Ferriel (Kent) C. Hamby

Ferriel Clinton (Kent) Hamby, Jr. passed away August 10, 2018.  He was born to Mildred Rita Waguespack and Ferriel Clinton Hamby, Sr. on February 18, 1943 in Beaumont, Texas.  At the age of 13, he moved with his family to Texas City, Texas.  He graduated from Kirwin Catholic Boys School in 1961; graduated from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas in 1965 and South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas in 1968.

Kent started dating the love of his life, Susan Denson in 1965 and the couple married at St. Thomas University Chapel in Houston on December 23, 1966. Kent and Sue have four children Christopher (Stephanie), Todd, Matthew (Kara) and Suzanne Chisolm (Steve).  The couple moved after that to Texas City, Texas, where Kent worked as the Assistant City Attorney.  Not long after that, he was drafted into the U.S. Army.  After serving the first six months as a private, Kent received a direct commission of Captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corp (JAGS).  He served five years as an Army defense and prosecutor first stationed at Hunter Army Air Base in Savannah, Georgia, then at Fort Stewart, Georgia, for the remainder of his time.  He was honorably discharged in February 1973.  Kent and his family then moved to Harlingen where he joined the law firm of Adams and Graham.   He worked at the firm as a litigation attorney for forty years.

During his law career, Kent served on various committees of the state bar including two terms on the Texas Pattern Jury Charge Committee and Chairman of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee in the Valley.  He was a member of the Defense Research Institute and the American Bar Association of Defense and Trial Attorneys.   In 2011, he was awarded the Texas Center Professionalism Award by the Texas Center for Legal Ethics.  He was also admitted to practice law before all State Courts, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.  Kent is a past President of the Cameron County Bar Association and was a Martindale Hubbell AV Rated Preeminent Lawyer.

Kent was a member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and served as a trustee and Vice President of the St. Anthony’s Endowment Fund for twenty years.

Kent is survived by his wife, Susan of 51 years and their four children and six grandchildren: Mackenzie, Logan, Ethan, Ryan, Dean Chisolm and Cameron Chisolm.  He is also survived by a brother Joseph (Janice) and two sisters, Mary Cormier (Larry) and Patti McKee (Danny).  He is preceded in death by his parents.

Visitation will begin at 6:00 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2018 followed by a Rosary at 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, August 17, 2018 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Harlingen.  Interment with full military honors will follow at Mont Meta Memorial Park.

Pallbearers will be Jim Denison, Tom Lockhart, Craig Vittitoe, Roger Hughes, Bill Pope, Will Hughes, Barry Ray and Scott Clark.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to contribute to the St. Anthony’s Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 533441, Harlingen, Texas 78553 or the Margaret Cullen Marshall Hospice Care Center, 1905 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, Texas 77030-772020, www.houstonhospice.org.