Howard Butt Jr

Howard Butt Jr., the brother of H-E-B CEO Charles Butt died Sunday evening at the age of 89. For decades Howard Butt, Jr. served as President of the H.E. Butt Foundation and as Vice Chairman of the H-E-B Board. H-E-B is the largest family-owned company in Texas, led by family members who include Butt’s brother, Chairman and CEO Charles Butt, Howard Butt III and Stephen Butt. Born in Kerrville on Sept. 8, 1927, Butt grew up in the food business founded by his grandmother, Florence, in 1905. He attended Baylor University in Waco, graduating in 1947 with a degree in business, and soon afterward married his longtime sweetheart, Barbara Dan Gerber. In 1982, Butt was selected to assume the presidency of the H.E. Butt Foundation, which was founded in 1933 by Howard Butt Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt. As one of the earliest private foundations in Texas, the H.E. Butt Foundation served as a vehicle for philanthropic contributions to south Texas communities, and in 1954 acquired 1,900 acres in the rural Texas Hill Country to provide free outdoor camping facilities for underprivileged children.