It was with great sadness that the HMI network learned of the passing of Laura Negley Gill, on December 24, 2024. Laura was an HMI board member and graduate of HMI's Ranch & Range Manager Training Program, which she completed along with her husband Chris Gill. Laura's vast knowledge and experience was a great asset to HMI when she served as a Board member. Likewise, the Gills' use of Holistic Management on both the Circle Ranch in Texas and at Pitchstone Waters in Idaho provided great case studies that they shared with the public as conservation ranchers dedicated to improving wildlife habitat.
Laura was born on December 20, 1947, in San Antonio, Texas to William Negley and Carolyn Brown Negley. Laura grew up hunting and fishing and horseback riding in Texas and beyond. Laura had a happy childhood that was at times both wild and fanciful, and established the pattern of her life: time in nature, an interest in plants and animals, surrounded by family, a few treasured friends, and a long line of dachshunds. Laura cherished her gardens, her home, and her relationships, and she kept them well. She was the calm eye of every storm weathered by her family, with a sharp wit, gentle dignity, and enduring beauty.
She was a graduate of the Foxcroft School in 1966 and University of Texas in 1970, and a lifelong lover of history and reading. Laura married her devoted husband Christopher Gill in 1970, and their happy union and partnership remained the foundation of their family for 54 years. As a young woman, Laura served in the Junior League and Planned Parenthood, and later in life served on the Board of the Briscoe Museum, reflecting her commitments to family life and the beauty of the natural world.
Laura is survived by her husband, Christopher Gill; her brothers, Dick Negley and Jim Negley; her four children, Christopher Burleson Gill and his wife Sterling Gill, Carolyn French and her husband Peter French, Josephine Schlather and her husband Erick Schlather, and Richard Gill and his wife Miranda Brodie Gill; eight grandchildren, Laura Wells French, Amelia Gill French, Loomis Negley French, Adele Burleson Davidson, Marshall “Tres” Vincent Davidson III, Wells Negley Davidson, Lavinia Matilda Gill, and Florence Josephine Gill; two brothers-in-law, Richardson Gill and Peter Gill and their families; and her nieces Emily Negley Martin, Sydney Negley Mulder, Suzanne Negley Hegarty, Tara Roma Gill, Maya Gill Nairn, Genevieve Dorn Gill, and nephews William Negley and Jamie Negley, and their families.
A Celebration of her Life will be held for friends and family at 2:00 on Friday, the 17th of January at The Argyle, 934 Patterson Avenue in San Antonio. In lieu of customary remembrances, a donation may be made to the charity of one’s choice.
HMI offers our condolences to the Gill Family.