Richard Reynolds

1923 - 2014

Richard Wells Reynolds ("Dick") died peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, on April 16, 2014, at age 91 in Austin, Texas.
Dick was born on Valentine's Day in 1923 in Dallas, Texas, the second son of Edward Dickens Reynolds and Julia Wells, beginning what was to be a long, happy life, full of love and devotion for and from family, friends and community.
Dick graduated high school at the Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri and enlisted in the Marine Corps where he achieved the rank of first lieutenant. He served in the Pacific as an aide to General Alfred H. Noble and General W.H. Waller. After his military service, Dick settled in Austin and graduated from the University of Texas where he was member of the SAE fraternity. In 1949, he married Alice Kleberg, daughter of U.S. Congressman Richard M. Kleberg of the King Ranch and went on to have four children, Katherine, Richard, Michael and Alice. The couple divorced in 1970.
Dick was a successful businessman and haberdasher. In 1954 he joined his brother to take the reins of Reynolds-Penland, an iconic men's clothing store, and built it to nine stores across Texas. "He knew everyone on Congress Avenue and everyone knew him," recalled a close friend. Dick was active in Austin civic life and was among the founders of the Headliners Club, the Admirals Club of Austin and the Tarry House. He was a past director of the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Merchants Association.
Dick was a committed member of the congregation of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd and served as a vestryman and senior warden. He was a director of the Child Guidance Center.
In 1983 he married Dolly Cole; they divorced in 1987.
An avid sportsman, Dick was a member of the Texas Order of Saint Hubertus and a director of the Sportsman Club of Texas. He was renowned for his marksmanship and fishing skills. He loved the great outdoors and his treasured hunting dogs, which he maintained to the end of his life, with cattle and horses, on his beloved Open R ranch in Lockhart.
Dick is survived by daughter Katherine ("Chula") Reynolds and daughter-in-law Sophia Collier; son Michael Reynolds and daughter-in-law Deborah ("DK") Reynolds; daughter CoYoTe PhoeNix and grandson Kleberg ("Kley") Reynolds.
Pallbearers: Sam Winters, Ford Smith Sr., Bill Milstead, Harry Whittington, Kley Reynolds, Theo Painter, Leon Komkov, Hardy Purvis and Frank Lake.
The memorial service will be conducted Wednesday, April 23, at 11 a.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 3201 Windsor Rd, in Austin.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to the Ceasar Kleberg Wildlife Research, Institute for Quail Research, MSC 218, 700 University Blvd. TAMU - Kingsville, Kingsville, Texas 78363 or to St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Lower/Middle School, 1112 West 31st Street Austin, Texas 78705.
Obituary and memorial guestbook available online at www.wcfish.com
Arrangements by Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, Texas 78705 - (512) 452-8811.