Arlan Womble was born September 8, 1928 in Spearman, TX, to Olin Womble and Erma (Batton) Womble. He graduated from Spearman High School in 1946 and from West Texas State College (Canyon) in 1950 with a degree in industrial arts. He subsequently served in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in San Antonio, San Angelo, and Wichita Falls. He moved to Lubbock in 1954 as a building inspector for the City of Lubbock. Quickly tiring of the bureaucracy, he became a residential construction supervisor for Jennings and Lewis Construction in 1956. He later started his own residential construction company Empire Homes in 1960. The company later became Empire Builders, specializing in commercial construction and home remodeling. In 1963, he married Patsy Anne Sybert in Morton, TX; she passed away in 1997. In 1998, he married Barbara Jo Hefner in Lubbock, TX.
Arlan enjoyed a very wide range of hobbies, including Boy Scouts, earning the first Eagle Scout rank in his home town and then serving as an assistant scoutmaster for several decades. He enthusiastically explored the “last frontiers” – taking his family on memorable camping adventures throughout the Rockies and Pacific Northwest and all the way Canada and Alaska when the Alaska Highway was just barely passable – then later to Australia and New Zealand. He and Barbara enjoyed discovering the wonders of Germany, Switzerland, and Norway. He had an insatiable curiosity about the world around him and collected all sorts of items that interested him – including antique tools and samples of wood species from around the world. A true child of the Depression, he would never let any materials go to waste, and he could figure out how to give every broken-down thing new life. To this end, he enjoyed attending auctions and tinkering in his beloved “warehouse” workshop, where pet Doberman “watchdogs” Butch and B.J. were great companions. He excelled at fine wood craftsmanship and cabinetry and was especially fond of working with weathered barn wood and black walnut. He was an avid historian and for more than 60 years traced the family history back through the Civil and Revolutionary Wars. He was instrumental in the founding of the South Plains Genealogical Society and served multiple terms as an officer of the organization. He and his son Arn pursued family cemeteries, courthouse records, and distant cousins all the way from New Mexico to Georgia. Arlan and Barbara were longtime members of the Harmony Sunday School Class at St. Luke’s Methodist Church and could often be found delivering Meals on Wheels or enjoying the Westwinds Brass Band concerts in the park.
Arlan passed away at age 90 on February 3, 2019 at his home in Lubbock. He is survived by his wife Barbara Womble of Lubbock; a sister Arlys Welch of Claude; son Arn Womble (along with wife Patty and children Abigail, Kevin, and Rachel of Lancaster, SC); step-daughter Angie Hefner of Dallas; step-son Howard Hefner (along with wife Colleen of Tyler and children Ben of Austin and Hyland of San Marcos); and nieces Mona Harris (Robert) of Claude, Terry Thomas (Randy) of Canyon, and Donna Gregory (Chris) of Livingston.
Memorials are suggested to Meals on Wheels, South Plains Genealogical Society, Westwinds Brass Band, and St. Luke’s Methodist Church.
