Palestine High School Alumni Association

04 / 06 / 1895  –  10 / 21 / 1958

Theodore S. Maffitt, Sr., 63, well known architect, died at 9:45 P.M. Tuesday at Memorial Hospital.

Funeral services will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. John McLean and the Rev. Robert Badgett officiating. Burial will be in New Addition Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Dan O’Connell of Houston, Charles Woodridge, James C. Oehler of Dallas, George Fox, Guy Robinson, Henri Thomas, Drew Kolstad, Seymour Stafford, Ben Walker, Bob Marshman, A.M. Burns, Dale Smith, Harry Herrington, A.E. Sutton and W. T. Sims.

All officers, deacons and elders of the First Presbyterian Church will be honorary pallbearers.

A Palestine native and graduate of the University of Texas, Maffitt was a veteran of two World Wars and a leader in Texas architectural circles.

He opened an office here after his return in 1919 from service as an ensign in the Navy and closed it only for an interval during World War II while he served as a major in the Army Engineering Corps.

At the time of his death, he was associated with his son and actively engaged in his profession, serving a wide area of Texas.

He was one of the founders of A.I.A. in Texas and had served as vice-president of the Dallas chapter. He was a past president of the Lions Club, and a past chairman of the board of deacons of First Presbyterian Church. He was serving as a deacon at the time of his death, and was a member of the Palestine Masonic Lodge and the Order of Knights Templar. He was a member of the Rotary Club until recently.

Survivors are his widow, Anna Josephine Helm Maffitt; a son, T.S. Maffitt, Jr., and three grandchildren all of Palestine; three brothers. J.U. Maffitt of Palestine, George Maffitt of Cathedral City, California and Will Phifer of Houston; and two sisters, Mrs. Grayson Hardgrave, and Mrs. C. C. Cocking, both of Palestine.

The body will be at Bailey Funeral Home until time for the service.

Source: Palestine Herald-Press 10-22-1958

From the Alexander Architectural Archive, The General Libaries, The University of Texas at Austin

Theo S. (born Theodore Stuart) Maffitt was born April 6, 1895 in Palestine, Texas, the city whose architecture he was later greatly to affect. Educated at the University of Texas School of Architecture from 1913-1916, he subsequently studied navigation at the University of California prior to entering the Navy’s Officers Material School where he was an ensign. While there he worked as a draftsman for Neff and Thompson of Norfolk, Virginia.

After the end of World War I he returned to Palestine and established his first firm, Maffitt and Price, Architects in 1919. Two years later he continued practice on his own as Theo S. Maffitt, Architect, concentrating on projects in Anderson County, Texas, and especially the town of Palestine. He was active in the community, serving as director of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce for four decades and as chairman of several city planning committees.

During World War II he was a major in the U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers from 1942-1945. He was a member of the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and served as its Vice President in 1950.

His son, Theodore (Ted) S. Maffitt, Jr. joined his practice, renamed Theo S. Maffitt and Theodore S. Maffitt, Jr., in 1948.