Judge Charles R. "Charlie" Holcomb

Funeral services for Judge Charles R. "Charlie" Holcomb, 86, of Wimberley and formerly of Alto will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, March 5, at the A. Frank Smith Methodist Church in Alto, under the direction of O.T. Allen Funeral Home. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, March 4 at the funeral home in Alto. There will be a graveside service at 2 p.m., Friday, March 6, at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

Judge Holcomb will have the honor of burial in the state Cemetery because he had served as a state judge on the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals from 2001 to 2010. Judge Holcomb passed away in his sleep Friday, Feb. 28, at his home in Wimberley. He was born Sept. 8, 1933, in Alto, to Henry Lee Holcomb and Hazel Lee Thompson Holcomb -- the oldest of four children.
Charles married his high school sweetheart, Anita Jane Heintschel, his wife of 68 years. Charles and Anita had three children, Sherry, James and Katrina. Charles attended Lee College in Baytown and Lamar University in Beaumont before receiving his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the South Texas School of Law in 1958. He began his career in private law practice while also continuing to work at Shell to make ends meet, before becoming the city attorney for Deer Park in 1959. He moved to Orange later in 1959 and became the city attorney for about 12 years. In 1967 he was elected Orange County Court-at-Law Judge and served until 1972. From 1972, after moving to Alto, until 1981 he was in private practice at the Cox, Holcomb & Sinclair law firm in Rusk, contemporaneously serving as Cherokee County Attorney from 1974 until 1981. In 1981 Charles was elected Cherokee County District Attorney and served until 1991. In 1992 he was elected to the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler, serving until 1998. While serving on this court, it was ranked as a top performing appellate court by the state legislative budget board. From 1998 to 2000 he was assigned by Chief Justice Tom Phillips to serve the Dallas Trial and Appellate Court to eliminate a backlog of cases. Judge Holcomb was elected to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals in 2000, re-elected in 2006, and served until 2010. He was an avid golfer and a member of the A. Frank Smith Methodist Church in Alto. Dearly loved by his family and very well-liked and respected by those who knew him, he was preceded in death by son, James Austin Holcomb. He is survived by wife, Anita Holcomb of Wimberley; daughters, Sherry Holcomb Seago and husband William of Orange and Katrina Holcomb Thompson and husband Edward of Driftwood; six grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.