Camille Coulter Bigham, a resident of Blue Skies of Texas-West in San Antonio, entered eternal rest on February 10, 2019 at the age of 87 years. Camille was born Jean Camille Coulter on August 4, 1931in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Joseph and Marvel Coulter. Soon after her birth, her family moved to Houston where Camille received her education in the public school system. Because of her high IQ, she was able to skip fourth and sixth grades, graduating in June 1947 from John H. Reagan High School. She went on to attend Rice University where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature at the age of nineteen in 1951.
While at Rice, Camille was a member of the Women’s Council and president of the Sarah Lane Literary Society. Camille was noted not only for her high IQ, but also for her charm, sense of humor, and quiet beauty. She was at different times at Rice a May Festival princess, a Homecoming princess, Navy princess, Junior Prom princess, and a Yearbook beauty. She was a nominee for Outstanding Senior.
After graduation, Camille joined the Humble, Oil and Refining Company Advertising Department as an assistant to Jack Valenti, a well-known Houston resident who became a senior staff member of President Lyndon Johnson’s administration. She was later employed by independent oilman Wesley West and then by Howard Keck, President of Superior Oil Company as their executive secretaries. In 1967 until her retirement in 1994, she joined the GoldKing Production Company, a large independent oil and gas company, where she served initially as an assistant to GoldKing’s President, Allan C. King, and later as GoldKing’s Corporate Secretary and Assistant Vice President for several of its related companies.
Camille was also active in many organizations including the Board of Trustees of the Association of Rice Alumni on which she served a three-year term as the youngest member to be elected to the Board at the age of twenty-six. She was also active in two women’s social organizations, the Girl’s Cotillion and the LTG, a single women’s organization where she served as president.
Camille and her husband of forty-six years, James P. Bigham married in 1972, the first marriage for them both. It was on Jim’s 40th birthday, April 6, that they met and married a year later on May 20, 1972.
Following her retirement, Camille and Jim moved to Horseshoe Bay, an attractive development on Lake LBJ where she served as president of the Horseshoe Bay Associates of the Seton Hospital Development Board, as a member of the Board of Trustees and historian of the Protestant Church at Horseshoe Bay, and as an officer in other organizations including the Llano County Republican Women, and the Hill Country Community Theater. She was also a member and former officer of the P.E.O., a women’s philanthropic organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities for women. An avid bridge player, she participated in many bridge groups.
Camille was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Joseph Coulter, Jr.
She is survived by her beloved husband, James Bigham; sister, Valerie Coulter; cousins, Roberta and Charles LeMaster and their son, Garth LeMaster and wife, Chantal.
Visitation was Saturday, February 16, 2019 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 9:30 am at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.
In lieu of flowers, a donation to your favorite charity is requested.
Arrangements by Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home.