On March 4, Texas lost perhaps its most ardent conservationist with the death at age 92 of Armstrong V. Emmott. Together with his beloved wife, Sarah H. (Donaldson) Emmott, Army had been involved in almost every significant conservation effort along the Upper Texas Coast for the past 50 years.

In this region, he and Sarah were early members of the CEC, the Bayou Preservation Association, the Galveston Bay Foundation, the Outdoor Nature Club, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, the Park People, the Houston Audubon Society, Armand Bayou Nature Center, and the Nature Discovery Center, also serving on the boards of many of these organizations.

In the 1960s, Army and Sarah lobbied for passage of the Texas Open Beaches Act through yet another organization, Texas Beaches Unlimited. Texas, as a result, had the first law in the country securing for the public the right to use and enjoy state beaches. Army and Sarah were also founding members of the Texas Conservation Council, whose work led to the creation of the Padre Island National Seashore.

Army’s tenet that one should act on one’s beliefs was inherited directly from his mother, Catharine, who was the first person to suggest that Memorial Park be established to honor veterans of the first World War and who worked with the Hogg family to bring the park into being. Army and Sarah served for many years on Memorial Park’s advisory board, and it was Army who encouraged Sarah, shortly before her death in 1992, to write a history of Memorial Park for publication by The Park People.

Army was a Cub Scout as a child, then a Boy Scout, and eventually a Scout Master. In his last years, he was still volunteering and helping to support the programs at Camp Janus, which provides nature education and recreation for children coming through Hermann Hospital who have suffered serious burns — a giant step toward helping these campers learn to live with their injuries.

Army grew up in the bookbinding business and built Emmott Bookbinders into one of this country’s most respected binders of fine books. The Museum of Printing History became a reality only through of his perseverence. The Sarah H. Emmott Memorial Library at the Houston Audubon Society houses all of Army and Sarah’s books on natural history. The broader Emmott collection of environmental and conservation resources is still awaiting a permanent home.

Last September, Army Emmott received the CEC’s Synergy Lifetime Achievement Award. It was the last of many, many honors and awards conferred upon him during his lifetime. He will be sorely missed.

Gretchen Mueller, Sandra Hoover, and David Crossley contributed to this tribute.