Robert Cloud "Bob" Womack

Robert Cloud “Bob” Womack, 97, passed peacefully from this earth to join his Savior on November 20, 2013 surrounded by his loving family. He was born in 1916 to Lesta Wallace Womack and Alberta Louise Cloud in Smithville, Tennessee. The family moved to Dallas in 1923, and Bob graduated from Oak Cliff High School in 1934. While working as the director of tooling and maintenance for the National Housing Corporation during WWII, Bob developed many of the key principles that would later lead to his success in manufacturing and engineering. After WWII, he joined the Army Air Corps to serve as a machinist and a welder during the rebuilding of Germany where he met his wife, Ruth Dengler.

When he returned to the United States, he eventually founded Womack Machine Supply Company in 1953. The Company, headquartered in Dallas, expanded its business by offering free courses and developing numerous textbooks focused on hydraulic and pneumatic engineering principles Bob learned through his own experiences. For those courses, Bob created textbooks, which became manuals used by companies such as General Electric, Kodak, and Texas Instruments. His wife Ruth drew many of the technical diagrams for the textbooks. Bob’s fascination with inventing and developing his own products led to the foundation of AAA Products Incorporated in 1960. Due to his professional expertise combined with his lifetime passion for teaching and learning Southern Methodist University and Texas A&M University invited Bob to assist in the establishment of engineering labs at their respective campuses. In 2008 SMU bestowed upon Bob an honorary doctoral degree in engineering.

An avid outdoorsman, in the mid-1950’s Bob converted an old school bus into an early motor home named the “Yukon Queen” that he drove to Alaska for numerous hunting and fishing trips. One of Bob’s favorite vacation destinations was the Rocky Mountain area north of Gunnison, Colorado. At first he took the family camping in state parks, later camping in the Yukon Queen. He became a talented fly fisherman, and enjoyed teaching his family and friends how to fish.

As a young man Bob traded his airplane mechanic duties for flying lessons. He immediately began “barn-storming” in a biplane, flying to rural areas to make money by providing rides to the people watching him land in an open field. Eventually he became an accomplished pilot who owned his own plane. When his business grew into a multi-state operation, Bob would fly to the cities where he had offices to personally teach fluid power classes using the textbooks he wrote.

In addition to his business and educational endeavors, Bob was also dedicated to his faith in God, and to numerous charities. He was a board member of Christian Schools, Inc., which later became Dallas Christian Schools where three of his children attended school. He was instrumental in starting Christian Services, Inc. which later became Christian Works, an organization dedicated to building healthy families. Bob’s devotion to his Lord led him to be an enthusiastic financial supporter for the development and growth of church congregations.

Bob became extremely interested in quality health care for himself and his family. This led him toward a long term relationship with the UT Southwestern Medical Center. When his daughter Donna lost her battle with breast cancer, Bob founded the Donna Dusek Breast Cancer Fund through UT Southwestern.

A carpenter, a machinist, an engineer, an inventor, a pilot, an author, a teacher, a businessman, a philanthropist, and a benevolent Christian, Bob leaves a legacy of service to his community and devotion to his family. He is survived by his wife of 66 years Ruth Womack, brother James Wallace Womack, sister Gertrude Stacy, and sister-in-law Herta Jackson. He is survived by his children, Judy James and her husband David, Harry Womack and his wife Angel, as well as 11 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his daughter Linda Blumrich and her husband Robert. He is preceded in death by his parents, his daughter Donna Womack Dusek and his son Dan Womack. Visitation will be held at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home, Monday, November 25th from 6pm-8pm, and memorial services will be held at Walnut Hill Church of Christ, Tuesday November 26th at 1pm. Interment will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Park at 3pm. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Donna Dusek Breast Cancer Fund at UT Southwestern, P.O. Box 91088, Dallas, Texas 75391-0888, or www.utsouthwestern.edu/donatenow the Donna Dusek Breast Cancer Fund.