Ty Griesenbeck

In memory of our fearless Aggie friend Ty Griesenbeck, who refused to entertain the thought he could not BTHO cancer.  Still today we remain awestruck by Ty’s heartfelt dedication to helping his family, friends and the whole community. We will forever miss his invitations to meet for a “beverage”, knowing full well it would result in his pickpocketing our wallets for some charitable purpose. No one cared as those conversations on arcane facts about history, art, science or law were priceless. Yet, the most fun was had while doing “battle” with Ty who would quietly whisper “…on my command, unleash all hell” just before entering court in his seersucker suit and bow tie.

From the formal obituary:

Timothy Tynan "Ty" Griesenbeck, Jr. passed away peacefully on March 19, 2020 after a battle with leukemia. He approached that fight with the same tenacity, passion and grit he gave his storied legal career, service in the army and time as a beloved husband, father, uncle and grandfather.

A life-long San Antonio native, Ty graduated from Antonian High School and then attended Texas A&M like his father and grandfather before him. While there he served in the Corps of Cadets, the Ross Volunteers, and majored in History, a life-long passion. He attended St. Mary's Law School and was the Assistant Editor of the Law Review. After marrying Kathleen Fogarty, they moved to Wurzburg, Germany as a Captain in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps and they gave birth to twin daughters. He then brought his skills and passion to the only law firm where he would ever work, and that eventually held his name on the door, Plunkett, Griesenbeck & Mimari.

Throughout his legal career he tried more than 100 civil and criminal jury trials and lent his expertise to the Texas Trial Lawyers' Association, the American Board of Trial Advocates and to countless friends and family in need.

Ty was passionate about one's responsibility to community and served with vigor to impact lives and business in his industry, in San Antonio and beyond. As Chairman of the Board of the Witte Museum, he helped bring the museum into the new era we know today. He raised funds for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society; ironically campaigning for - and later benefiting from – a new treatment for his own Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He served on the Mounted Platoon within his beloved Texas Cavaliers and donated his time in leadership roles to more than 10 organizations.

Ty held a voracious sense of curiosity and a love of learning. There were few subjects about which he could not speak confidently. He often planned travel around important historical locations and passed time during chemotherapy treatments with a 250-podcast series of world history since the Renaissance. He surrounded himself with the classics – symphonic music, opera, theater, literature, movies, mythology, art; and he could recite inspiring quotes from great leaders and characters, verbatim, in Latin. He valued good friends, a grand dining experience, a great story and a perfect martini, shaken never stirred. However, the role he valued most was as the patriarch of his beloved family.

He leaves a storied legacy of legal scholarship that valued civility and humor in the process. But, to many, he will be remembered as a most favorite and trusted friend, a dapper dresser who preferred three-piece suits and bow ties, never without a pocket square.

He is survived by his parents, Timothy and Rose Ann; five siblings; his wife, Kathy; his daughters, Kelly and Kristin, their husbands Bingo and Clay; and five beloved grandchildren who called him "Apo." Those of us lucky enough to be loved and cared for by him will never be the same.