LOCAL Houston | The City Guide DECEMBER 2015 | Page 44

WELCOME WILSON SR.

LOCAL ICON

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER

Welcome Wilson Sr. is a long-time Houston real estate developer, beginning with
Jamaica Beach and Tiki Island in Galveston in the 1950s, and now chairman of
Welcome Group, LLC, which owns almost four million square feet of industrial facilities
in 83 locations in Texas. His honors include: inducted in to Texas Business Hall of
Fame, received Lifetime Achievement Award from Houston Business Journal; received
Honorary Doctor’s degree from the University of Houston. He is a member of the Board
of Directors and Higher Education Chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership. Mr.
Wilson was a long-time chairman of the University of Houston Board of Regents and

Your name almost seems synonymous
with Houston. You have touched so
many areas, over so many years. Can
you single out just one activity that you
feel has had the most impact on your
life and Houston’s?
I would say being an assistant to the
Mayor and director of civil defense during the Cold War at age 25 had a big
impact on me. We changed the city
charter. We put ID tags on 210,000
school children so they could be identified after a nuclear attack on Houston
(gruesome), I installed air raid sirens at
every (about 35) elementary school so
the city would have a warning of a
pending attack or tornado. I knew
every important businessperson in
Houston, such as Judge Jim Elkins, Gus
Wortham and George R Brown.
And the list of deserved awards is
quite long. We especially like the
recognition you and your son got in
2013 from the City of Houston with the
Alice Graham Baker Crusader Award
for service and contribution to the betterment of the City. How do you think
more citizens can be engaged in bettering the Greater Houston area?
We need to make it fun and easy. The
Rodeo attracts 20,000 volunteers
because it is fun. The Houston Food
Bank has the same number of volunteers
because
volunteering
is
easy. Both enterprises help the city in
major ways.

is now chairman of the UH Political Action Committee. Earlier he owned two Houston
banks, was chairman of an American Stock Exchange company and owned 10% of
the Houston Astros baseball team. He served in the Executive Office of the President
under Eisenhower and Kennedy, and also witnessed the atomic bomb test in Nevada
and hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Welcome Sr., a Korean War veteran, served as Special Ambassador to Nicaragua under LBJ. He and his college
sweetheart married in 1949 and have 5 children, 16 grandchildren and 12 greatgrandchildren. With spouses, his immediate family includes 45 people.

1

Houston Partnership, and I see a disconnect between young people and
the job market. If we could fill the jobs
open today with qualified people,
unemployment in Houston would be
3%. There are 10,000 jobs available
in the Medical Center alone. Finding
people with the right training and education is the problem. Young people
need to study for jobs that are available, not for jobs that they would like to
have. The community college can fill
that void.
Is philanthropy still relevant to the
younger generation now stepping into
leadership roles?
Yes. The “me” generation can be motivated but must get recognition.
Who do you consider your Houston
icon role model?
Jesse Jones, R. E. “Bob” Smith, Mayor
Bob Lanier. I knew them all.

2

Did you ever throw out the first pitch at
an Astros game?
No. But I was there when we lowered
the superstructure below the ceiling of
the Dome. 55% of Houstonians polled
said they expected the Dome to collapse when that was done. As we lowered the superstructure, the ceiling
came down with it. One foot, five feet,
ten feet. It came down 11 feet before it
stopped. We were sweating bullets.
We wanted royalty on the artificial
grass that was developed, because we
asked Monsanto Chemical to develop it when our grass died, and we had
to paint over the glass in the roof, because ball players were blinded when
trying to catch a fly ball. Monsanto declined but said they would name it after
the Astros. Thus Astroturf.

3

Because you have worked in so many areas, from real estate to education
to charities, do you see anything that Houston lacks?
Not much. However, I am Chairman of Higher Education at the Greater

Photography Courtesy of Mr. Wilson
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L O C A L

| december 15

1. Rodeo Parade | 1969
2. Welcome Wilson, Sr. & Johnny Goyen | 1961
3. Welcome Wilson Sr., & Wife, Joanne Guest Wilson, New Orleans | 1958