Joseph Lynn Nabers died peacefully early on the morning of July 31 with his family at his side. He had struggled valiantly for seven months with cancer, but was blessed because he only became incapacitated in the last few days of his life.
Lynn is survived by his wife, Mary Scott Nabers of Austin, and his sons Scott Nabers of Houston and Tim Nabers and his wife Karen of Austin. Lynn’s beloved grandchildren include Lauren Scott Nabers, Kailey Anne Nabers, Jack Harrison Nabers and Samuel Scott Nabers, all of Houston, and Rachel Elizabeth Nabers and Davis Scott Nabers of Austin. Lynn and Mary have a large extended family of friends throughout the country.
Lynn is also survived by cousins Robert Alan Lewis of Houston, Dr. Jim Littlefield of Missouri and Olin Jones of California. Other close family members include Ed Edmondson and his wife Gayle of Austin. He was preceded in death by his parents, J.D. and Ima Lou Nabers of Brownwood.
Lynn held a Bachelor of Science degree from Howard Payne University, a law degree from Baylor University and an honorary doctorate from Howard Payne University. He was elected to the Texas Legislature immediately upon graduation from law school.
He had an impressive legislative and legal background. Lynn practiced law for 16 years and served for 14 of those years in the Texas Legislature before he began representing corporate clients on governmental matters. After leaving the legislature, Lynn became a partner with the Brown McCarroll law firm and enjoyed the association with his legal friends there. He left the firm in 1992 when Mary became a member of the Texas Railroad Commission because he felt that there would be a perception of conflicts if he remained with a law firm.
Lynn practiced law and worked in the area of governmental affairs as a solo practitioner until Mary left government. Then he began encouraging and assisting her as she built Strategic Partnerships, Inc. (SPI) in Austin. He was quick to tell his friends that he never intended to join her in the business though, because he had no intention of working as hard as she would expect. However, as the business continued to grow, Lynn became the general counsel and began assisting with the firm’s governmental affairs efforts. When he died, he was immersed in helping grow the company and took great pride in being a part of the SPI Team.
Lynn was a great political strategist and worked diligently to ensure that everyone at the firm understood procedure, ethics, protocol and laws. He was instrumental in the success of Strategic Partnerships, Inc. During the past decade, the SPI Team had a rare insight into a great working partnership between two individuals with strong personalities and opinions that did not always agree on direction but, because of diverse thinking, always found a way to compromise that produced better results.
Lynn was an owner and director at Citizens National Bank in Brownwood for more than 30 years. He and a group of friends purchased the hometown bank three decades ago, managed it through the worst of economic times and built it into a thriving, successful financial institution. Lynn also had a working cattle ranch in Brownwood and operated a natural gas business.
As a member of the Texas House of Representatives, he sponsored legislation on the State Bar Act, Medical Practice Act, Tuition Equalization Act and a revision of the Texas Penal Code. He carried the repeal of the Property Tax Code and a number of other bills dealing with property taxes. He loved government and serving in the legislature. If there had been sufficient financial compensation involved, he would have enjoyed spending his entire career there.
Lynn served as Chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee and the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. He was a member of the House Ways and Means, Water, Reclamation and Conservation, Insurance, State Affairs and Financial Institutions committees.
A few of his major accomplishments included being named a Fellow by the State Bar of Texas. Lynn worked with the statewide Judicial Section of the State Bar and received its Founders Day Award. He also received a Distinguished Service Award from the State Bar. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Howard Payne University and served on their Board of Trustees for more than 20 years. He received an award from the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas for his work with the Tuition Equalization Grant program.
Lynn was named one of Texas Monthly magazine’s Top 10 Legislators and was honored by other publications including Texas Business Magazine. He received awards from the Texas Army National Guard, the Texas Youth Commission and a number of other organizations. Lynn served as director of the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission during the year Texas celebrated all statewide events honoring the state’s annexation to the United States.
Active in a number of organizations and projects in the Austin community, Lynn served on the Corporate Council of the Long Center for the Performing Arts and was especially interested and involved with the St. David’s Healthcare Scholarship Program. He was a member of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and was currently the chair of the Travis County Municipal Utility District #6. Lynn was, along with Mary, genuinely interested in government and politics since most of their adult lives evolved around some part of government, and he spent a lot of time at political functions.
No man ever loved his grandchildren more than Lynn. He enjoyed attending all their activities and was looking forward to a major hunting trip with them in the fall. Hunting and fishing were among his favorite pastimes when he could find a way to take some time away from work.
One of his other significant passions in life was golf. He told great golf stories and loved playing and competing with his buddies anytime he could slip away to the course. He was fortunate enough to play golf with his sons two days in a row just two weeks before his death.
Lynn will be remembered as a remarkable, Christian man who loved with a passion his family, community, church, state and nation. He was genuinely loved and respected by everyone who knew him. He leaves behind a wealth of gifts, not the least of which will be the memory of his huge capacity to love and the memory of his zest for all aspects of life.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5, at Riverbend Church, 4214 North Capital of Texas Highway, Austin. Burial will follow at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 4, at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 North Lamar, Austin.
In lieu of floral tributes, please make a memorial contribution to one of the following: Lynn Nabers Scholarship Fund, Howard Payne University, Office of Institutional Advancement, P.O. Box 2639, Brownwood, TX 76801; Riverbend Church, Building A Blessing Fund, 4214 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Austin, TX 78746; or St. David’s Foundation, Neal Kocurek Scholarship Fund, 811 Barton Springs Rd, Ste 600, Austin, TX 78704.
