2018 marked passing of two prominent local businessmen
Two local giants of industry passed away in 2018: Richard “Dick” Burdick and Bruce Ingram.
Burdick, founder of Thermon, passed away Feb. 25 after a brief illness. Burdick was known as a philanthropist, community leader and classic car aficionado.
Burdick founded Thermon Manufacturing in his garage in Houston in 1954, based on a special compound that his employer, DuPont, had no interest in patenting. Thermon how has offices around the world, with hundreds of employees in San Marcos alone. Burdick’s company provides heat-tracing equipment for multinational companies including BASF, Dow and ExxonMobil.
The Greater San Marcos Partnership named one of its annual awards after Burdick: The Dick Burdick Award for Innovation. Burdick himself was the first recipient of the award.
Burdick habitually drove in the Great American Race, an annual coast-to-coast car race in vehicles that must be at least 47 years old. Burdick founded the Central Texas Museum of Automotive History in Rosanky, Texas, in 1981 and housed a portion of his auto collection there. He auctioned some of the cars from his Rosanky collection to help pay for the construction of Dick’s Classic Garage Car Museum in San Marcos, which was built in 2009.
Burdick was known for his community service — particularly his involvement with the Rotarians and his support for the Boy Scouts. He served as governor of Rotary District 5840 in 1989-1990, and he founded Boy Scout Troop 1954 in San Marcos. A 1993 edition of “Scouting” magazine highlighted his work with the Scouts and described Burdick as a man with “a grandfatherly bearing, a plain folks’ drawl, and the dash of a man who is successful at just about whatever he tries.”
Ingram, founder of Ingram Readymix, died on Christmas morning. He and his wife Gloria were known for their philanthropy. They donated heavily to Texas State, whose new home for science and engineering is named Bruce and Gloria Ingram Hall. The building was dedicated in November and was made possible by millions of dollars of donations from the Ingrams.
The couple also gave $1.1 million to Central Texas Medical Center (CTMC) Foundation, who used the money to acquire the hospital’s second interventional cardiac catherization lab. Subsequently, CTMC established the Ingram Heart Center. The Ingrams were also honored by the CTMC Foundation at its 2015 Gala.
In a 2002 profile by writer Bibb Underwood, Ingram’s demeanor was described as “more that of a favorite uncle than that of an astute businessman,” who had overcome personal tragedy early in life when he lost both of his parents within the span of two weeks. After that, he and his brother were adopted by their father’s employer Ralph Ingram, owner of Acme Sand and Gravel in San Antonio. Ingram served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean war and then went to work for his adoptive father. After a couple of years, he left to start his own business. Ingram founded Ingram Readymix Inc. in 1957 with “two trucks and one portable plant,” according to the company’s website. An early boost to the businesses’ success was providing concrete for parts of Interstate 35. The company now has numerous plants in Central and South Texas and hundreds of employees.
The Ingrams generally shied away from the spotlight. Earlier this year, Gloria Ingram declined a new comprehensive story on the couple’s philanthropy.
