Tommie Vaughn

TOMMIE VAUGHN, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, passed from this world on Friday evening, the 8th of July 2005. Born on the 12th of March 1918 near Brownwood, Texas, Tommie grew up on a cattle and sheep ranch near Trickham, Texas, which was founded by his great-grandfather in 1874. He graduated from Brownwood High School in 1937 and attended Texas A & M University on an athletic scholarship. During his years at A & M, he was the team's center and defensive captain on the famous 1939 National Championship Football Team. He achieved the rank of Cadet Major in the Corp of Cadets as a Battalion Commander. In 1941, he received a BA degree in Marketing and Finance. One week after graduation, he entered the Army as an infantry officer and later transferred to the Army Air Corp where he became a pilot. Tommie was discharged in 1945 with the rank of Captain. In June of 1946, he opened his first Ford dealership in Granbury, Texas and in February of 1950, he moved the dealership to Glendale, California. In October of 1956, he opened Tommie Vaughn Ford in Houston where the dealership remains today. Tommie served as chairman of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association, a member of the Ford Dealer Council, and was honored by TIME Magazine as one of the nation's most distinguished automobile dealers. Tommie became a member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (HLS&R) in 1957 and was elected to the Board of Directors in 1961. He served as Vice President of the show from 1969 through 1971 and then President and Chairman of the Board from 1972 to 1978. At the time of his passing, he was a lifetime member of the HLS&R Executive Committee. During his tenure as president at the HLS&R, Tommie was instrumental in forming the World Championship Barbeque Committee. Active in his local community, Tommie was elected to the Board of Directors and served as Chairman of the Heights Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Shriners Jesters' Houston Court 136. Tommie was inducted into the Texas A & M Athletic Letterman's Hall of Fame, and he was also recognized as a Distinguished Alumni at the university. He was also awarded for his high school athleticism and was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame and the Gordon Wood's Hall of Champions in Brownwood. Tommie was an extraordinary man who loved life and lived everyday to the fullest. His work ethic and generous spirit made him successful in all areas of his life. He genuinely loved people, especially his family and friends, and was grateful to all who helped him along the way. Tommie will be missed; but certainly not forgotten. Tommie was preceded in death by his parents, Mabel and Tom Vaughn, and his brother, Jack Vaughn. He is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Helen Jean Kiker; daughters, Kay Holloway and husband Bob, and Jeanie Janke and husband Jim; grandchildren, Alicia Wynn, Andrea Chapman and husband Bert of Atlanta, and Kyle ad Kirby Janke. The family desires to acknowledge and extend their sincere thanks to Tommie's dedicated care providers; Marsha Sparks, Tonya Mosley, Litchie Brown, Cornelia Fontenot, and Hope Anderson. Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six until eight o'clock this evening, Monday, the 11th of July, in the Library of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons. A private graveside service, for the family to attend, will be conducted on Tuesday morning, the 12th of July, at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery. The memorial service will be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 12th of July, in The New Church of St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston, with the Rev. John R. Bentley, Jr. and Rev. George Aurich as officiants. Immediately following the service, all are invited to a reception, in Tommie's honor, in the adjacent Bagby Parish Hall. In lieu of usual remembrances, the family suggests memorials in Tommie's name be directed to the 1939 National Championship Sustaining Fund, c/o Texas A & M Letterman's Association, P. O. Box 5346, College Station, TX, 77844-5346; or to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Fund, P. O. Box 20070, Houston, TX, 77225-0070.