My brother, may he rest in peace.
Jeffrey Lee Dorrell was born on March 25, 1955 in Beaumont, Texas, the first of four children of Earl and Jean Dorrell. Jeff began school at Averill Elementary in Beaumont. The family moved to Vidor where Jeff attended junior high and high school, graduating as salutatorian of his class in 1973. During high school Jeff served as a Congressional page to U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, which spurred an affinity for politics and the law. Jeff attended the University of Texas in Austin, was an active member of the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, and graduated with honors with a B.A. in Business Management in 1977.
Jeff started work after college with the Conoco Oil Company in Midland, quickly learning the Texas oil and natural gas business. He soon moved to Houston and worked for the Coastal States O&G Corp. and the infamous Oscar Wyatt. After several years with Coastal, Jeff started his own oil company, Fortis International, regularly trading oil and natural gas with companies across Texas and the world.
In 1994, Jeff sold his company and followed his dream to attend law school. He graduated from the University of Houston Law School and would practice law the rest of his life. He worked for several law firms including Dorrell & Farris, LP with his close friend David Farris; Escamilla, Poneck, and Cruz; and most recently was a partner at Hanszen Laporte.
The highlight of his law career was arguing, and winning, a lawsuit before the US Supreme Court. In Jeff’s own words: “Lawyers dream of having a case at the Supreme Court. In 2015, the Court agreed to hear Husky International Electronics v. Ritz -- which I had managed to lose three times in lower courts. On May 16, 2016, 7 of the 8 Justices agreed with me that fraudulently transferring assets to avoid paying creditors is wrong. Fortunately, I can be just a bit stubborn.”
Jeff stayed very active in the LGBTQ and PRIDE communities and formed lifelong friendships with many wonderful, caring people. He traveled, vacationed, and socialized with many close friends.
Jeff was a confident, driven, personable, competitive, fun-loving individual his entire life with a deep affection for his dogs. He worked hard, played hard, and lived life to the fullest. Jeff would not want anyone to feel sorry for him in any way but to remember the fun times with him fondly, warmly, and affectionately.
Jeff is survived by his partner, Mike Centeno; his mother, Jean Dorrell, brothers Perry (Sue) and James (Pam), sister Jean Ann (Dan), nieces Jessica Morgan (Josh), Ashley Hargrove (Grayson), and nephew Chris Dorrell (Maggie), and many cousins and grand-nieces and nephews.
Special thanks go to Julie Devlin and David Farris for lovingly providing care and support to Jeff during these last few months. Their devotion and dedication was heartfelt and genuine. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to any charity Jeff supported, including the Houston Food Bank or K-9 Angels Rescue.
And thank you all for your friendship, love, and support of Jeff. A celebration of his life is being planned in Houston for later this fall and details will be shared as they are available.
A shorter version of this obituary also appears in today's Houston Chronicle.
