Dr. Bryan O. Blevins Sr.

On April 22, 2022, we lost our father and mentor, Dr. Bryan O. Blevins, Sr. after suffering a fall in his Lufkin home. Despite the tireless efforts of the doctors and staff at Woodlands Heights Medical Center, Dr. Blevins passed away Friday morning surrounded by his family.

Dr. Blevins is survived by his son, Bryan Blevins, Jr. and wife Shelley of Beaumont, daughter, Jaime Hensley of Lufkin; grandchildren, Reid Hensley, Trey Hensley, Kate Blevins, Emily Chionsini and husband, Alex, Chase Humble; great-grandchild, Kaden Humble; and sister Lynn Easley, of Tyler, Texas.

Bryan was born to A.B. “Buster” Blevins and Ollie Marie on July 19,1939 in Baytown, Texas. He was a multi-sport athlete at Joaquin High School deep in East Texas and an All-American Baseball player at Panola Junior College and Northeast Louisiana State College in Monroe, Louisiana. Bryan finished his undergraduate studies at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches before pursuing his dental training at Baylor School of Dentistry in Dallas.

In 1965, Dr. Blevins and his young family moved to Lufkin to join the dental practice of Dr. William O’Quinn across from the First Baptist Church. Over the next thirteen years, Dr. Blevins treated thousands of patients needing dental and orthodontic care throughout the community.

Although dentistry was his profession and first passion, Dr. Blevins was an entrepreneur at heart. In 1978, he left Lufkin and moved to Beaumont, Texas where he owned and operated the Coors Beer Distributorship. Dr. Blevins was the first Coors distributor to unionize his drivers and to merge with a rival beer distributor. In 1982, he brought the family back to Lufkin to develop oil and gas prospects throughout East Texas.

With a gambler’s spirit, Dr. Blevins transitioned to the gaming industry when he opened and operated a group of storefront casinos in Deadwood, South Dakota. He parlayed that experience into opening the Ute Mountain Casino just outside Cortez, Colorado in 1992. The casino was the first Tribal Casino in Colorado and one of the first tribal casinos in the country negotiated, built, and operated under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. Dr. Blevins took his business pursuits international by traveling to South America where he negotiated the sale of electronic slot machines.

While his business pursuits took him from Texas to South Dakota and Colorado to Paraguay, he always considered Lufkin his home. Ultimately, Dr. Blevins returned to dedicate his professional skills to treating those with Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMJ) and sleep apnea. Bryan was an avid golfer and member of the Crown Colony Golf Club in Lufkin, Texas. He was also member of Harmony Hills Baptist Church.

Dr. Blevins died the same way he lived, looking toward tomorrow. He was many things to many people. A kind and considerate healer to his patients, a fearless innovator to his competitors, a loyal companion to his friends and to his family, a provider and creator of endless opportunities.

Services for Dr. Bryan O. Blevins, Sr., 82, of Lufkin will be held at the Gipson Funeral Home, 1515 S Chestnut St., Lufkin, TX 7590. A gathering of family and friends will occur on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, between 5:00-7:00 p.m. A Memorial service will be held the following day at 4:00 p.m. A private interment will be held in the Garden of Memories Memorial Park.

Condolences may be offered at www.gipsonfuneralhome.com. Contributions in Dr. Blevins memory may be made to Harmony Hill Baptist Church, 2708 S Chestnut St., Lufkin, TX 75901 or to Stephen F. Austin State University, 1936 North St. Nacogdoches, Texas.