Judith Kay Pegues Hart

HART, JUDITH KAY PEGUES (1940 ~ 2016). The following is an obituary for Judith Hart, spouse of Judge Joseph Hart. The obituary was provided by Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home of Austin.

Judith Kay Pegues Hart died on Sunday, August 28, 2016 in Austin, Texas at the age of 75.

Kay is survived by her husband of 53 years, the Honorable Joseph Hill Hart, son Joseph Scott Hart and his partner Ross Anthony Brown, daughter Julia Furman Hart, grandson Eli Hart-Johnson, brother David Scott Pegues, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Kay was born on September 25, 1940 in Alice, Texas to Curtis Scott Pegues and Mildred Brady Pegues. Kay liked to say that she and her family lived in every little town in Texas, from far West Texas to the Piney Woods, but most notably where the Pegues and Brady clans lived in Crystal City and Carrizo Springs. Kay graduated from Bellaire High School in Houston, then attended the University of Texas at Austin where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. She received her Bachelor's degree with honors in 1962. While at UT, Kay had the good fortune to meet Joe Hart in English History class. They attended a Longhorn basketball game on their first date and were married two years later on June 8, 1963. Along with Joe, she remained an avid Longhorn basketball fan for the rest of her life.

During the early years of their marriage, Kay taught history at Travis High School to support Joe while he attended law school. She left teaching to raise Jody and Julie, but returned to the classroom in 1982 after helping coordinate Joe's campaign for district judge. Kay was a member of the founding faculty and first Head of the St. Andrew's Episcopal Middle School. She served St. Andrew's with passion and dedication and was loved by her students and fellow faculty members. The Kay Hart Service Award was created in her honor to recognize middle school students who exemplified servant-leadership by dedicating themselves to many hours of volunteer service. Kay retired from St. Andrew's in 2002.

Over the course of her life, Kay was actively involved in the lives of her children and in the Austin community. Early in her marriage to Joe, she was active in the Junior League of Austin and the "Stitch and Bitch" sewing club where she met her best friend, Julie Bean Vandiver. She was an avid runner for many years and a member of the Austin Runner's Club. She also played soccer in a women's league and later continued her love of the game by coaching Julie's YMCA soccer teams and Jody's team at O. Henry Junior High. Kay was active in the early years of the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association, and after her retirement, was a member of the Board of the Austin History Center Association. While with the AHCA she coordinated several widely acclaimed events about Governor E. M. Pease; the Depression era, including its architecture and music (both in close collaboration with Sweet Home Baptist Church of Clarksville); and the love letters of Walter Prescott Webb and Terrell Maverick. Kay was an avid birder and an excellent writer and teacher of English, whether at school or at home, where mealtime conversations were frequently interrupted to make gentle, but well received, corrections to our grammar.

Kay will be buried in a private family service on Thursday, September 1, 2016 at the Texas State Cemetery. Following the service, the family would like to invite friends and family to drop by Joe and Kay's home anytime from 12:00 – 3:00 PM to share memories of Kay and have light refreshments.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Alzheimer's Texas, 3520 Executive Center Drive, Suite 140, Austin, Texas 78731 or call 512-241-0420; the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 841125, Dallas, Texas 75284-1125; or Hospice Austin, 4107 Spicewood Springs Rd, Ste 100, Austin, TX 78759. The family would like to thank Hospice Austin for their compassionate professionalism, dear friend Julie Person for coordinating food and caregivers, nephew Dr. James Little for his support and counsel, and numerous friends for their love and caring.