Grady Devers Phelps

1933 - 2018

Grady Devers Phelps

Corpus Christi, TX

Grady Devers Phelps, award-winning business writer, columnist, and senior reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times for over 30 years, went to be with His Lord on March 29, 2018. He was 84 years old.

Phelps was born on November 12, 1933, in Ingleside and made his home in Corpus Christi since 1948. He moved to the Hill Country and lived there from 2003 to 2011 and then moved back to Corpus Christi to live until his death.

His grandfather, Gustav Blaschke, was an Ingleside pioneer settler, postmaster, large vegetable packing shed operator, property developer, and businessman.

His father, Edgar Phelps, was a truck farmer and mule skinner for the Humble (Exxon) Oil refinery in Ingleside where he drove a team of mules and doing odd jobs around the plant. He only had a sixth-grade education.

Phelps graduated from Sundeen High School in Corpus Christi in 1952 where he earned 12 varsity letters in football, basketball, track, and baseball including four letters in basketball. He was president of the 1952 graduating class.

He was a U.S. Army veteran where he served in artillery as a fire direction specialist in Germany. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Texas in 1956. He worked for newspapers in Beaumont and Harlingen for two years before joining the Caller-Times in 1959.

Phelps won numerous journalism writing awards over his long career including the state Anson Jones Award from the Texas Medical Association in 1967, the state Mark Francis Award from the Texas Veterinary Medical Association in 1973, the School Bell Award from the Texas State Teachers Association and more than 20 Associate Press state competition awards and press citations.

Phelps won first place in feature writing In the Corpus Christi Press Club professional awards competition in consecutive years from 1967-1973.

He became the Caller-Times' first business writer and started the business section in 1974.

In 1974, Phelps was selected as one of the three financial writers in the nation by the American Bankers Association for a Hughes Fellowship to join more than 1,200 bankers at the prestigious Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

He received the Outstanding Features Award at the International Goodwill Industries' Delegate Assembly in Portland, Oregon in 1989. In 1983, the U.S. Small Business Administration recognized him as a regional advocate award winner for his contributions to small businesses.

The Corpus Christi Chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association presented him a plaque in 1984, "in appreciation for many years of fair, accurate, and positive reporting of news of the food service industry." In 1994, he was a member of the Caller-Times team that won a first place Award of Excellence from the Press Club of Dallas for news reporting in state competition.

Phelps was a member of the Caller-Times business section that won national Best of Business Awards for Excellence from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 1995 and 1996.

Phelps' most memorable interview was with millionaire recluse Blanche Moore, who owned 100 acres of farm land bounded by South Padre Island Drive, Everhart Road and Staples Street. The property later provided space for Moore Plaza Shopping, The Home Depot, a super K-Mart, and a string of national chain restaurants.

In Mrs. Moore's only interview granted to a news person, she would not permit Phelps to take notes and he had to recall all her comments from memory. The story appeared in the March 27, 1979 Times.

He was co-author with Jim Wood of "Celia, the Saga of a Storm" in 1970, a recollection of Hurricane Celia photos and events. In 1982 he was co-author with Bill Walraven of "Corpus Christi, the History of a Texas Seaport."

Phelps was a director of the Homeport Federal Credit Union from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1997. He held every officer position for the credit union, including chairman in 1980.

Grady strived to reach the journalistic standards of accuracy, verification, truthfulness, and integrity in his writing. He was the first to report numerous business and commercial construction events. He first broke the stories on the Omni Hotel, Sunrise Mall, and Moore Plaza Shopping Center.

Grady was also the South Texas correspondent for several years for Kiplinger Letter, the respected Washington, D. C. based business tip sheet with a national audience.

January 2, 1998, was proclaimed "Grady Phelps Day," in Corpus Christi by Mayor Loyd Neal at Grady's retirement from the Caller-Times. After retiring he wrote guest columns on a monthly basis for the Caller-Times on various subjects for several years. He also won two prestigious Katy Awards from the Dallas Press Club for columns. They featured columns "of the heart" in a positive tone which seemed to touch numerous readers.

Phelps was an avid fisherman who caught thousands of game fish. He was known as the "Fish Whisperer" for his ability to coax trout to hit his line when others failed. On several occasions he caught 100 speckled trout in single fishing trips before a legal catch limit was imposed. When he was 12 years old he caught a 20-pound Redfish at Ingleside on a pole and line. He also once caught a 34-inch sow trout while wade fishing with artificial lures in the Laguna Madre on the King Ranch shore line.

He married the love of his life, Rae Deane Arlington, on July 27, 1968, and they would have shared 50 years together this year. She was his soul mate, his confidant, and his best friend as he was hers. He has three living children, Mark (Sheri) Tyler, Debra (Ernie Smith) Phelps, and Lorri (Bobby) Beckner. He has eight grandchildren, Holly Tyler, Bryce (Rene) Samford, Derrick Samford, Jason Tyler, April (Drew) Gadoci, Desiree Samford, Ashlea (Matthew) Newby, and Jessica Beckner. He has five great grandchildren.

He was the last of his family being preceded in death by his parents, Edgar and Hertha Phelps and his two siblings, Edgar Lee Phelps and Dr. Travis Phelps. He is preceded in death by two of his children, Devry Samford and Gwena Munson. He is survived and loved dearly by a large extended family.

He loved his wife, Rae, his children, fishing for trophy trout, his beloved dogs Missy, Gigi, and Baby. He also loved the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Reds, Spurs, the Texas Hill Country, and German food. He was a gentle and extraordinary man who will be missed dearly by his family and friends.

A Celebration of Life and Mass will be held Thursday, April 5th at 2 p.m. at St. Pius Catholic Church, 5620 Gollihar in Corpus Christi. Reception to follow in the church hall.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Cancer Society or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

We wish to thank Liz Barrios and the wonderful nurses and staff with Altus Hospice in Corpus Christi.