Lee A. Durst

Lee A. Durst Sr. of Victoria, Texas (our beloved "PawPaw") finally hung up his tennis racket and went to be with his Lord on Saturday September 20, 2014, while surrounded by caring hearts.

Pawpaw has been called "a legend" in the oilfield as well as "a legend" in the Texas tennis community.

Lee was born in New Boston, Texas on February 8, 1922 to Lee A. Durst and Letha Strube Durst.

His parents died when he was a small child and he and his six sisters were raised by their oldest sister and her husband (G. Ray and Sue Boyd.

Lee was also predeceased by his loving wife of 65 years Betty McAlpin Durst whom he married on June 1 1947. Lee was a proud father grandfather and great-grandfather.

Lee was also a proud Aggie playing on the Aggie Tennis Team and then graduating with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering in 1949 from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University).

He was a pilot who flew in the United States Navy during World War II and then took to flying small personal aircraft across the country as a hobby in his 50s until he turned 84. He flew himself to well locations around Texas as well as tennis tournaments from coast to coast.

He started his oilfield experience at age 15 as a roughneck and then became a tenacious drilling contractor and wildcatter who explored for oil and gas across Texas discovering several oil fields. He was first hired by his brother-in-law to work for Boyd Drilling and became a co-founder of Boyd, Durst & Kuenstler Incorporated ("BDK").

Retirement did not come easy for Durst, he took to playing tennis full time and made a name for himself in the Texas tennis community and eventually the national Senior Tennis community. He represented Texas in the Senior Olympics nationally several times.

In 2006 he was ranked #10 in the country in Men's 80 Singles by the United States Tennis Association. In February 2012, just after his 90th birthday the USTA ranked him #16 nationally in Men's 85 Singles (the only Texan in the top 29 at that time).

He is survived by his daughter, Barbara Ann Durst (and husband Richard Eckert) of San Antonio and his son Lee A. Durst Jr. (and wife Terri Jensen Durst) of Corpus Christi; as well as his two grandchildren, Melanie Elisabeth Durst Douglas (and husband David) and Robert Lee Durst (and wife Margie), both of Corpus Christi; and four great-grandchildren (Jacquelyn Nichol Douglas, Justin Ryan Douglas, Jackson Robert Durst and Thomas Lee Durst).

He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews (the children of his sisters Celeste Durst Kuenstler, Emily Durst Rigby and Letha Durst Kelly).

His Celebration of Life Service will be held on Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 10 a.m. at Rosewood Funeral Chapels, 3304 East Mockingbird Lane, Victoria, Texas 77904. He will be buried next to his wife at 3:00 p.m. at Sunset Memorial Park 1701 Austin Highway San Antonio Texas 78218.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to your favorite charity or to the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame, the Corpus Christi Oilman's Tennis Tournament or a youth tennis organization in your community.

San Antonio Express-News
September 24, 2014.