William Gibson Jr

William Willard Gibson, Jr.,of Tres Ritos, NM, died on June 1st, 2026, in Taos, NM, at the age of 94. He was an American lawyer and legal scholar. He taught at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law from 1965 to 1998 and also served as a Dean of Academic Affairs. 

He was born on March 5th, 1932, in Amarillo, TX, to Mildred Genelle Works Gibson and William Willard Gibson, Sr. In 1953, he married Beth Smyth of Houston, TX. He received a B.A. in government in 1954 and an LL.B with honors in 1956 from the University of Texas. During law school, he was a member of the Order of the Coif and an editor of the Texas Law Review. 

Following graduation and admission to the State Bar in 1956, Gibson joined the firm of Gibson, Ochsner, Harlann, Kiney, & Morris in Amarillo, Texas, as an associate partner. From 1964 to 1965, he served as the president of the Junior Bar of the State of Texas. He was subsequently recruited by Dean W. Page Keeton of the University of Texas School of Law and joined the faculty in 1965. 

Specializing in real property and estates, Professor Gibson taught courses in Texas land titles, real estate transactions, real estate finance, insurance, Texas procedure, wills and estates, fraud and mistake, and professional responsibility. From 1971 to 1973, Gibson took a leave of absence to serve as an attorney advisor to the Federal Power Commission in Washington, D.C. While there, he was admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1983, he was named the Sylvan Lang Professor of Law and served as the Associate Dean for Administration and Academic Affairs at the University of Texas School of Law. 

Gibson contributed to continuing legal education in Texas in a variety of ways. He was one of the founders of the Mortgage Lending Institute (which was later named in his honor) and helped establish standards for continuing legal education in Texas. The Texas Supreme Court appointed Professor Gibson as Provost of Judicial Education from 1992 to 1993, where he conducted a study of current judicial education programs and recommended courses of action for improving Texas judicial education. Gibson retired in 1998 as a Professor Emeritus and moved to live full-time in the valley of Tres Ritos, NM. 

Gibson was a charter member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, an academic fellow of the American College of Probate Counsel, and a charter member of the Texas Real Estate Academy. He received the Leon Green Award from the Texas Law Review Association, which also established a University of Texas Endowed Presidential Scholarship in law in his name. 

Throughout his life, he was an avid fly fisher of the Rio Pueblo de Picuris, Rito la Presa, and Agua Piedra. He was also a dove, quail, and deer hunter on the family ranch in Zavala County, Texas. He enjoyed bicycling, running in Austin, and backpacking in the mountains of the Pecos Wilderness and Kit Carson National Forest. He was active in the Jicarilla Watershed Commission and the Taos Historical Commission and was a recorder of the history of the Tres Ritos Valley. 

Forty-two years ago, he discovered a spiritual path that led him to live one day at a time, doing the next right thing. Many have been positively influenced by his life example. He had a loving marriage of 68 years to his wife Beth, whom he lost in 2021. He is survived by his four children, Bill III (Lise Spangenthal), Michael (Holly Whitten), Timothy (Lisa Molden Gibson), and Elizabeth, along with seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In remembrance of him, the family prefers that friends and loved ones select a charity of their choice.

The family of William Gibson Jr has entrusted the care of their loved one to the caring staff of DeVargas Funeral Home of Taos. www.devargastaos.com 1-866-657-4019