Toliver Wesley House, Jr.

Toliver Wesley House, Jr.

Toliver Wesley House, Jr., age 86, passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2016. House was born on April 1, 1930 in Beaumont, Texas to Toliver Wesley House, Sr. and Florence Legate House. He was preceded in death in 1991 by Martha Elizabeth Lipe House, his wife of 37 years and mother of their three sons. Toliver was also preceded in death by his second wife, Nancy Morel Hogan, who passed away in 2007.

He is survived by his sons Howard Wesley House, Sr. and wife Kathryn Phillips House, James Lynn House and wife Dana Walker House, and John Robert House and wife Susan Elizabeth House, all of whom reside in Houston, Texas. He is also survived by his five grandchildren: Martha Phillips House, Howard Wesley House, Jr., Hunter Walker House, Hannah Elizabeth House and James Nathaniel House.

A fourth generation Texan and direct descendant of Thomas William House, prominent Houston businessman and civic leader who arrived in 1837, Toliver grew up in Beaumont and graduated from Beaumont High School in 1947. He attended Rice University, where he graduated in 1952 with honors earning a BA in Economics. While a student at Rice, he was awarded the Mary P. Gieskie Scholarship and Franklin Scholarship for high academic achievement.

Upon graduation from college, House began his professional career as a management trainee with the Pure Oil Company. He worked for Pure Oil in many capacities from 1952 until 1959 with stops in Ohio, Texas and Illinois. While at Pure Oil, in 1954 he married his high school sweetheart, Martha Elizabeth Lipe. They became parents with the birth of their first son, Howard, in 1958.

In 1959, the young couple moved back to their home state of Texas where House became part of the management team of a new start-up named Eastex Pulp and Paper Company, majority owned by Time Incorporated and based outside Beaumont. House would spend the rest of his professional career with the company and its successors, holding senior management positions in accounting, operations, systems, planning and marketing. During his 35 year career at Eastex, the company grew through several transformative mergers. In 1973, Time acquired Temple Industries and merged it with Eastex to form Temple-Eastex, Inc. The company was merged with Time's wholly-owned Inland Container in 1983 and spun off as a public company renamed Temple Inland, Inc. House retired from Temple Inland in 1994.

In 1961, their second son, James, was born. Their third son, John, was born in 1966. With three sons under one roof, the House residence became a very busy place. It was a key gathering spot for the boys' friends and neighborhood children and the site of frequent backyard baseball games, driveway basketball, front yard football, army battles, dirt clod wars and the occasional fistfight. It saw its fair share of bloody noses, broken bones and chipped teeth. It was the home of a variety of pets and the birthplace of 2 litters of puppies and 1 litter of kittens. It also was the site of numerous science experiments and assorted projects. Toliver played important roles in all three sons' school, church, sports and other activities. He cultivated in them a deep curiosity in mechanical pursuits by helping them with such things as building gas powered airplanes and remote controlled sailboats, repair their bicycles and how to make their mini-bikes outperform. All three sons earned engineering degrees later in life.

Toliver's most significant activity with his sons, however, was his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America. He not only encouraged his sons to participate, he also played an active role. He was Committee Chairman of Troop 177 from 1970 to 1978 and Scoutmaster from 1978 to 1981. Of his legacies, the one for which he was most proud is that all three sons attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Two of his grandsons are also Eagle Scouts and the third has completed all requirements for Eagle and awaits the award.

House was extremely active in the Methodist Church and, throughout his life, was very involved in the various churches where he was a member. Upon his return to Beaumont in 1959, he rejoined North End Methodist Church, the church of his youth and predecessor to the current Wesley United Methodist Church. At North End, he served as Chairman of the Administrative Board. He also founded and taught the Kitchen Class, an adult Sunday school class. In 1966, the family joined Trinity United Methodist Church where he remained an active member until his death 50 years later. As a member of Trinity, he served as a Director of the Administrative Board and Chairman of the Finance Committee. He also taught Sunday school at Trinity for approximately 20 years, including the HAMACO Class, the Harvester Class and YEA (Young Energetic Adults).

After a 16 year battle with cancer, his wife Martha passed away in January 1991. In May 2000, Toliver married Nancy Morel Hogan. The two of them enjoyed traveling the world, including trips to the former Soviet Union, Europe, Egypt and other parts of Africa. Nancy passed away in 2007 after a brief battle with cancer. Afterwards, Toliver had a long and loving relationship with Nita Biskamp, who remained close to him for the rest of his life.

In retirement, House remained active in a variety of endeavors. For many years he took continuous education classes at his beloved Rice University and served as a Rice Alumni Volunteer for Admissions. He also served as a volunteer at the John Gray Institute at Lamar University's College of Business and as a volunteer counselor in the school's Career Center. House was a member of the Beaumont County Club and enjoyed playing tennis and golf, although, by his admission, was not very good at either. He also enjoyed the Houston Symphony, where he was a season ticket holder for many years. His frequent trips to Houston often included a meal at his favorite restaurant, Brennan's.

A visitation of family and friends will be held on Friday, October 7, 2016, from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm at Broussard’s Mortuary, 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2016, at 11:00 am at Trinity United Methodist Church, 3430 Harrison Avenue, Beaumont. A reception will follow immediately afterwards in the Nita McKnight Parlor at the church. A family committal service will be held following the reception at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Contributions in lieu of flowers are suggested and may be made to the Three Rivers Council, Boy Scouts of America, 4650 Cardinal Drive, Beaumont, Texas 77705; Trinity United Methodist Church, 3430 Harrison, Beaumont, Texas 77706; or to a charity of one’s choice.