George "Stanley" Rentz

1938 - 2022

George "Stanley" Rentz

Jan. 29, 1938 - Jan. 2, 2022

George "Stanley" Rentz, a former McLennan County Judge and long-time defense attorney, died January 2 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. The Waco resident was 83.

Rentz was born in 1938 in the China Spring area of McLennan County, to dairy farmers Albert Ward Rentz and Sarah "Catherine" Boyd Rentz. He served as county judge between 1982 and 1986 and then returned to private practice, and also worked as a municipal court judge for Hewitt and Bellmead.

Rentz often defended the underprivileged. "I think Stanley did more pro bono work than any lawyer in Waco," said lifelong friend, Robert Clemons. "He never turned away a friend in need and he had so many friends."

He was the court-appointed defense attorney for Graeme Craddock, one of nine Davidians who survived the 51-day standoff against federal authorities in 1993 and the ensuing fire that engulfed Mount Carmel complex and killed 75 people. Rentz stayed with the case until after it reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the sentences handed out to many of the Davidians were inappropriately harsh. The sentence of Craddock, an electrical engineer from Australia, was one of several that was ultimately reduced.

He grew up with his older brother and sister, Ward and Camelia, and younger twin sisters, Brenda and Linda, on a dairy farm along "Steinbeck Bend" on the Brazos River. He loved living along the rolling pastures, but farming was not for him.

His siblings recounted how he preferred throwing baseballs or building telescopes with his brother to bailing hay. After graduating from University High School in 1956, he attended Wharton County Junior College on a football scholarship and then graduated from the University of North Texas with an economics degree. He returned to Waco, teaching math and science and coaching football at Bruceville-Eddy High School.

He later attended Baylor Law School, where he met the love of his life, Nancy Lee Davis, who was studying education at Baylor. They married in 1966 and he graduated from law school the following year.

The two shared a passion for all things Baylor and often wore their green and gold to sports games and joined the school's "most exclusive" Fano poetry club. Rentz loved attending Baylor softball games with his sister Brenda and niece Cheryl Foster, reading historical nonfiction and taking long road and camping trips with his wife and two daughters, Rebecca and Catherine. "Dad loved riding the back roads of Waco up until his final days," said his daughter, Rebecca Rentz.

Rentz established a private law practice in downtown Waco after law school that he kept until retiring in 2015 except for the four years he served as county judge. He represented many school districts in the county, including Midway ISD, where his daughters attended school, and also did estate work.

Rentz had a 50-year-long regular Gin card game with Waco friends, and he also ran religiously with a group of downtown lawyers and businesspeople. He ran his first marathon at the age of 50. His wide network meant he rarely went anywhere in Waco without recognition. "We never dined in a restaurant that someone, often several, stopped to speak to Stanley," Clemons said.

Reading newspapers, learning about the world and "always putting yourself in the other person's shoes" were lessons his daughter Catherine said she absorbed from him.

Rentz and his wife joined Alzheimer's studies, shared stories of their struggles with local news outlets, and agreed to donate his brain to research in an effort to help others.

In addition to his wife of 55 years, he is survived by his two daughters, Rebecca Rentz of Houston, Texas, and Catherine Rentz of Maryland; one sister, Brenda Golubski of Waco, Texas; and four grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., January 29, at DaySpring Baptist Church 7900 Renewal Way, Waco, TX, 76712. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Alzheimer's Association.