IN MEMORY OF GUS A. SCHILL, JR.

• Author: Skelton, James W., Jr.
• Position: University of Houston Law Center professor - Testimonial

Gus A. Schill, Jr., passed away on March 25, 2018, at his home in Kerrville, Texas, at the age of eighty-five. (2) Gus was a long-standing member of the Advisory Board of the Houston Journal of International Law, having joined the Advisory Board when it was expanded from fourteen to twenty members by then Dean Robert Knauss in the fall of 1983. (3) Dean Knauss also became a member of the Advisory Board at that time and asked Gus to serve as the very first Chairman of the Advisory Board, which he did from 1983 to 1985. (4)

Gus contributed his valuable time and exceptional ideas to the Journal for twenty-three years until he retired from the Advisory Board in 2006 and became one of its Emeritus Members. (5) Gus took an active interest in the law students at the University of Houston Law Center and was very generous with his time and advice. His kind, enthusiastic, and good-natured manner, as well as his keen sense of humor, made the students and his colleagues feel at ease with him; consequently, Gus developed a reputation as a reliable, loyal, and sagacious source of guidance.

Gus always showed up at Advisory Board meetings with a smile on his face and armed with some perceptive solutions for the issues facing the Board of Editors. He followed up on his offers of assistance and was diligent about making sure the students were comfortable with the outcome. It was not only a pleasure working with him, but, due to his sensitive and scholarly approach, it was a learning experience for everyone involved in the discussions and the projects in which he became involved. On many occasions during the meetings and dinners we attended, I marveled at Gus' ability to hold the attention of the students and lawyers in attendance and provide insightful, positive answers to the questions posed.

As a native Houstonian, it was only natural that Gus would graduate from Rice University in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He proceeded to graduate from the University of Texas Law School in 1958 and spent the next thirty-nine years working for and ultimately becoming a partner at the Houston law firm of Royston, Rayzor, Vickery & Williams. (6)

Gus specialized in Admiralty Law at Royston, Rayzor, Vickery & Williams, and taught Admiralty Law as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Law Center for almost thirty years. (7) A fellow professor at the University of Houston Law Center, Sandra Guerra Thompson, made the following statement, which epitomizes the high esteem...