Baptist leaders call Baugh a ‘hero’ & a ‘giant’

Updated: 3/06/07

Baptist leaders call Baugh a ‘hero’ & a ‘giant’

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

WACO – A giant in the faith: That’s how Baylor University President Emeritus Herbert Reynolds described Texas philanthropist John Baugh.

“I thought the world of him,” Reynolds said. “He was one of the all-time heroes in Texas Baptist life, as well as for Baptists in America.”

Baugh, 91, died March 5 in San Antonio where he and his wife, Eula Mae, had moved last week to be with their daughter, Babs Baugh. Services have been set for March 8, 1 p.m., at Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston.

Reynolds remembered Baugh as a fierce opponent of fundamentalism and an ardent champion of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. Reynolds recalled the book Baugh wrote in 1996, The Battle for Baptist Integrity, which examined what he saw as the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“I really think it was an exposé in many ways,” Reynolds explained. “It was one of the best documented works I had ever seen.”

Baylor University dedicated the Baugh-Reynolds Campus of George W. Truett Seminary, a 24,000 square foot facility, in 2002, and honored him in 2005 with the Abner V. McCall Religious Liberty Award. Baugh was also instrumental in founding Texas Baptists Committed, a mainstream Baptist group that has opposed fundamentalism.

As a Baylor regent, Baugh worked diligently for the good of the institution, Reynolds said. Considering Baugh “like a brother”, Reynolds remembered him providing both spiritual and financial guidance and support because he felt strongly about Baptist institutions and agencies.

“He, along with Mrs. Baugh and their family, have likely undergirded the work of more Texas Baptist institutions than any family in Texas Baptist life,” Reynolds said.

Baugh had been a director for the Baptist Foundation of Texas, was a founding trustee for Houston Baptist University and a regent emeritus of Baylor.

Baylor trustee Emily Tinsley remembered Baugh as a “gracious giant in stature, a man of consummate faith, unyielding strength of character, and constant devotion to his wife, daughter and family.”

One of the great privileges of serving on the Baylor board was the opportunity to know him, she said.

“He was one of those unique people who set higher goals for you than you did yourself,” Tinsley said. “His vision enlightened the lives of many of us.”

His legacy also lives on at Baylor through the John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship for both practicing and potential entrepreneurs. The center extends an arm of support to the local and national business community to facilitate new business and further the goals of established businesses.

It includes an Institute for Family Business, established in 1987, designed to support family business through programs, workshops, and forums that provide educational resources to help businesses survive and prosper through the generations.

Baugh is credited with a significant impact on the development of the George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor. Baugh and Reynolds talked about developing the seminary in 1991, and Reynolds remembers paying Baugh a visit.

“I asked him for $10 million dollars—$1 million every year for 10 years,” Reynolds recalled. “We would not have Truett Seminary today without that initial commitment through the first decade.”

Baugh received many awards from Baylor including the W.R. White Service Award, the Alumnus Honoris Causa, The Herbert H. Reynolds Award and the Founders’ Medal.

But Reynolds emphasized these expressions of gratitude were not really something he sought at all.

“He was not the kind of individual who suggested he be recognized,” Reynolds noted. “He just did it. He loved Baptists and Baptist work.”

Tinsley echoed those sentiments, saying, “While he received many awards in his life, none could adequately reflect the countless number of men and women he mentored to become successful and meaningful in their respective fields of work.”

Born in Waco, Baugh was 16 when he received his high school diploma. Shortly thereafter, his father died, and Baugh hitchhiked from Waco to Houston to search for a job during the Great Depression. He worked his way up to become manager of an A&P grocery store.

 As American families began a new way of life in the post-War World II environment, Baugh had a vision.

“Baugh realized that women were not going to work back into the traditional ways of cooking, so he came up with the idea of frozen foods,” and named his company Zero Foods for zero temperature. When he was 30 years old, Baugh and his wife started the company in their garage, Reynolds said.

In 1964, Baugh decided to bring together a dozen companies who had worked through Zero Foods in the frozen food business, and he created SYSCO Corporation. Leaders of the 12 institutions elected Baugh chairman and asked him to divide their holdings.

“They accepted it (his decision) because of his acumen for business and fairness,” Reynolds said.

Baugh was chairman of the board of SYSCO from 1969 to 1985, when he became senior chairman – a post he held until 1997. SYSCO is the largest marketer and distributor of food service products in the United States.

“John Baugh was an amazing and inspiring man who emerged from modest means to lead his company to be an international model for sound business success,” Tinsley said. “In spite of his lifetime of unprecedented achievements, everyone has a personal story recalling his unfailing modesty and humility.”

Baugh received the Herbert Hoover Award for outstanding service to industry and humanitarianism from the American Wholesale Group Association. He served on numerous boards including the Bank of Houston and First City National Bank of Houston.

“His example will leave a legacy in the lives of others,” Reynolds said. “He taught us some very, very important lessons.”

Baugh is survived by his wife, Eula Mae; and by their daughter, Babs, of San Antonio; two grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.