Houston Hospice Set to Honor Over a Century of Combined Legacy During Spirit Award Dinner

Honorees include James A. Reeder, Jr. & Eric Nevil, Dr. Elizabeth Strauch, and Anne Baillio

HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES, September 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Houston Hospice today announced that James A. Reeder, Jr. (Jim) and Eric Nevil will be honored during its 24th Laura Lee Blanton Community Spirit Award Dinner, Thursday, October 20, 2022, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at River Oaks Country Club, 1600 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, Texas. Funds raised support Houston Hospice’s mission of providing quality hospice care to patients of all ages, ethnicities, or socio-economic status, irrespective of their ability to pay.

“The Reeder family’s 40 years of support for Houston Hospice’s patients and families is truly admirable,” said Co-Chair Jennifer Tuttle Arnold. “Jim and Eric continue the Reeder family’s legacy of generosity for Houston Hospice, and we are grateful to honor them with the Laura Lee Blanton Community Spirit Award” continued Arnold. Reeder and Nevil have a special place in their hearts for Houston Hospice. Reeder’s late mother, Leone Guthrie Reeder, was an original board member of the New Age Hospice in 1982 and continued on the board when it became The Hospice at the Texas Medical Center. Reeder joined the board when his parents moved to Washington, D.C. in 1992 and stayed on through its merger with Houston Hospice. Reeder was chair when the Houston Hospice Inpatient Unit was built, which benefitted from a major gift from Leone and Jim Reeder Sr. in memory of each of their parents. Reeder and Nevil were then on the receiving end of Houston Hospice’s care when first Leone passed away at the Inpatient Unit in 2010 and then Jim Sr. passed away at the Inpatient Unit 15 months later. By their example, Jim Sr. & Leone taught their family a powerful lesson on “dying well” and exemplified their belief that living does not end at the prospect of death.

“We are reluctant recipients of the Laura Lee Blanton Community Spirit Award,” Nevil explained. “Reluctant because we have never felt that what we do and contribute is extraordinary; it’s just what you do. And because we know that over the past 40 years, there are countless others who, through their commitment and generosity, like the Blanton family, are the true manifestation of community spirit that sustains Houston Hospice,” continued Nevil.

In addition, Houston Hospice will honor two exceptional leaders with over 64 years of service combined to provide compassionate care and comfort to countless families and their loved ones. Houston Hospice is proud to honor Dr. Elizabeth Strauch, Medical Director & Vice President of Medical Affairs, Houston Hospice with The Heart of Hospice Service Award for providing quality care to hospice patients and families over the past 30 years. Anne Baillio, longtime volunteer, will be presented with The Heart of Hospice Volunteer Award for providing compassionate care to patients and their families over the past 34 years.

“We are deeply honored to be the recipients of this award,” Reeder adds. “Eric and I believe that the caregivers at Houston Hospice, like Betsy Strauch and Anne Baillio, are living saints. To be recognized with them, my parents, and the Blanton family is humbling. The great reward for us, however, has been our experience as just one of the tens of thousands of families to whom Houston Hospice has brought care and comfort during the most difficult chapter of life care.”

“The 24th Spirit Award Dinner honors Jim Reeder, Eric Nevil, Dr. Elizabeth Strauch, and Anne Baillio, four remarkable community leaders who embody the spirit and compassion of Houston Hospice,” said Rana McClelland, President & CEO, Houston Hospice. “Houston Hospice is humbled by their 100+ years of collective dedication to helping patients and their families gain access to uncompromising, compassionate, end-of-life care,” continued McClelland.

Jennifer Tuttle Arnold, Susan Tuttle Lummis, and Emily Tuttle Wilde are this year’s event chairs and are planning a wonderful evening in celebration of Jim Reeder and Eric Nevil, Dr. Elizabeth Strauch and Ann Baillio.

The Spirit Award is named in memory of Laura Lee Blanton, who gave tirelessly and had a selfless dedication to her family, to her community, and to her friends. For more information, please visit www.houstonhospice.org/spiritaward2022/.

About Houston Hospice:
Houston Hospice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides uncompromising, compassionate, end-of-life care to all patients and families across 13 counties in the Greater Houston Area, regardless of their ability to pay. Established in 1980, the organization is the oldest, largest, independent, nonprofit hospice in Houston and a member of the Texas Medical Center.


About James A. Reeder, Jr. (Jim) and Eric Nevil:
Jim Reeder & Eric Nevil have been active and generous contributors to a variety of worthwhile community resources in the Houston area during their nearly two decades together. Jim was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, attended Harvard College and the University of Texas School of Law, and has been practicing law in Houston since 1989, first at Vinson & Elkins for 30 years, and more recently at Jones Day since 2019. Jim was the Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, the largest organization of litigators in the country, in 2020-21. Eric is a native of Harris County, graduated from the University of Texas and spent 17 years as a civil engineer at AECOM and its predecessors Turner Collie & Braden and Thompson Engineering and has been involved in the planning of much of the storm water infrastructure addressing flooding across Houston and Harris County. For the last decade, Eric has been head of operations at two interior design firms, Ken Kehoe & Company and Kehoe Nevil Wilson Design Consultants. Jim & Eric are parents to two children: Grace, who graduated from Smith College and is in her third year of medical school at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth; and Jack, who graduated from the University of Texas in May and is pursuing his Master of Science in Finance at the McCombs School at UT.

Among the organizations that have been the object of Jim & Eric’s focused attention and generosity are: Legacy Community Health Services, where Jim chaired the board and its capital campaign and where Jim & Eric were major contributors to the transformation of Legacy from a single clinic in Montrose to an array of clinics across the Gulf Coast; Houston Botanic Garden, where Jim chairs the board, and Jim & Eric were major contributors to the capital campaign that built the garden; San Jacinto Museum of History Association; C.G. Jung Educational Center; Houston Public Television (where Jim spent twenty five years as an on air host of Channel 8’s quarterly pledge drive); Teach for America and numerous others.

Contact: Michele Cowart, Communications
Phone: 713-202-0546
Email: media@houstonhospice.org

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