Roll Call Tribute
Emory Lyons '64 March 8, 2021 11:26 AM updated: March 8, 2021 11:36 AM
Emory Keith Lyons
August 31, 1942 ~ February 27, 2021 (age 78)
Keith Lyons, 78, passed away of COVID-19 on Saturday, February 27, 2021, in Cypress, TX.
He was born September 1, 1942, in Goose Creek, TX (now known as Baytown, TX), to Keith Edwin Lyons and Marguerite Gordon Palmer Lyons. Strangely, his doctor inscribed August 31 on Emory Keith’s birth certificate, enabling him to enroll in school a year early. What a lucky break this turned out to be for his mother, Marguerite, for Emory Keith was a wild and willful child, the oldest of three, and known to hang his little brother from the doorknob by his belt.
Emory Keith graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, TX. He was drafted into the army during Vietnam, and upon his return he married Catherine Elizabeth Connor in February, 1968. They both then moved to College Station where Emory Keith attended Texas A&M University and received his BBA in Accounting. For the rest of his life, he was a devoted Aggie and attended numerous football games with his sons through the years, installing in each of them a fervent disinterest in his alma mater.
After graduation, he settled in Houston and began work at Arthur Young as an accountant, later taking a job at Tenneco as a CPA and auditor. Finding his chosen profession rather dry, Emory Keith eventually transitioned to the more glamorous career of a private investigator, working for Clyde Wilson Investigations before striking out on his own. Over the years, some of his high-profile clients included Ivana Trump and ZZ Top, as well as appearing on Unsolved Mysteries (as an investigative expert, not a perp.) Emory Keith was a youth soccer coach for many years, as well as a MENSA member.
He had a lifelong love of travel, and upon retirement he and Cathy discovered a new passion: cruising across the world, including Asia, Africa, Europe, Alaska, South America, and the Caribbean. He was also able to fulfill another dream when he finally bought his long talked about “River House” near New Braunfels. He loved nothing more than relaxing with friends and family on the River House deck overlooking the Guadalupe. When in Cypress, Emory Keith loved to gather around the mailbox or porch every afternoon with the neighbors to gossip and argue. This was a tradition that originated with the first generation of neighbors in the 1980s and continues to this day. Emory Keith was the last remaining original member of the Mailbox Crew. When not antagonizing the neighbors he liked to read, watch old westerns and mysteries from the 1940s, and tend to his backyard chickens.
Emory Keith is survived by his wife, Cathy; his children, Christopher, Courtney, and Matthew; his sister, Jeannine Ferrell; brother, Wendell Lyons; and beloved hen, Goldie.
A funeral service for Emory Keith will be held Thursday, March 18, at Lakewood United Methodist Church, at 2 PM, 11330 Louetta Rd, Houston, TX 77070.
Services
FUNERAL SERVICE
Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 2:00 PM
Lakewood United Methodist Church
11330 Louetta Road
Houston, TX 77070
© 2021 Cypress-Fairbanks Funeral Home. All Rights Reserved.
August 31, 1942 ~ February 27, 2021 (age 78)
Keith Lyons, 78, passed away of COVID-19 on Saturday, February 27, 2021, in Cypress, TX.
He was born September 1, 1942, in Goose Creek, TX (now known as Baytown, TX), to Keith Edwin Lyons and Marguerite Gordon Palmer Lyons. Strangely, his doctor inscribed August 31 on Emory Keith’s birth certificate, enabling him to enroll in school a year early. What a lucky break this turned out to be for his mother, Marguerite, for Emory Keith was a wild and willful child, the oldest of three, and known to hang his little brother from the doorknob by his belt.
Emory Keith graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, TX. He was drafted into the army during Vietnam, and upon his return he married Catherine Elizabeth Connor in February, 1968. They both then moved to College Station where Emory Keith attended Texas A&M University and received his BBA in Accounting. For the rest of his life, he was a devoted Aggie and attended numerous football games with his sons through the years, installing in each of them a fervent disinterest in his alma mater.
After graduation, he settled in Houston and began work at Arthur Young as an accountant, later taking a job at Tenneco as a CPA and auditor. Finding his chosen profession rather dry, Emory Keith eventually transitioned to the more glamorous career of a private investigator, working for Clyde Wilson Investigations before striking out on his own. Over the years, some of his high-profile clients included Ivana Trump and ZZ Top, as well as appearing on Unsolved Mysteries (as an investigative expert, not a perp.) Emory Keith was a youth soccer coach for many years, as well as a MENSA member.
He had a lifelong love of travel, and upon retirement he and Cathy discovered a new passion: cruising across the world, including Asia, Africa, Europe, Alaska, South America, and the Caribbean. He was also able to fulfill another dream when he finally bought his long talked about “River House” near New Braunfels. He loved nothing more than relaxing with friends and family on the River House deck overlooking the Guadalupe. When in Cypress, Emory Keith loved to gather around the mailbox or porch every afternoon with the neighbors to gossip and argue. This was a tradition that originated with the first generation of neighbors in the 1980s and continues to this day. Emory Keith was the last remaining original member of the Mailbox Crew. When not antagonizing the neighbors he liked to read, watch old westerns and mysteries from the 1940s, and tend to his backyard chickens.
Emory Keith is survived by his wife, Cathy; his children, Christopher, Courtney, and Matthew; his sister, Jeannine Ferrell; brother, Wendell Lyons; and beloved hen, Goldie.
A funeral service for Emory Keith will be held Thursday, March 18, at Lakewood United Methodist Church, at 2 PM, 11330 Louetta Rd, Houston, TX 77070.
Services
FUNERAL SERVICE
Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 2:00 PM
Lakewood United Methodist Church
11330 Louetta Road
Houston, TX 77070
© 2021 Cypress-Fairbanks Funeral Home. All Rights Reserved.
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College Station, TX 77840
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