“The Don Alan Wetzel”
 

I first met Don Wetzel in about 1956 when we were about 11 years old and a lifelong friendship that lasted over 50 years began. Our early years were like any other childhood friendship full of school, baseball, basketball and generally goofing off. After Don got his drivers license he started working as a delivery driver for the old Madding's Drugstore in Meyerland Plaza and soon thereafter got me a job working there with him. High school came to and end and off we go to college to be roommates at Texas Tech in Lubbock.

We both agreed that it was as far away from home that we could go ,stay in the state for instate tuition and still go to a major university. Don graduated in 1968 and went on to really distinguish himself at Baylor University Law School where he was editor of the Baylor University Law Review, graduating in 1970. Vietnam was in full swing so Don joined the Army and became a Capitan in the Judge Advocate General Corps ( JAG) where he served in Thailand. He had the distinction of being about the only person in the army to ever run over a water buffalo in the jungle on a motorcycle and live to tell about it. After Thailand he was stationed at Fort Eustis Virginia and also taught at VMI,The Virginia Military Institute. After the army Don clerked for a federal judge in Houston for a few years then joined the prestigious Houston Law firm of Baker and Botts. He went on to found his own law firm specializing in Civil Law and excelled at it so well that he became a law school students dream about being able to win that one big case to put his firms' name in the record books.

He loved his music and taught himself the guitar and the banjo and even wrote a song or two.

He loved to travel and patterned his house in the Woodslands after an Italian villa he had seen. He had seven children, two by his first wife, four by his second wife of 27 years and adopted one. He was a great and loving father, devoted husband and one of the absolute best friends I could have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

By Sanford ( Sandy) Shores