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Mr. Joseph Patrick Hazel

Deceased: 2011-10-01

Diocese: DALLAS

Seminary Graduation Year: 1960


Joseph Patrick “Pat” Hazel, 78, died October 1, 2011, after a 52 year struggle with diabetes. Pat was a priest and devout Christian, a fervent Democrat, a lawyer, a professor at the University of Texas and Harvard, and a lover of people and life. People often said of him, “Pat Hazel is the best man I have ever known.” Pat Hazel was born on August 18, 1933, to Michael F. Hazel and Glenna Gillespie Hazel. Because his mother died when Pat was three months old, he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Allie and Jack Gillespie. He graduated at 16 from White Oak High School, where he played for the championship White Oak Roughnecks. He went to Tulane University on a football scholarship, and his roommate there was Max McGee. In 1954, he was called to become a Roman Catholic priest and in 1956, he was sent to North American College in Rome to study at the Gregorian University. He was ordained in 1959 and returned to serve the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth in 1960. Pat resigned his pastoral position in 1967 and earned a law degree from the University of Texas, where he graduated with high honors. He practiced law with Broadus Spivey and Bob Gibbens and spent three decades teaching at the UT School of Law, where he developed the trial advocacy program and won many national awards and honors. Several generations of Texas attorneys claim Pat Hazel as their favorite law professor. In 2001, Pat Hazel was received as a priest in the Episcopal Church, serving at St. David’s until his death. His special focus was the homeless of Austin; he celebrated the Eucharist with them regularly at St. David’s Trinity Center service, and they knew he loved and cared for them. Pat met Nanneska (Nan) Nall Hazel in 1997; they had 15 1/2 years of marriage-not near long enough. His brothers, Michael V. Hazel of Dallas and J. Stephen Hazel and Mary Dees of Kansas City, and his nephew Michael and wife Diane and niece Sara and fiancĂ© Dan Goldhamer, also celebrate Pat’s life. Pat was a father and grandfather to Chris and Amy Magee, Owen, Ella, and Will of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and Ted and Nicole Magee and Alma of Austin Texas, and to Teresa Hammett and her daughter Olivia of Atlanta, Georgia, and to Nicholas Hammett III and his wife and children, and to Nicholas IV of Austin. Pat was famous for his enthusiastic but artless dancing; his love of travel; his famous court cases. some of which he won; his regrettable biscuits and gravy; his ability to speak Latin, Italian, Spanish and to sound as if he were speaking French; his spiritual wisdom and generosity; his winter teaching stints at Harvard Law School; his perfect mimicry of old-time border radio (“Friends, for just $2.39–that’s cash, check, or money order–you can get a genuine autographed picture of Jesus!”); and his love for Nan. Friends and family will gather at a reception at 5:00 p.m. at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Friday, October 7, 2011, and for a celebration of Pat’s life at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin at 10:00 a.m. on October 8, 2011. Contact Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home for details. Pat, a boisterous Longhorn fan, would appreciate having his celebration take place on the day of the UT-Oklahoma game-but in the morning so that he can watch the game. We hold him tightly always in our hearts. Memorial donations may be made to Trinity Center at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 301 East 8th St., 78701.