Light Bailey German

Light German made her transition to the next realm on April 27th, 2024, following complications from two strokes and pneumonia. She spent her final days at Christopher House in Austin, surrounded by loved ones, in a state of restful comfort.

Light was born on October 31st, 1939, in Dallas. Light was the granddaughter of Reverend Arturo D’Albergo, a Sicilian immigrant and a Waldensian minister. Her “Nonno” named his first American-born daughter Light because his favorite scripture in his new language of English was “Let your Light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). In turn, his daughter, Light D’Albergo Bailey, a professor of Romance languages, and her husband, Richard Clay Bailey, a journalist, named their own daughter Light.

Although only two pounds when she was born in 1939, Light survived – the only one of her siblings to do so; the two baby brothers and the baby sister born after her all died in infancy. Like the Light after which she was named, she shone through.

Light grew up bilingual in English and Italian. When she was twelve, she and her parents moved from Dallas to Houston. She attended Lanier Junior High and Lamar High School, where she was active in many pursuits, including cheerleading (a self-described “Patty Simcox”) and where she made several close lifelong friends. Her undergraduate education included a year at Tulane, a year at UT-Austin, and two years at the University of Houston, where she received her Bachelor’s in English. She earned a Master’s in English from the University of Houston in 1963 and a PhD in Rhetoric and English Education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1978.

Light started teaching as soon as she received her B.A.. Over sixty years later, she was still teaching. Among the many places where she taught between 1963 and 2024 were The University of Houston, Texas A&I, Texas A&M Prairie View, St. Edward’s University, Concordia College, Austin Community College, and UT-Austin, where she not only taught freshman composition but also ran the Writing Lab. For over a quarter of a century, she also proudly combined her love of words with her love of the spirit by serving as a writing coach at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Light’s crowning achievement as an educator was as the owner-director and English department chair of Huntington-Surrey, a small, independent high school for divergent thinkers. At “H-S,” she ran the show, overseeing everything, from big-picture curriculum development to the nitty-gritty of classroom clean-up, starting in 1978, when she bought the school from its founders, through 2017, when she sold it. She returned to Huntington-Surrey in 2021, and continued to teach English and Italian there part-time until her stroke.

Although she taught many different subjects over the years, her deepest and most vibrant calling was as a writing instructor – she loved mentoring students to develop the tools to express themselves eloquently on the page and to find their own unique voice. After more than six decades as a passionate and dedicated teacher, it is truly impossible to calculate the number of students and colleagues whose lives she touched.

Among Light’s greatest joys was time spent with family –including with the many friendships whom she adored as fiercely as she did her blood relations. In August of 1964, Light married the love of her life, Bob German, in Lausanne, Switzerland, soon after having her wedding dress stolen and right before Bob was attacked by a Swiss swan (true stories!). Bob and Light have lived together in the same house in Central Austin for 55 years. Together, they had two sons, Raad David (born 1972) and Kirk Robert (born 1978). Light leaves behind not only her husband and sons, but her daughter-in-law Heather Huggins, her sister-in-law Nancy German Vernon, her brothers-in-law Jerry Vernon and Don German, her niece Kelly Vernon Hart, and her nephews Jeremy Vernon and Robert German. She also has many, many loving cousins (almost too many to count), who were like siblings to her, including her cousin Helen D’Albergo Mason, with whom she reignited her study of Italian. Light and Bob were members of Trinity Church of Austin, a community which continues to uplift, inspire, and nourish them deeply.

Light loved so many things so fully – literature, folk music, musical theater, romantic films, traveling to new places, and dance of all kinds – but one of her very favorite pastimes was cooking, especially Italian food. When author Billy Porterfield returned to Austin from Dallas, he noted in the Austin-American Statesman that he was looking forward to once again eating Light German’s lasagne. Light got to meet her celebrity-chef hero, Lidia Bastianich, not once but twice! – and Light loved few things more than to welcome everyone into her kitchen or dining room with an exuberant invitation, in Lidia’s words, to "Tutti a Tavola a Mangiare!”

Indeed, Light lived a life that truly embodied her name.

A celebration of Light’s life will be held at Trinity Church of Austin, 4001 Speedway, at 2:00pm on Sunday, May 19th, 2024. Attendees are encouraged to wear festive colors, and all are welcome to share memories, both prepared and spontaneous.

If you are unable to attend Light's memorial in person, please use the following link to livestream the service, https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86921239878?pwd=bzlaaTVpTm1yTGFkVzlaZXRqYlJOUT09 .

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Light’s name to one of these not-for-profit organizations:

Community First! Village, Austin Bat Cave,and Casa Marianella, or by contributing to the newly created Light B. German Memorial Scholarship Fund at Huntington-Surrey School.