Raymond Edward Hankamer

RAYMOND EDWARD HANKAMER, age 91, beloved husband, father grandfather and great-grandfather, died peacefully at home on the 6th of April with Camille, his loving wife of 71 years, and their family at his bedside. Raymond fought a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease and cancer.

He was born on the 4th of January 1922 in Sour Lake, Texas to Earl and Linda Miller Hankamer. He was a descendent of a pioneering Texas family that arrived in the port of Galveston in 1845 and founded the town of Hankamer in Southeast Texas.

In 1933 Raymond and his family moved to Houston where he attended Lanier Junior High and San Jacinto High School. Raymond graduated cum laude from his beloved Baylor University where he met and fell in love-at-first-sight with Camille Ostrom. After graduation, Raymond served his country in WWII, riveting destroyers in Orange, Texas, then studying the new radar technology at Harvard with the intent of teaching the military. Later, he managed a workforce of German POWs at a lumber mill in East Texas.

Raymond was a member of Second Baptist Church and a founding member and deacon of River Oaks Baptist Church. He served on the boards of The Oldham Little Church Foundation, Star of Hope Mission, Vail Medical Center and was chairman of the board of Rosewood Hospital. He and Camille quietly contributed to many worthy causes including Baylor University, the Michael DeBakey Museum and Baylor College of Medicine, most recently establishing the Hankamer Chair in Ophthalmology.

Raymond was an independent oil operator, drilling for oil and gas in Texas and Louisiana for many years. He was founder of Southwest Inns Ltd., developing, owning and operating Holiday Inns in Texas. He also developed hotels in California and Colorado. He was on the boards of Southwestern Savings and Houston Coca-Cola Bottling. A founder of Vail, Colorado in 1962, Raymond and his partners built, owned and operated Vail Village Inn, the first hotel to open in Vail. He persuaded Vail Associates to build a golf course. One summer day, he and Vail president, Peter Seibert, walked Vail Valley, laying out the fairways as they went along.

Raymond was an all-around athlete. He loved playing tennis, skiing the slopes of Vail and Beaver Creek, fly fishing for rainbow trout in the Colorado Rockies and duck and deer hunting. His sons and neighborhood boys were always delighted when he joined them shooting baskets or playing football. He also enjoyed the symphony, opera and needlepointing.

Raymond was involved in the Republican Party, serving as one of the 100 national Bush Pioneers, in support of George H.W. Bush.

Raymond cherished his time in his organic garden and restoring their historic plantation home in Round Top, Texas for which they were presented the Ima Hogg Award for historical preservation.

Raymond is survived by his wife, Camille; sons: Ronnie Hankamer and his wife, Kathy, of Houston; Larry Hankamer of Austin and Ray Hankamer, Jr. of Houston; grandchildren: Gabrielle and Rallin Welch; Kirksey and Cici Hankamer; Ron and Kim Hankamer; Richie and Anna Claire Hankamer. He is survived by his great-grandchildren: Lauren, Garrett, Kate, Caroline, Rob, Kirk and Nicholas Hankamer and Ashton, Ella and Gigi Welch. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews whom he dearly loved.

Raymond was preceded in death by his parents, Earl Curtis and Linda Miller Hankamer; sister Rubalee Hankamer Ball; brother, Earl Curtis Hankamer, Jr. and grandson Patrick Clayton Hankamer.

The family wishes to acknowledge and thank Dr. James Pool and Dr. Joseph Jankovic. Special thanks to Roberto Rodriguez and Irene Lopez for many years of loyal service. Special thanks to caregivers Stephanie Plair, Gwen Carter, Joyce Hill, Dionne Broussard and Sylvia Joseph for their dedicated, kind and loving care.

A memorial service is to be conducted at one o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, the 10th of April, at the Hankamer Chapel, Second Baptist Church, 6400 Woodway Drive in Houston, where Dr. H. Edwin Young, Pastor, is to officiate. Following the service, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in Deacons' Parlor.

Prior to the service, the family will have gathered for a private interment at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston.

Serving as honorary pallbearers are Ron Hankamer, Jr., Richie Hankamer, Kirksey Hankamer, Rallin Welch, Jan Norris and George Temple.

In lieu of customary remembrances, and for those desiring, contributions in memory of Raymond may be made to Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Mail Stop 160, Houston, TX, 77030; the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, One Bear Place, #97026, Waco, TX, 76798; or to the charity of one’s choice.