WALTER SHEPPARD MCMEANS, passed away peacefully on Monday, July 23, 2012, in Sugar Land, Texas, at the age of 83.
He lived in Sugar Land for 47 years having moved there in 1965. During those years in Sugar Land, Walter served on the Planning Commission, the City Council, and as Mayor from 1984-1988. As Mayor, Walter had the lead role in shaping the foundation and current city limits of Sugar Land. He was instrumental in the annexation of the land along Hwy 59 South to Greatwood, preventing annexation by Houston. In 1986, Walter ran for newly created County-Court-at-Law. He was elected Judge of Fort Bend County Court at Law #2, where he served for 24 years, until his retirement in 2010.
Walter was a founding member on August 31, 1993 of the Alexander Hodge Chapter #49 of the Sons of the American Revolution. His patriot was Charles Mynn Thurston who as Colonel commanded Thurston's Additional Continental Regiment.
Walter was born May 26, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama. Later the McMeans family moved to Houston, where he attended Lanier Junior High and Lamar High School, graduating in 1948. He graduated from the University of Houston in 1953.
He served two years in the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant in France and Germany. While in Germany, he met his future wife Jane Anna Glauner who was teaching at the Stuttgart American Elementary School. They were married in Springfield, PA on July 1, 1960. Walter attended the University of Houston Law School at night and graduated in 1960. In June of 1960 he passed the bar exam.
Walter was an Eagle Scout. He was a member of the Fort Bend Archeological Society, the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Bend Exchange Club, Sugar Creek Rotary, the 100 Club of Fort Bend County, the VFW, the Optimist Club, Sons of the Confederacy, and was a life member of the Fort Bend County Fair Association. He served as a Director for CASA, and on the Board of Directors for the Gus George Lawn Enforcement Academy and the Fort Bend Museum Association.
Walter was preceded in death by his parents, Walter Luckett McMeans and Louise Sheppard McMeans. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jane Glauner McMeans; sons, Jeffrey A. McMeans, and Gregory A. McMeans and his wife Marika;daughter, Suzanne Overstreet and her husband John; grandchildren, Mason, Christy, Alex, Trenton, and Bryce; and brother-in-law, George Glauner and his wife Sue.
Walter was a loving husband, devoted father, and caring grandfather, who will be missed greatly. His life was the "Law" and he worked tirelessly to ensure Fort Bend County had a respected, fair, even-handed judiciary. In some way, legal, political, educational, religious, economical, or marital, Walter has touched the lives of almost everyone in Fort Bend County.
