James W. Wagener

1930 - 2025

James W. Wagener
March 18, 1930 - May 31, 2025
James W. Wagener, Jr. was born in Edgewood, Texas on March 18th, 1930 to James Wilbur Wagener, Sr. and Ima Carrie Crump. He grew up in Bullard, Texas and Port Neches, Texas and attended Port Neches High School, Lon Morris College, Southern Methodist University and Perkins School of Theology. He later attended The University of Texas at Austin to receive his M.A. in English and his PhD in Higher Education.

He was a minister at Wesley United Methodist Church in Orange, Texas and Minister of Education at Bethany UMC in Houston. He also taught at the Christian Faith and Life Community in Austin, Texas and at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He returned to Austin in the position of Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and then Assistant to the Chancellor of the UT System.

His move to San Antonio in 1974 was for a position as Assistant to the President of the UT Health Science Center. He was President of UTSA from 1979 to 1989. He returned to teaching as a professor for 10 years at UTSA. He retired as a Professor Emeritus.

Jim never gave up his interest in books, ideas and history. Conversations with him volleyed from philosophical musings to side-splitting jokes as his sense of humor was as sharp as his mind. He loved old cars and treasured his collection of Classic Car magazine. He relished sharing his vintage model cars with his great-grandson Elliott. After he retired, he found a small plot of land bordering on Hondo Creek where he liked to read, write and watch the wildlife. Many summer days were spent eating a picnic lunch while watching grandkids splash in the creek.

Jim loved genealogy and was delighted to find new "family" in his good friend, Bill Scales. He loved getting to know that part of his heritage and treasured his exploratory genealogy trip to Tennessee.

Although he was an excellent writer, he did not start enjoying writing until his last fifteen years. He had a prolific memory of his childhood days in Bullard and wrote stories that kept his family laughing. His family eagerly embraced the annual tradition of an oral reading of one of Jim's childhood stories, his baritone voice filling the living room. His smile was infectious and his sense of humor and quiet wisdom cheered all who came in contact with him.

He so enjoyed his lively conversations and topical discussions with his good friends.

Above all he loved his family – his wife, Elaine, whom he met at Lon Morris College and his daughters, LuAnn Wagener and Laurie Ulman. Their partners, Ken Fynan and Bob Ulman became the sons he never had. He was blessed with four granddaughters, Emily Grace (Kelly Dwyer), Holly Elyse (Michael Stanush), Sarah Elizabeth Powers (Jeremy Haynes) and Rachel Anne Powers. Jim was especially delighted to know his great-grandchildren, Hadley Maeve and Everett Kelly Dwyer Elliott James and Natalie Paige Stanush, and Marlowe Jane and Cole David Haynes. A celebration of life will be held at a future date.