Victor Gilbert Shackelford
Victor Gilbert Shackelford
July 30, 1927 — October 6, 2017
Victor Gilbert Shackelford was born July 30, 1927, in Cisco, Texas, to Joe and Ruby Shackelford. He had two older brothers, Joe and Frank, who are no longer with us.
He went by the name Vic, growing up in both Cisco and Putnam, Texas. He was always proud of graduating from Kilgore High. Right out of high school, he enlisted in the Navy and he always said his claim to fame was that the Japanese surrendered soon after he joined.
After the Navy, Vic attended college in El Paso, at what they called The School of Mines, at that time, and eventually went on to graduate from St. Mary’s Law School in Houston. In 1945, while attending college in Houston, he met Rita McGee Shackelford in Galveston one night on a blind date set up by a buddy of his. She was the one and the love of his life for 62 years. After a short courtship, they got married and moved to Midland, where Vic had landed a job.
Vic was a young entrepreneur and it wasn’t long before he started his first of several companies in nearby Odessa. He manufactured soap and traveled all over west Texas and New Mexico peddling his soap. He was also heavily involved in his community, local politics and Permian High football. Vic loved people and people loved Vic. The success of the soap company led Vic to purchase a very large oil field manufacturing company named Wells Machine. It didn’t take Vic long to grow Wells Machine into a super success, which eventually lead to him selling it in 1973 to a publicly traded company. Vic was just getting started.
The family moved to El Paso, where Vic had spent some time in college, and made a lot of good friends. He bought a crane and rigging company and once again began building another business.
Vic was always involved in politics and the community where he lived and in 1976 he ran for US Congress for the 19th District which ran from Odessa to El Paso. Even though he lost that race, the things he ran for and pointed out as potential problems are some of the biggest problems we have today, 40 years later. After a few years in El Paso, Vic had to get back to the people and town that he loved so much, Odessa.
As soon as the family moved back to Odessa, sometime around 1977, Vic started several new projects. He was on the board at the National Bank of Odessa and he started a brand new water company that he named Airis Water. He won several awards for the marketing and growth of that company, which of course, soon led to an opportunity to sell it.
There were several other small companies along the way that Vic had started and sold and after selling so many companies of his own, Vic decided to get in the merger and acquisition business, where he thrived helping others sell their businesses. That’s about the time Vic found Horseshoe Bay, where he built the house that they still have today. For the last 30 years in Horseshoe Bay, Vic started a building business, sold real estate and ran his merger and acquisition business.
Vic was an avid and talented golfer, a private plane pilot, owning several different air planes, a 60-plus-year Mason, a strong family man and quietly generous man. He loved church and attended both Walnut Creek and The Church at Horseshoe Bay regularly.
He is survived by the love of his life, Rita Shackelford; his daughter, Gay Shackelford; son, Gib Shackelford and his wife Julie Shackelford; grandson, Jerrod Shackelford; nieces, Susan, Jody and Mary Jane Shackelford; and step grandchildren Lynsie, Nicole and Shane Bridges.
Services will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. at The Church at Horseshoe Bay, 600 High Ridge North, Horseshoe Bay.
Online condolences may be made at clementswilcoxfuneralhome.com.
