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Byrl H. 'Tex' Burdick El Paso, TX QCWA # 4527 Charter Member Chapter 60 |
Byrl Hunt "Tex" Burdick
September 25th, 1900 - May 30th, 2004
Byrl 'Tex' Burdick passed away at his home on May 30th, 2004. He was 103 years old. He was born on September 25th, 1900 in San Angelo, Texas to parents Isophena Opal Miller Burdick and Lee Burdick. Tex was an El Paso resident for over 100 years. He graduated El Paso High School in 1918 and then attended the University of Minnesota.
Tex returned to El Paso and in 1927 started his own company drilling water wells, erecting windmills and installing water pumps throughout the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. His memoirs and photographs of his early wind milling days have been captured in the 1992 book entitled Blades in the Sky, Windmilling through the Eyes of B. H. 'Tex' Burdick, written by T. Lindsay Baker. Over the years his company, which he named 'Burdick & Burdick', discontinued the drilling and installation business and became a wholesale water systems distribution company. Tex retired from the business in 1979. Burdick & Burdick, Inc. is still family owned and operated.
Tex pursued many endeavors during in long life. In 1930 be became a licensed HAM radio operator and answered to the call sign W5BQU (W5 Big Quick and Ugly) and was a charter member of the El Paso Radio Club. In 2002 he was reputed to be the oldest active HAM operator in the United States. In the 1940's Tex became licensed private pilot and owned several different company airplanes. He frequently spent his Sunday mornings flying over his customer's ranches outside of town and delivering newspapers by dropping them from the window of his airplane. Tex often flew disabled children to Kerrville, Texas for the Lions Cub.
After his retirement, he spent much of his time traveling the world with his wife Juanita. As an avid hunter and fisherman he enjoyed spending his summers in Alaska and Lake City, Colorado where he had built a cabin in the 1950's.
He is survived in death by his beloved wife of 54 years, Juanita Burdick; son Byrl Burdick, Jr. and wife, Doris; his grandson Byrl (Trey) Burdick III and wife Patsy; grandson Bruce Burdick and wife, Colleen; great grand children Byrl (Hunt) Burdick IV, Shannon M. Burdick and Dylan Taylor Burdick, of El Paso. His only sister Laura Franks, preceded Tex in death.
A memorial service will be held at the Martin Funeral Home Central, 3839 Montana Ave. A private burial will be in the family plot at Evergreen Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers a memorial donation may be made to Hospice of El Paso or St. Clements Episcopal Church.
