Sabra Gill, APR

With heavy hearts, we share the loss of our friend Sabra Gill, APR, on Friday, March 20, just one month after we reported news of her stroke and progressive cancer.

Sabra joined PRSA in 1970, according to national records, and became PRSA Houston's first female president in 1976. She has been the PRSA Southwest District Chairman. She established Sabra H. Gill & Associates, a public relations and marketing communications firm, in 1984. Prior to that time, she was with Fortune 500 energy and food companies in public relations. Sabra has been active on the Scholarship Committee and was one of the founders of the Public Relations Foundation of Houston to which she dedicated innumerable volunteer hours and once served as its President and and as its Treasurer. She also was one of the founders of Corporate Relations Roundtable, a group of public relations practitioners founded in 1982 that meets monthly.

Sabra graduated from Lamar High School, where she began her lifelong career in journalism and public relations as editor of the yearbook. She later graduated from the University of Houston. At UH, Sabra was active in student government and served as editor of the 1963 Houstonian yearbook. She was also president of her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. She began her public relations career at Houston Natural Gas and later held management positions at Fairmont Foods and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. She later joined Hill & Knowlton, Inc. and was affiliated with Cargill Associates at the time of her death. Always the professional in the community and her industry, she was an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America and served in many leadership positions locally and nationally, receiving numerous awards for her achievements. She was a founding member of the Corporate Relations Roundtable, a long-time member of the American Advertising Federation and a founding member of that organization's Advertising Education Foundation. An active supporter of her community, she was a director of many local organizations including the American Red Cross, Theatre Under the Stars and Houston Sesquicentennial Commission, where she served as executive director. She received many awards including the Red Cross's Clara Barton Award for outstanding service.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Houston Advertising Education Foundation, or the Public Relations Foundation of Houston. Checks to both the HAEF and the PRFH should be made payable to and mailed to: Greater Houston Community Foundation, 4550 Post Oak Place, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77027.







Sabra was honored with the PRSA Houston Legacy Award in 2002. In July 2006, she was part of the panel on "Lessons from the Masters" and in August 2008, she attended the luncheon that honored Past Presidents when the photo above was taken.


She was executive director of the Houston/Harris County Sesquicentennial Committee. She has served on the Executive Committee and as Disaster Services Chair and Public Relations Chair for the American Red Cross and has been Public Relations chair for the United Way, a board member of Theater Under The Stars and a director of the University of Houston Alumni Association. She served as an adjunct professor in public relations at the University of Houston. She has chaired the Advertising Foundation. She has served on numerous other boards.
Memorial services will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, at the University of Houston's A.D. Bruce Chapel. (Enter Parking lot 13 off Cullen.) Memorial contributions can be made to the Houston Advertising Education Foundation, or the Public Relations Foundation of Houston. Checks to both the HAEF and the PRFH should be made payable to and mailed to: Greater Houston Community Foundation, 4550 Post Oak Place, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77027.






A complete obituary may be found in the Houston Chronicle.