H. B. Zachry, Jr.
| Henry Bartell Zachry, Jr.
(Pioneer of the construction industry in both the United States | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | August 31, 1933 Laredo, Texas, USA Long-term resident of San Antonio, Texas | ||
| Died | June 10, 2020 (aged 86) San Antonio, Texas | ||
| Spouse | Mollie Steves Zachry (married c. 1960-2020, his death) Four children:
John Zachry | ||
| Religion | Episcopalian | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Service/branch | United States Air Force | ||
| Years of service | 1954-1957 | ||
| Rank | Second lieutenant trained as fighter pilot | ||
Henry Bartell Zachry, Jr. , known as H. B. Zachry or Bartell Zachry (August 31, 1933 – June 10, 2020),[1] was a pioneer in the construction industry originally from Laredo, Texas.
Biography
Zachry was a son of H. B. Zachry, Sr. (1901-1984), and the former Marjorie Muriel Powell (1906-1977).[1] He graduated in 1950 from Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio and in 1954 from the then all-male Texas A&M University in College Station. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force and then joined his father's company in 1957. Zachry was a Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus and was admitted to the Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor. He received his pilot’s license at the age of sixteen and trained in the Air Force as a fighter pilot. After he attended the management development section of the Harvard University Business School, he returned to San Antonio, where he and his wife, the former Mollie Steves, remained and reared their four children. John Zachry and his wife, Laura; David Zachry and his wife, Karen Lee; Anne Z. Rochelle and her husband, Jeff, and Ellen Carrie and her husband, Chris.
Zachry was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2000 and the next year he was named "Mr. South Texas" at the George Washington Birthday Celebration in Laredo. He also served as a trustee of Texas Military Institute and the Alamo Heights Independent School District as well as advisory boards at Texas A&M (the Zachry School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, part of the College of Engineering at Texas A&M, is named for him, as is also the Zachry Engineering Education Center at Texas A&M which at 525,000 square feet is the largest building on campus). He served too on the boards of the Texas Department of Corrections and the San Antonio branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.[2]
Zachry died in San Antonio four years shy of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the company, which is the predecessor of the two flagship companies bearing the family name. According to the website of the Zachry Construction Corporation, the first line of work for the company was “a series of four concrete-reinforced bridges in Laredo, aided in part by mule-drawn wagons.”[3] Zachry expanded the company internationally. Zachry was instrumental in developing the city infrastructure. Zachry worked on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, the reconstruction of Interstate 75, the Interstate-20 interchange in Atlanta, Georgia, and the expansion of the headquarters of the United Services Automobile Association The company built the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua and the refurbishing of the embassy in Moscow. Under his tenure, his company also was involved in the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Spain, highways in Pakistan, and the Paloma Dam in Chile. [2] He was also instrumental in the building of Hemisphere '68, the world's fair in San Antonio.[4]
The Laredo Independent School District named an elementary school after Zachry. In 2015, Zachry came to meet with faculty and students, whom he urged to become daily readers. In 2019, the United States Department of Education named Zachry Elementary a "Blue Ribbon" school.[2]
His obituary describes Zachry as "a man of great thoughtfulness and sincerity [who] valued family and community, honesty and humility. He believed in the goodness of people and considered it both a duty and a privilege to serve others, from his family to his employees to his fellow citizens.”[2]
The obituary also quotes the poet William Wordsworth, who wrote that "The best portion of a good man's life: His little nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love."[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Henry Bartell Zachry, Jr.. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on August 17, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jorge A. Vela (June 12, 2020). Laredo-born H. B. Zachry dies at 86. The Laredo Morning Times. Retrieved on August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Decades later, the company won a contract for major rehabilitation of those same bridges.
- ↑ Patrick Danner and Madison Iszler (June 10, 2020). Bartell Zachry, force in construction industry, dies at 86. The San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved on August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Henry Zachry obituary. Porter-Loring Funeral Home. Retrieved on August 17, 2020.