Earl Charles Lairson

Earl Lairson
1928 - 2015 | Obituary |  CondolencesEarl Charles Lairson1928-2015Earl Charles Lairson C.P.A., 87, went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on April 2, 2015. He was born and raised on a farm in Pottowatomie County, Oklahoma. He attended grade school at New Hope and Oak Grove rural schools and graduated from Tecumseh High School in 1945 as valedictorian of his class. He attended East Central State University and after his active military service attended and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a major in accounting. He later took graduate courses at the University of Houston.He joined the U.S. Regular Army at the end of World War II at the age of 17. After his active duty he joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard for two years. He also enrolled in ROTC at the University of Oklahoma, received his commission in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1950, and was discharged a First Lieutenant in 1954.In 1952, he came to Houston and joined Ernst & Ernst, now Ernst & Young. He established his CPA firm, Earl Lairson & Co. P.C., in 1970 which was merged with John Null & Associates in 1997 to become Null-Lairson P.C. He was a life member of many CPA organizations including the American Institute of CPAs, Texas Society of CPAs, and Houston Chapter of CPAs. He was also a charter member of National Conference of CPA Practitioners and served on its national board and was also president of the Houston Chapter for two years. He was even a founding member of the Texas Association of CPAs and served on its Board of Directors. He was appointed to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy for two terms by Governor Bill Clements and also served one year as chairman. He was a long-time member of the Oklahoma and Louisiana Societies of CPAs.As a member of First Methodist Church of Houston for over 40 years, he served on the administrative board, was a teacher of Herveys Main Street Sunday School class, and a member of the finance and audit committees. Since 2008 he has been an active member of Candlelight Church of Christ and served as a trustee.He has been active in the Republican Party since 1960. He worked in the Draft Goldwater campaign in 1964 and he block walked for George H.W. Bush in his first campaign for Congress in 1966. He also participated in many other Republican Party efforts. He had the privilege of serving as a Republican Party Precinct Chairman for 35 years and 10 years on the Texas State Republican Executive Committee. He was very dedicated in all that he took part in.He also dedicated his time and served on many community and service organizations throughout his adult years. As a member of the Houston Club, he served on its board of directors and was chairman of the finance committee. He was a life member of the University of Oklahoma Alumni Association and the OU Club of Houston. He was a charter member of the Greater Heights Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club. In fact, he was the founding president of the Pachyderm Club of Northwest Houston and was awarded the "Tough Tusk Award" for all his work as founder. He served as president and program chairman of the Northwest Executive Round Table for many years. He was a charter member, vice president, and long-time member of the Magic Circle Exchange Club of Houston. He was also a long-time member of the board of Trustees and a member emeritus of the Educational Advancement Foundation, a foundation founded by Harry Lucas for the purpose of exploring alternative teaching methods in math and science at universities. He served for 20 years as an advisory board member and accountant of the Free Enterprise Institute under the leadership of Roland Story. He felt privileged to be able to serve on four Harris County grand juries, including two as foreman.Being a Mason was something Earl loved being involved in. He was a life member of the American Legion and an endowed member of the Oak Forest Masonic Lodge No. 1398. Other Masonic memberships he held included Arabia Temple Shriners, Tranquility Lodge 2000, Sam Houston Hall of Fame, Ruthven Commandery No. 2, Washington Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and Houston Council No. 1.He was always active in his church, his profession, and his community. But his true passion was his family. He loved living near so much of his family and made sure to celebrate everyone's graduations, birthdays, weddings, and any other milestone no matter how big or small. He loved his family more than anything and we will all miss him and treasure his memory forever. We are the privileged ones to have known and loved him for so long. We thank God that we were given so many wonderful years with such a caring, devoted man. He will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather.He was predeceased by his parents William Henry Lairson and Mattie Lea Pierce Lairson, his sister Cordelia Lairson Gilbert, and his brother Bart Lairson. He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Virginia Lou Cagle Lairson; four children, Karen Hurst and husband Randy of Pearland, Mark Earl Lairson of Houston, Eric Charles Lairson of Houston, and Dawn Welch and husband David of Nacogdoches; nine grandchildren, Erin Hencey and husband Edward of Pearland, Steven Hurst and wife Stephanie of Rosenburg, Candace Powell M.D. and husband Erik of Pearland, William Wells III USMC of Houston, Carrie Hurst of Pearland, Michael Earl Hurst and wife Grace of Pearland, Hannah, Josh, and Rachel Welch of Nacogdoches; 9 great-grandchildren, Erik and Emily Hencey; Carson, Wyatt Charles, and Claire Powell; Steven Richard and Sophia Hurst; Kate Hurst; and a great grandchild expected in June. He is also survived by his twin sister Earline Ellen Childers and younger sister Rosie Brightwell of Shawnee, Oklahoma as well as nieces, nephews, and a host of friends.Friends and family are cordially invited to a Memorial Service that will honor and celebrate the life of Earl Lairson. It will be held at 2:00pm on Monday, April 6, 2015, at Candlelight Church of Christ, 4215 Watonga Blvd., Houston, TX 77092.In lieu of flowers please contribute in Mr. Lairson's name to Free Enterprise Institute, 9525 Katy Freeway, Houston, 77024 or SPCA, 900 Portway, Houston, 77024

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 Just love this beautiful flower cross!

 Pa resting, he is in heaven now and buried with 

the big family pictures he wanted!

 The burial Sat.

 His obituary he wrote.

It has been tough but so grateful he is finally at peace. 

Visitation was yesterday Good Friday 1-8 and now 

heading to burial Holy Sat. then 

Mon. they will have a memorial service. 

He was a very active man all the way till he was 87, 

organized and founded political clubs, active CPA, organized 2 church sun schools, 

and was a mason. He will be greatly missed by so many wonderful people.

Was a fantastic turn out there were several federal judges, county judge, and county clerk of Houston and Churchill's great grandson who spoke. There were 6 speakers we videoed everything. Sad but so positive and just wonderful. Great inspiration to many.

The minister started to cry as well. It was so touching. Steven spoke and did so amazing. So good but so strange to think he is gone forever. At least there will be another person in heaven waiting to greet us with open arms...

It was good just so sad to lose such a positive person who meant so much to so many. Just a little feeling of emptiness. The minister started to cry as well. It was so touching.

Steven had a beautiful speech on Mon.

My name is Steven Hurst, Grandson to Earl Lairson. I have a few things that I would like to share about Grandfather, it was hard choosing what to share from a lifetime of wonderful memories. I was very blessed to be given the opportunity to spend as much quality time with my grandfather as I did. Above all he was always an example I could look to about how to be a good, honest, respectable man of the highest integrity.

  One of my favorite childhood memories was making homemade ice cream with my grandfather. As early as I can remember he would make his home made ice cream when I stayed over at his house. I was always so excited about the whole process we would go to the store together and get get all of the ingredients, then head out to the garage to get the churn, we would then get everything mixed up and pour it in the churn and we would talk the whole time about how wonderful the ice cream was going to be, I could hardly wait for the churn to stop. Then we would sit together and enjoy eating as much ice cream as we possibly could and it was always the best ice cream.

  I’ll always remember on Chicken Sunday’s at my mothers house all my nieces, nephews and my own children would rush to my grandfather as soon as he would arrive they all knew they were going to get a gold dollar coin. He loved giving those gold dollar coins to all of his great-grand children. Sometimes if he had an extra he would even give one to me.

   His love for his family will always be remembered. Every visit or phone call we had he would ask how I was and how my family was doing. I would always share the latest accomplishments and ask his opinion on things that were taking place. I could always count on him to give me well thought advice.He would do the same with everyone in our family and it really showed that he loved each of us very much.

    He taught me how to play tennis though I usually share this information only when I win. We would have a wonderful time going to the park and he would teach me different aspects of the game. We would have great fun together and I do cherish these moments.

  He taught me how to love and worship god. He was always humming or singing one of his favorite hymns. He was devoted to church and living according to god. Even during times of extraordinary pain he held tight to his faith and prayed for strength to carry on.

  When I first started working in Houston’s Uptown area he invited me out to Greater Houston Pachyderm. I was always happy to accompany him. When I would visit him in the hospital over the past few months he would always tell me as soon as he got out we could get back to going to Pachyderm. I would tell him “well we paid our dues we need to get over there”. He always liked to hear that and it would get him to smile every time.

  When I started my first business I needed help with my taxes, of course I knew who call. My grandfather didn't just teach me how to prepare my taxes, he taught me how to do it on paper, no software needed, just 15 printed forms, a pad of ledger paper and a little bit of patients. We printed all of the necessary forms and worked everything out on his ledger paper. He explained everything that I needed to do. I would come over to his house every year, I always used this as a chance to ask him how to improve my life and make certain I stayed on the right path. He could evaluate many things about each year of my life just by going over the numbers I presented to him.

  It was at this time that I asked him what it was that had made him so successful. He told me that balance was the key to his successes, this seemed so practical coming from a CPA and he explained that I need to balance how much money I spend, save and donate, also I need to balance how much time I spend with family, working, church and with friends. I then realized that was one of the remarkable things about my grandfather. He had utilized his time and resources in the most balanced way possible, never too little nor in excess but exactly balanced and the result was not only a successful man but an admirable and honorable man as well.

  He taught me to never forget where you come from. Though the early part of his life on the farm was very hard, filled with hard work picking cotton by hand in the hot Oklahoma sun, he always shared stories about the good times he had. I accompanied him on a trip to his hometown in May and as we were about to depart he told his friend that he wasn't sure if he would be able to make it back and told his friend that “Tecumseh will always be my hometown”.

  Toward the end of his life he taught me to never give up. When he was very weak and very close to the end, we were uncertain of the right medical choices to make, so my mom asked him, she asked “daddy what do you want me to do” and he was very weak and very tired but he mustered just enough energy to give a thumbs up and said “keep trying”. My mom told me this and I said well we should have expected nothing less from a man that was born weighing only 3lbs on a cold February day in a small farm house in Oklahoma, kept warm next to the stove in a cardboard box with his twin sister.  He brought himself up from a poor red dirt share crop farmer to a man that had become quite successful in all aspects of life.

  I will always love and respect my grandfather and I will cherish all of the time that we had together. Goodbye for now Pa, I will go forward until we meet again in heaven, and I will try my best to live a balanced life just as you showed throughout your life and I will never forget no matter how tough the circumstance to keep my faith, keep my love strong, keep my family and friends close and no matter what always (raise a thumbs up) “Keep Trying”