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Football player (150 lb scat back), basketball player, Who's Who, Salutatorian. Zac and wife Audie live in the "Heart of Texas" (Brady) and carry on the family ranching tradition.
After graduating from Uvalde High School, I attended Southwest Texas Junior College and Southwest Texas State. In 1963, I joined the U. S. Air Force and after a stint at Lackland AFB, I received my navigator wings at James Connally AFB in Waco. While in Waco, I met Audie Harper of McKinney, who was attending Baylor Hospital in Dallas studying to be an x-ray technician. We were married in 1965 after I returned from California where I attended Navigator-Bombardier school at Mather AFB in Sacramento. I also had brief stints at Stead AFB in Reno, Nevada for survival training and a short stay at Castle AFB in Merced, California for training in the B-52 aircraft. After leaving California, I returned to Texas for a tour of duty at Bergstrom AFB in Austin. Audie and I got married and settled down for a long stay in Austin. It was not to be, as we were notified on the Huntley-Brinkley report that we were closing. We moved to Riverside, California for a tour at March AFB. While there we started rotating to Southeast Asia for combat in Vietnam. I ended up serving three tours in Southeast Asia flying out of Guam, Okinawa, and Thailand. I ended up flying in support of most of the major ground battles of Vietnam. In 1969, I realized I was gone from home more than I was home. I volunteer to transfer to the F-111 program which was in its infancy at the time. I received my training at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada and went to my first F-111 duty station at Cannon AFB in Clovis, New Mexico. At that point, stability had not arrived for me, yet. An opportunity arrived to volunteer for a tour in Europe. These had become fairly rare in the Air Force at the time. We went to Upper Heyford Royal Air Force Base near Oxford, England. We spent a most enjoyable 3 ½ years there, where we were blessed with two children before leaving Europe. In 1974, were returned to Texas. I left my wife in Plano near her family while I went to Thailand for a one-year tour at Tahkli Royal Thai AFB. But as I had become used to, things were not to be as expected. Two months after arriving at Tahkli, we were notified we were closing and would move to Korat Royal Thai AFB. While at Korat, I served as Assistant Chief of Aircrew Standardization and Evaluation. At this time, I spend a brief time at Clark Air Force Base in The Philippines. We were observing and tracking the shipping lanes in the South China Sea. After returning from my tour in Thailand, we went to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas where I was in charge of aircrew testing while working in Aircrew Standardization and Evaluation. But, alas, stability was not to be. I was notified of a pending transfer to Langley AFB, Virginia as a briefing officer for the fighter plans division of Tactical Air Command. It was at this time that I decided to leave the Air Force. I went to work as a dealer in a casino and worked my way up to pit boss. I had finally achieved some stability. I stayed there, working for the California Hotel Corporation for almost 9 years. My parents were getting up in years so I decided to return to Uvalde to be near them for a multitude of reasons. I went in to business for myself, opening a sporting goods store specializing in shoes. I started out in the Kincaid Hotel and later in the shopping center on East Main. It did not take too long until I realized that the retail business was about as unstable as the military, but in different ways. I then went to work for KVOU Radio, where I stayed until 1998. My wife wanted to move to the Dallas area to be near her family after my parents died and I didn’t. We compromised by moving to Brady, which is roughly half way to Dallas. While in Uvalde, our two children, Pam and Mike, graduated from Uvalde High School. Pam graduated from Angelo State University and Mike graduated from Southwest Texas State University where he made Academic All Conference in football. Both have gone on to successful careers in the business world in the Dallas area. The part of my life where I am the most proud is my work within Lions Club International. When I first arrived back in Uvalde in 1984, I was invited to join the Uvalde Noon Lions Club. I was most eager to join since my father had been a member of this club in the late 1940’s. It was not long until I was asked to become vice president and start the process of learning to become president. After I was president, I was encouraged to continue in the Lions Club hierarchy toward becoming a district governor. I became a zone chairman and then region chairman, but then became somewhat disillusioned by the politics of the organization and also because of the time requirements of progressing. I also served the club as a director and other offices for several years. Shortly after moving to Brady and transferring my membership to the Brady Lions Club, I was asked to run for Vice District Governor. I did and won, becoming Governor in 2005. I was sworn in as Governor in Hong Kong. Since becoming Governor, I have served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Acuna Amistad Clinic of Ophthalmology and the West Texas Lions Eye Bank Alliance. The Acuna Clinic serves northern Mexico from Ciudad Acuna and provides free eye care. The Eye Bank provides corneas at a minimal fee for transplant from San Angelo and covers the western part of Texas. I still serve on both of these boards. I am a Director of the Texas Lions Camp in Kerrville, an organization that was started in 1947 to help children with polio. Since the eradication of polio, it has continued to serve children with physical handicaps and type I diabetes. I currently live in Brady in a home on Lake Brady. I ranch in the Ballinger area, right up highway 83. Ranching is a misnomer, as it is used mainly for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor pleasures. Life has been good. We now have 5 grand children, all in the Dallas area. I am looking forward to visiting with all of you.
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