Roy Furr

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Roy Furr (1905 – December 1, 1975), president of the Furr's chain of supermarkets and restaurants, was born in McKinney, Texas. As a boy he worked for his father at the Kirkland Mercantile Company, in Kirkland. He studied at Clarendon Junior College and the University of Oklahoma.

He taught school until 1923, when he rejoined his father in Amarillo, Texas and helped start the Furr Food Store. In 1929 he moved to Lubbock, Texas where he bought six grocery stores, the beginning of the chain. Furr's, Incorporated, grew steadily, and at the time of the founder's death it included sixty-eight supermarkets, as well as family centers in three states, fifty-seven cafeterias in seven states, and a realty company in Lubbock.

Furr was the chairman of the board of Farm Pac Kitchens, Rore Realty Company, and Crone Oil Company, all companies he formed as he branched out from his supermarket business. He also served as a director of the First National Bank of Lubbock. He was on the boards of regents of Texas Tech University, Lubbock Christian College, and McMurry College. In 1961 McMurry gave him an honorary doctorate.

Furr thought that the highest honor he ever received was the Great Americanism Award, which he accepted in the early 1970s from radio personality Paul Harvey as a commendation for his outstanding achievement in philanthropic work. He raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various causes. Furr and his wife, Lela, had two sons and a daughter. Furr died on June 11, 1975, and was buried in Lubbock.

The family business did not fare well after Furr's death. In 1979, the company declared bankruptcy; the grocery business was sold to a group of West German investors and the restaurant business, Furr's Cafeterias, was bought by Kmart Corporation.

[edit] References

• Dallas Morning News, December 1, 1977. Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
• Furr's Restaurant Group, Inc. Encyclopedia of Company Histories. Answers.com