Carol Cofer

1929 - 2025

Carol was born in Houston and grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, a seaport and oil refinery center. She was preceded in death by her parents, Valita Ritz McGlothlin and Clinton Irvin McGlothlin, and her brother James Richard McGlothlin. She finished Thomas Jefferson High School in January 1948, attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and then returned to Port Arthur. There she worked for the Port Arthur Independent School District tax office, then moved to the First National Bank. She attended Port Arthur Business College and was hired by the Texaco refinery in their Safety department, doing studies on the causes of plant accidents. She married R. S. Williamson, Jr. in 1952, and they had one child, Charles (Chuck) W. Williamson. When her husband was transferred to the State Highway Department headquarters in Austin in 1960, they moved to Austin.
For the next few years, she did volunteer work while her son, Chuck, was in school.
She and her husband divorced in 1963, and she went to work in the Texas House of Representatives for Jimmy Weldon, then a State Representative from Port Arthur. At the end of the legislative session, she was hired by a permanent joint committee of the Legislature, the Legislative Budget Board, and worked there for 4 years, then transferred to the State Comptroller's office in the Revenue Estimating Department, where she worked for another 10 years.
Late in 1963, she met Hume Cofer, and they married in 1972. Her father jokingly called it a "whirlwind courtship". When they married, each had a condition: hers was that Hume would never pressure her to stop working, and his requirement was that she would never ask him to barbecue in the backyard.
In 1976, Hume decided to run for the office of State District Judge. Carol took a leave of absence from work and threw herself into the campaign, which Hume won by a large margin. She said the campaign was a wonderful experience, but she never wanted to do it again!
She and Hume traveled in Mexico and Europe and spent many weeks in London courtesy of a friend who owned a house near Sloane Square. They loved travel and took her son Chuck and Hume's sons Bill and George to Acapulco, on snow skiing trips, and spent many weekend days on Lake Austin teaching the boys to slalom water ski.
Carol was always involved in some kind of sport: swimming, basketball, softball, ice skating, golf, and tennis. She started playing tennis when she was 41 years old. Tennis then consumed most of her sports life for the next 46 years. She played in national championship age-division tournaments all over the US and once in Austria, many times attaining top ten national and international rankings.
She lost Hume in 2016 after 44 years of marriage and continued living at Querencia at Barton Creek, where they had moved in 2007. She is survived by her beloved son, Chuck (Charles W.) Williamson and his wife, Mary Anita Blake; a nephew, Bryan McGlothlin of Marion, Iowa, and a loving step-family: George Hume Cofer, Jr. and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Cofer; William F. Cofer (Bill) and his wife, Patsy; three granddaughters, Tina Kay Cofer Trulove and Chesleigh Paige Cofer Lloyd (Blake Lloyd); and Hanna Morgan Cofer and her husband, James Russell. Great-grandchildren are Teghan Nicole Trulove, Judge Cofer Trulove, and Blake Alan Lloyd, Jr.
Memorial services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on October 15, 2025 at University United Methodist Church, 2409 Guadalupe, Austin, TX 78705, with a reception there following the service.
If desired, memorial contributions may be directed to The Querencia Residents' Scholarship Fund for Employees at the Austin Community Foundation, 4315 Guadalupe, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78751; or, The Salvation Army at 4216 S. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78745, or University United Methodist Church, 2409 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78705.