Remembering Jimmy Tittle: Dan Hart Reflects on a Lasting Legacy
Jimmy Tittle had a deep and lasting impact on me before I even knew who he was.
When I was seven years old, our family friend, Tom Wilson, was the coolest person I knew. It was such a treat to visit him and his wife Nettie in what seemed to me then to be a palatial estate in small town Texas (Eastland). It did not occur to me at that point that there was a mind behind that house, an architect.
Decades later (long after I got to know Jimmy as a colleague, friend and ultimately, business partner when Parkhill and the Tittle-Luther Partnership merged), I would make the connection that it was Jimmy who designed the Wilson’s house.
It was featured in Lisa Germany’s book, Great Houses of Texas (alongside houses by Paul Rudolph, Steven Holl, Bruce Goff, O’Neil Ford, and Natalye Appel). Here’s an excerpt from that book:
“When Jimmy Tittle was in his senior year at Texas A& M University with one year left to finish the architecture program, the school took his class on an extraordinary trip. First to Chicago to meet Mies van der Rohe; then on to Cranbrook to meet Eero Saarinen; then east to meet Philip Johnson in his Glass House in Connecticut; and finally, to Lincoln, Massachusetts, where Walter Gropius was their host. Tittle and his classmates were at an impressionable age, and the exposure to these various masters of the modern movement was destined to affect their fledgling sensibilities. When school was out the following year, one of his best friends went to work for van der Rohe, while others headed to Dallas or Houston. As for Tittle, he couldn’t wait to get back to Abilene. Never mind the flat landscape, the red dirt, the scarcity of trees, the curious taste for Cape Cod houses—Abilene was his element.
“‘I was born and raised in Abilene, and we [referring to his partner, John Luther] thought we could do good work here. Then we wouldn’t have to travel all over the place.’ And so he and Luther started their firm, the Tittle Luther Partnership, in 1958, and over the years they managed to stay put and stay busy improving their beloved little city.”
I went to see Jimmy for the last time several weeks ago, traveling to his “beloved little city.” We sat in his beautiful house, another of his designs, and looked out over the lake together, recalling the long trajectory of our friendship and our connection that began long before we even knew one another. His body was failing, but his mind was sharp, his wit was quick, and his will was strong. His warmth and generosity were as present as ever.
Jimmy Tittle was one of those rare, special people who didn’t have to “travel all over the place” to go far.
Dan Hart, FAIA, PE, is Parkhill’s Executive Vice President of Architecture and has dedicated more than three decades of his career to Parkhill. He served as the 98th President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), president of the Texas Society of Architects, and taught senior-level architecture students at Texas Tech University. He currently sits on the AIA National Board of Directors. Through his education, passion for learning, and unique blend of professional knowledge and personal life experiences, Dan remains humble about the people who have impacted him along the way.
