Vernon Maxwell Arrell

ARRELL, VERNON "MAX" (1933 ~ 2022). The following is an obituary for Vernon "Max" Arrell, former commissioner at the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. The obituary was provided by Weed, Corley, Fish Funeral Home of Austin.

Vernon Maxwell Arrell, a longtime public servant and proud Texan, passed away in Austin Aug. 13, 2022.

Max was born July 23, 1933, in Conrad, Mont., to James Lee Arrell and Anna Marie Holderman Arrell, the fifth of seven children. The family moved to Abilene in 1934.

Max grew up in Abilene where he attended local public schools. He graduated from Abilene High School in 1951. While attending Abilene High, Max excelled in sports, both as a player on the Eagles football team and as a boxer who earned Golden Gloves champion titles in 1949, 1950, and 1951.

Max joined the U.S. Navy in 1952 and served on two submarines: the USS Chivo and USS Ray, which was itself credited with sinking more than 30 Japanese craft and rescuing 23 downed U.S. pilots during the Pacific campaign of World War II.

Upon his discharge from the Navy, Max enrolled in Hardin-Simmons University where he graduated in 1959 with a major in Psychology and Education. While in Hardin-Simmons he met Betty Jene Baty, a pastor’s daughter. They were married in First Baptist Church, Abilene, Texas, May 28, 1959, with her father, Reverend Milton E. Baty, and their pastor, Dr. Elwin Skiles, officiating.

In September 1959, Max and Betty moved to Lubbock to attend graduate school at Texas Tech University. Max graduated with his master’s degree in Psychology and Rehabilitation in 1961.

In 1961 Max and Betty moved back to Abilene. He went to work for the Texas Education Agency’s Division of Rehabilitation, opening that office in the West Texas Rehabilitation Center.

Max and Betty later moved to Austin where he transferred his job to the Texas Rehabilitation Commission in 1965. He continued to work there for the next forty-two years, until his retirement in 2003. At the time of his retirement, Max had served as Commissioner of the TRC, a post he held for 23 years.

US Presidents, Congressional members, state and local elected officials, to include seven Governors, all of whom he worked with directly, have each, over time, expressed their personal and professional gratitude to him. He has received numerous accolades, awards and citations over his career, recognizing his creative services to people with disabilities and stimulation of public concern for their rehabilitation. He led the change and culture to ensure a level playing field for disabled citizens of Texas and the nation. The numerous accomplishments and success that have occurred as a result of his devotion, leadership and meritorious service epitomize the lifetime achievements he has made to the disability community in this country.

Max also received many honors and recognitions outside of his career including giving the Commencement Address at the Texas Tech Allied Health School in 2000 and receiving the Hardin-Simmons University Distinguished Alumni award in 2001.

When Max began dating Betty Baty, he began attending the First Baptist Church of Abilene, and soon joined the congregation. Betty’s father baptized him into the Baptist faith.

Since that time, he had been a member of Southern Baptist Churches wherever they have lived, including congregations in Abilene, Lubbock, Dallas, San Antonio and in Austin. At the time of his death he was an active member of Austin Baptist Church, Austin, Texas.

Hyde Park Baptist Church ordained Max as a deacon in 1981. He later was reinstated as a deacon at Austin Baptist Church.

Max was an outdoorsman. He loved hunting. He searched for the “big one” (usually a deer) in Texas, Utah, Montana, and Colorado. He shared the venison with family, friends, and charity organizations that fed the hungry.

He was a kind, generous, loving man, dedicated to his Lord, his family, his friends and the State of Texas.

Max and Betty have one daughter, Elizabeth Luann Arrell Dickerson, who is the mother of their grandchildren, Katherine Elaine Dickerson and Braden Michael Dickerson.

Flowers are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made, in Max’s honor, to the West Texas Rehabilitation Center or the Austin Baptist Church.