Richard Bernard Pavlásek

On January 28, 2021, Richard Bernard (Ben) Pavlásek (age 87), citizen of the Kingdom, returned home to live with his Lord Jesus and Father God. A beautiful soul, with a childlike, mischievous personality, Richard had a love of the outdoors, a positive outlook on life, an ability to make friends of strangers, a love of surprises, a desire to keep learning new things, and a deep love of God, Church, family, and his Czech community. Due to Alzheimer's, he left this world as he entered it, like a sin free, innocent newborn and very much loved by his family.

Richard was born on August 15, 1933 at home on the farm (where the current Corpus Christi airport tower stands) to John Frank and Anna (Kopesky) Pavlásek. Baptized eight days later, he was raised to be a faithful Christian in the Catholic Church through the example of his parents and Czech community.

Richard was raised to work hard on the farm. Rural South Texas did not get electricity until after WWII. So Richard grew up chopping wood for cooking and heating, studying by kerosene lamp light, and using an outhouse. He was expected to do chores like hoeing weeds in the family garden, milking the cow, shucking corn, and picking cotton. He remembered when his father stopped plowing with mules and bought a “popping Johnny” John Deere tractor. As a boy during WWII, he developed a love of aviation while watching US Navy pilots practice take-offs and landings in the airfield next door to his home.

In 1950, at the age of 16, Richard graduated from Robstown High School and began to study business education at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi while working at Waukesha delivering drill bits to oil rigs in South Texas.

In 1954, Richard was drafted to serve his country in the US Army. After basic training in El Paso, he served as company clerk for his captain in Georgia because he was the only person in his company who knew how to type. Later, he graduated from the US Army Quartermaster School in Fort Lee, Virginia, and served for a year as a unit supply specialist with the American Army Engineers in Nancy, France before being honorably discharged as a SP3 (Specialist 3rd class).

In 1956, Richard started work at Delhi-Taylor Oil Corp in Corpus Christi as an oil refinery operator. After 10 years at the refinery, he applied to become a US FAA air traffic controller.

In 1967, he graduated from the United States Air Traffic Academy in Houston, and in 1969, he graduated from the United States Bureau School of Meteorology in San Antonio. He served as a Senior Air Traffic Specialist, Meteorologist, and Facility Training Officer in McAllen and Alice before retiring after 18 years. He then moved to Austin, where he worked for the Transportation Research Facility at the University of Texas for 3 years.

In 1984, after many years of buying and selling property on his own, Richard graduated from the Texas Real Estate Commission School. Until 2019, he continued to attend required continuing education classes to keep his Texas real estate license current.

Throughout his life, Richard loved to learn and took many classes on subjects like reflexology, securities, air conditioning repair, and jewelry repair. He especially loved to read about current events and business. While working in Alice, he learned to fly a single-engine plane and became a member of the Civil Air Patrol. In 1990, he spent 6 weeks studying the Czech language and culture at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic.

Richard always kept busy. Richard was a school board member for St Elizabeth Elementary Catholic School in Alice. On the side, for 20 years he farmed and raised beefmaster cattle. For 27 years, he wrote newspaper articles covering Czech-American events for the KJT (Czech Catholic Union) News and for the Texas Polka News. He was an acknowledged expert on Texas Czech Polka Bands.

Richard's father taught him to be a person that contributed to his community. He donated more than 13 gallons of whole blood during his life. For this, he received an American Association of Blood Banks Award on his 10 gallon milestone and the Jan Janský Medal in the Czech Republic, which acknowledges the saving of life through blood donation.

In 1978, Richard was awarded the annual Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Meritorious Award in association with the US Transportation Dept for saving two airplanes in distress.

In 1992, he was awarded the first Czech Heritage Society Award for his publication of numerous articles documenting the history, culture, customs and traditions of Czech Texas.

In 1998, he received a certificate of commendation for being a 1998 Fraternalist of the Year Nominee (by the Czech Catholic Union – KJT) to the National Fraternal Congress of America.

Richard loved his Czech heritage. He was a founding board member of the Texas Polka Music Museum in Schulenburg, and a founding and board member of the Travis-Williamson Counties Czech Heritage Society (TWCCHS). As President of TWCCHS in the early 1990's, he was also a member of Texans of Czech Ancestry (TOCA) during the period of time that TOCA developed the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange. He was also a member of the Austin Czech Historical Association.

Between 2001 and 2009, Richard was a member of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, and presented papers on Texas Czech history at their annual conferences in both the United States and in the Czech Republic.

After the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989, Richard served as host and tour guide for many Czech business, government, and Catholic Church officials who visited Texas. As a member of the American Friends of the Czech Republic, he helped promote the entry of the Czech Republic into NATO. In 1990, he was privileged to meet Czech President Vaclav Havel at Ellis Island, to hear his speech at a US joint session of Congress, and to attend the reception dinner.

Richard was predeceased by his parents and his brothers John and Robert Pavlásek. He is survived by his “adorable darling”, wife of 27 years, and caregiver Velma (López) Pavlásek; his brother Virgil (Sharon) Pavlásek; his sister Jeanette (Larry) Looka; his five children: Richard (Darby) Pavlásek Jr, Mary Ann Krueger, Linda Martin, Virginia (Thomas) Brouillette, and James (Andrea) Pavlásek; his five grandchildren: Travis (Rebecca) Krueger, Stephanie (Adam) Carruth, Stacy (Tyler) Farrow, Harrison (Lauren) Pavlásek, and Connor Martin; and his six great-grandchildren: Kyler and Kolton Krueger, Emma and Blake Farrow, Ryan Carruth, and Hayes Richard Pavlásek.

To Richard's family and many friends, thank you so much for enriching his life by sharing yours with him.

Visitation will be February 6, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home in Pflugerville. Funeral Mass will be held February 8, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in New Corn Hill with burial at the church cemetery to follow.