Jimmie Wayne Hinze

Jimmie Wayne Hinze, 67, of College Station, went to be with his Lord and Savior on September 12, 2013 after a courageous battle with cancer. Visitation will be held at the Foehner Funeral Home, Burton, Texas, on Sunday, September 15, 2013 from 5 until 7 p.m. Services will be at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Round Top, Texas on Monday, Sept. 16 at 10 a.m., with interment in the Hill School Cemetery in Round Top, following the service.

He is survived by his loving wife of 32 years, Maxine Mueller Hinze, of College Station, and two sons, Jacob Hinze of College Station, Texas, and Justin Hinze of San Marcos, Texas. He was preceded in death by his father, Clarence Hinze; sister, Shirley Muesse, and his grandparents, Herman and Laura Hinze, and Wilhelm and Laura Braun, Round Top, He is survived by his mother Grace Elise Hinze; his brother, Billie T. Hinze, and wife, Darlene of Round Top, Texas; sister, Judy Matula and husband Jerry, of Houston, Texas, as well as five brothers and sisters-in-law and their spouses of Houston and Fredericksburg, Texas, and Warrenton, Missouri. Others include aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews and cousins in the surrounding Texas area plus many friends and colleagues from around the United States and beyond.

Jimmie Hinze was born in Burton, Texas and grew up on a cotton and chicken farm in Round Top. He is a graduate of the Round-Top Carmine High School and received an associate degree from Blinn College, BS in Architectural Engineering with Honors and Masters of Science in Architectural Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. He received his PhD from Stanford University in 1976. Here, he began his life's work regarding construction safety and human factors in construction. His first academic appointment was at the University of Missouri, Columbia; however was "loaned" to the Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C. to work on Trenching Standards that are still implemented today. He was the Director of graduate studies at University of Missouri and worked with many students from all over the world. He spent twelve years at the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Washington before accepting an appointment at the University of Florida, Gainesville as the Director of the ME. Rinker School of Building Construction. He retired in May of 2013 and was Director of the Fluor Center for Construction Safety at UF. He had students and colleagues from all over the world. At one speaking engagement he was introduced as the "rock star of construction safety" and the "academic godfather" of another speaker. He is the sole author of four textbooks on construction, several in 2nd and 3rd editions that have been translated into other languages by his former students. He has several co-authored texts and has written over 100 scholarly papers and articles. His graduate students, both masters and PhD, number in the 100+, many that have gone on to impact the construction industry.

He was an active member of the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and was a founding member of the CIB, W99, an international organization in construction. He was recently inducted into the National Academy of Construction, a prestigious honor bestowed upon those who have impacted construction at the national level. He was an ASCE and ASSE member and contributed both as author and reviewer. There were many awards over his lifetime including ASCE Peurifoy Construction Research Award, CII Outstanding Researcher in 2003 and 2013, the Nancy Perry Teaching Excellence Award and many others. He was described as a gentleman and the most humble individual, always putting his students and fellow colleagues ahead of himself.

Jimmie was an avid bird watcher, bird photographer, and in his youth, did bird taxidermy. He collected bird stamps, and did bird carvings. He also wrote poetry and was an accomplished artist in charcoal and watercolors. He had an incredible sense of humour and knew how to turn a bad situation into something that could make one laugh. He will be missed beyond measure by his family.

Memorials can be sent to the M. E. Rinker School of Building Construction, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida for the Jimmie W. Hinze Graduate Scholarship in Construction Safety.

Funeral arrangements for Jimmie Wayne Hinze are entrusted to Foehner Funeral Home in Burton, Texas. To post a tribute to the family, visit www.memorialoakschapel.com.