Joan Trew, longtime Fort Worth real estate, business and civic leader, dies at 92 | Fort Worth Report

Longtime residential real estate leader Joan Trew, co-founder of Fort Worth’s Williams Trew Real Estate, died Dec. 31 at the age of 92. 

Trew’s career spanned more than four decades and — along with real estate — she and business partner Martha Williams, were leaders in the city’s business, arts and nonprofit community. In 2021, she announced her retirement. 

The company she and Williams co-founded, Williams Trew, is now part of the Ebby Halliday Companies, an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America.

“Joan’s unwavering dedication and vision helped shape our company, and her legacy will continue to guide us,” the company website posted. “As we embark on our 25th anniversary this year, we are reminded of the profound impact she had on all of us at the Williams Trew family, as well as her cherished Fort Worth community.” 

Others in the real estate community also responded to Trew’s death. 

“We are profoundly saddened by the loss of Joan Trew, a true pioneer in Fort Worth real estate and an unwavering source of encouragement and inspiration to her colleagues,” said Suzanne Westrum, CEO of the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors. “Her legacy of dedication and leadership will forever be remembered and cherished.”

Trew was born in Opp, Alabama, in 1932 and came to Fort Worth in 1950. She became licensed in 1977 with William Rigg Realtors, where she met her future business partner, Williams. In the mid-1990s Trew and Williams were top-producing agents and vice presidents of the brokerage, before stepping out to form Williams Trew in 2000 with Marshall Boyd. 

Success soon followed, with Trew being named in 2002, a Great Woman of Texas, by the Fort Worth Business Press. In 2016, she and Williams were honored as the Fort Worth Business Executives of the Year by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Texas Wesleyan University and the Fort Worth Business Press. 

Trew also received the R.L. Purvis Distinguished Service Award from the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors.

Deeply involved in the community, she helped bring the first Ronald McDonald House to Fort Worth in 1981. 

There will be a celebration of life at 11 a.m. Jan. 11 at University Baptist Church, 2720 Wabash Ave., with a reception immediately following at the church.For more information, view the obituary here.

Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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