Judge Fred Biery Wins Award and Welcomes Granddaughter

FEEDBACK

Since San Antonio Lawyer published “Judge Fred Biery: While Observing the Human Condition, He Also Discovered Himself,” by Steve Peirce (July-August 2023), Judge Biery’s outlook has only gotten rosier. Recently, he welcomed a beautiful new granddaughter, Raya (pictured here), and in a March 25, 2024, press release the Texas Bar Foundation announced:

Judge Fred Biery of San Antonio is the recipient of the 2024 Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award from the Texas Bar Foundation. The award was established in 1995, when the Foundation received a bequest to the endowment from the estate of Mrs. Samuel Pessarra in honor of her late husband Samuel Pessarra for the purpose of funding the Outstanding Jurist Award. Samuel Pessarra, a native of Quintana, attended Baylor University and Baylor University School of Law. Mr. Pessarra was a member of the Brazoria County Bar Association, where he served as president, director and secretary. The Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award honors an active Federal or State Judge (including retired judges or judges of senior status who continue to sit) who exhibits an exceptionally outstanding reputation for competency, efficiency and integrity.

Judge Biery began his judicial career when his college basketball coach had him spend a lot of time “on the bench.” Texas Lutheran University and SMU Law School were followed by five years of law practice with his father and uncle. Now he is in his 46th year of judicial service in Texas and United States courts.

For 20 years he grew copious amounts of vegetables through hard, but therapeutic, farm labor, as did his mother and ancestors, creating a deep appreciation for those who grow, harvest and prepare our food, then clean up after us.

He is an abject failure in female-male relationships, so decided to create his own family by adopting one daughter as a single man, only to be rescued by Marcia five years later, and then to adopt a second daughter. More failure followed . . . but through therapy and introspection, he has begun, though late in life, to know who and why he is and to follow the Buddha’s teaching: “Gracefully let go of things not meant for you.” The awards have been many, but the rewards are better: Granddaughters Harlow, Gema, and Raya who call him “Yonor.” And he calls them the Dessert of Life.

Judge Biery will be publicly recognized at the Texas Bar Foundation Annual Dinner held on June 21, 2024 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. SMU Dedman School of Law will receive a $1,000 scholarship donation in honor of Judge Biery.

Judge Biery graciously says that his receiving this award is largely attributable to Steve Peirce’s outstanding article in San Antonio Lawyer.

WE LOVE FEEDBACK!

Please send letters to the editor to Sara Murray, Editor in Chief, at smurray@langleybanack.com. The San Antonio Bar Association thanks our editors, board of editors, and contributing volunteer writers for bringing an unparalleled quality of editorial content to our valued readers.