Gregory Michael Heath

Gregory Michael Heath loved deeply, listened closely and never once pretended to like something he didn’t. He was born October 5, 1946, on a naval base in Illinois to Robert Audley Heath and June Miller Heath. He was the first of three children, followed by brother, Audley Hoban Heath, and sister, Sharon Elizabeth Heath. His family soon moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where Greg's earliest memories took root before the family eventually settled in Houston, Texas.

In Houston, Greg attended Condit Elementary, Jane Long Middle School, and Bellaire High School. At the University of Houston, where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, he also worked as a photographer for The Daily Cougar, the student newspaper. He went on to South Texas College of Law, where he earned his law degree and began a career that would define him.

Greg became a defense attorney in general practice, and what distinguished his career was not the money it brought him but the work itself. He was known as one of the finest appellate attorneys around. He loved the collaborative nature of practicing law alongside his brother and father in the same firm. Most importantly, he believed that the work mattered more than the compensation. He regularly took on clients from underserved communities who could not afford full representation, defending them pro bono or on a sliding scale because everyone deserved a defense.

On September 18, 1970, Greg married Kathy Lynn Lawless, his partner for fifty-five years. Together they built a life centered on family, principle, and a devotion to the people around them. Greg and Kathy had three wonderful children: Alison Marie Heath, Amy Miller Heath, and Robert Frederick Cody Heath. He was a loving father whose way of showing up was absolute. He was at every single game, every single practice. He coached his daughters' sports. He never missed his son's games, no matter what he was playing. But more than that, he loved watching all three of his children become parents. The family vacations were full of laughter and hiccups; they lovingly referred to themselves as the Griswolds.

Throughout his life, Greg was a man of passionate interests. He loved sports with an almost unshakeable devotion—the University of Houston football and basketball, the Astros, the Texans, the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500. One of his great memories was a trip to the Indy 500 with his son, driving around Indiana and visiting the hill where his childhood school once stood.

He was a bona fide audiophile, obsessed with speaker quality, amplifiers, record players, and creating the perfect sound system in the perfect room. He had thousands of albums and listened to them loud. He loved films and television, and he had plenty to say about both.

He was a passionate gardener who loved being outside with his plants, always tinkering, always trying to coax them to bloom. He was a collector of stamps, coins, and albums. He loved machines—cars and trains especially. He owned Mustangs that he treasured, and at the end of his life, an MX-5 with a brand-new engine that he made sure went to someone who would truly appreciate it.

As a boy, Greg fell in love with aquariums and fish, building tanks and collecting species. That passion led him to work at a fish store at just thirteen years old, and it spawned a lifelong love of science and plants. He had many dogs over the years, but his final companion was Charlie, a white dog he called his little shadow. Charlie was always at his feet, always by his side, sleeping with him, following him from room to room, worrying when he wasn't there.

Greg was compassionate and exact—meticulous about everything from the placement of stamps to the precision of language. He was deeply sentimental and kept everything that held meaning for him. He was as much a listener as a speaker, always giving people airtime to share their opinions, believing that a truly good conversation was one of the best things life had to offer. He had a dry, quick sense of humor and could spend hours with his sister Sharon and brother Audley quoting movies and laughing hysterically.

He was always trying to take care of Kathy, especially in his later years, worried about her well-being and her safety, constantly thinking about what he could do to ensure she lived fully and healthily.

In his final months, Greg was surrounded by the people who loved him most. His oldest daughter Alison and her husband Farhan shifted their lives to care of both Greg and Kathy. His brother Audley was his constant companion, on the phone with him every day, by his side at home and in the hospital. The doctors and nurses who cared for him earned his affection and gratitude.

Greg passed peacefully on June 19, 2026. He is preceded in death by his father Robert Audley Heath and his mother June Miller Heath. He is survived by the love of his life Kathy Lynn Heath; his brother Audley Hoban Heath and his wife Catherine Elena Heath, their children Megan, Rebecca and Audley Jr., and his sister Sharon Elizabeth Heath; his three children Alison Marie Heath and her husband Farhan Shah, Amy Miller Heath, and Robert Frederick Cody Heath and his wife Rhea Marie Heath; his grandchildren Tyler Heath Faseler, Camden Michael Faseler, Lila Bleue Shah, Oliver Rai Haaser, Noah Vince Heath, James Michael Heath, Samuel Ryan Heath and Levi Cody Heath; and countless friends and colleagues whose lives he touched with his integrity, his humor, and his unwavering belief that the work that matters is the work done in service of others.