and nourishing his own writer's soul. That writer arrived with a bang on the pages of his first book, A Rock Between Two Rivers: Fracturing a Texas Ranch Family, published by Trinity University Press in 2018. Poet and founding director emerita of the press says: "When I met Hugh, I immediately recognized by the glint in his eye and the cast of his speech the unmistakable essence of a writer. He had the flame of creativity that he was bound to channel into language. We developed a special bond that went beyond author/editor. He was a bright spirit, full of erudition, wit, and kindness. He was a best friend, and will always be present in my life."

A Rock Between Two Rivers appeared after Ras retired from Trinity, and it received wide acclaim, perhaps best exemplified by this rave from renowned writer and MacArthur genius fellow Gary Paul Nabhan: "Hugh Fitzsimons is a great rancher, conservationist, historian, and statesman. He reminds us how much is at stake when fracking gets out of hand. The ecological, social, economic, and moral consequences can no longer be denied."

Throughout his battles with esophageal cancer that took his life, Hugh undauntedly pursued other projects to deepen knowledge of his practices of ranch conservation. He lived every day with gleaming optimism, open to ideas and possibilities, open to the life of his cherished family, open to faith and charity—cornerstones of his life—open to the spirit of sharing, wherever he found it, and open at last to the wild beyond.

Hugh Fitzsimons was predeceased by his father, Hugh A. Fitzsimons Jr., and his mother, Lolly Negley. He is survived by his wife, Sarah, his sons, Asa Fitzsimons and Patrick Fitzsimons, his daughter, Evelyn Clark, and her husband, Matt Clark, and grandchildren Leo and Sarah Clark, stepmother Andrea Fitzsimons, brother, Joseph Fitzsimons, and sister, Pamela Howard, along with many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Environment Texas and the San Antonio Food Bank.

The family will hold a private service.

To view a livestream of the memorial service go to Hugh's obituary at porterloring.com on Friday, May 21st, at 11:00 am.

You are invited to sign

the Guestbook at

www.porterloring.com

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