The Reverend Lawrence Prestidge Gwin

December 23, 1959- July 4, 2022

   The Reverend Lawrence Prestidge Gwin, Jr. (Fr. Hoss) died Monday, July 4, 2022. 
   He was born December 23, 1959, in Houston, Texas, to Lawrence Prestidge Gwin and Rebekah Witherspoon Pannill Gwin. 
   Hoss graduated from Texas Military Institute, The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Mississippi School of Law, after which, in 1985, he began the practice of law with his father at Gwin and Gwin in Bay City, Texas. 
   He attended Magdalene College, Oxford University, and, on December 21, 2002, he was ordained as an Episcopal Priest.
   His first parish was St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Wharton, Texas, and he was later appointed Vicar at Christ Church Matagorda, the oldest Episcopal parish in Texas, where he continued to serve until his death.  
   Himself an Eagle Scout, he was life-long supporter of the Boy Scouts of America and a member of the Matagorda Masonic Lodge No. 7 for 30 years. 
   Hoss was a kind man with a fierce intellect. 
   He was blessed with an insatiable intellectual curiosity that accessed worlds as diverse as Tolkien and Shakespeare, religious philosophy and quantum physics, western civilization and world travel, scuba diving and aviation. 
   A conversation with Hoss could profoundly change one’s life and attitudes about the world. 
   He died having taken to heart the admonishments of the Roman satirist Juvenal, who called on us to “fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem,” – to pray for a brave heart that has no fear of death. 
   His firm and unwavering confidence in the heavy price his redeemer paid for him drove him to this conclusion. 
   He is survived by his beloved wife and son, Roseanne Ritchie Gwin and Samuel Fusaro, his sister Torrey Gwin Hunter, nephew John Torrey Hunter and wife Chelsey White Hunter, great ---niece Graycen Lea Hunter, extended family Denise Steffek, Monica Ritchie, Vanessa Ritchie, Larisa Ritchie, Vannie Ritchie, Margaret McClintock and many well-loved cousins. 
   A memorial service will be held on August 27, 2022, at Christ Church Matagorda with The Right Reverend Rayford B. High, Jr. and The Reverend Dr. James E. Ely presiding. 
   In lieu of flowers, contributions in Hoss’ memory may be made to Christ Church Matagorda, P.O. Box 673, Matagorda, TX 77457 or Houston Hospice, 1905 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030.