Freddie Lee Daume

Freddie Lee Daume, age 73, went to be with the Lord on March 20, 2024 at 3PM. Freddie was born October 5th, 1950 to Willie Jo Minyard Daume and Fred John Daume, Jr. in Wichita County. Freddie is the oldest of three, with two sisters, Nancy Daume Haynes and Gail Daume Evans.

The Daume’s moved from Bacon Switch to Holliday in 1958 when Freddie was in the second grade. As a child, Freddie loved playing baseball and football and was a straight ‘A’ student. Freddie spent his teen years working the family farm, playing sports, racing cars and hanging out with great friends. He was a captain on the Holliday Eagle football team while earning All-District honors. He also served as class president and vice-president during high school, was voted class favorite, and was the editor of the school yearbook.

Freddie graduated from Holliday High School in 1969, and he, like many students didn’t have a clear vision of where his life would take him. Freddie decided to attend Texas A&M University with four of his closest friends from Holliday and loved every moment of it. Those friends were truly lifelong friends and Freddie loved telling stories about their time in College Station. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science in 1973. Days after graduating, Freddie came back home and settled in Iowa Park to take a job he had been offered. Lonnie Morrison and a group of investors had purchased a farming and ranching operation in Iowa Park and they chose Freddie to not only manage it, but to build it into a profitable business. Freddie was up for the challenge and his success in the transformation came from hard work and knowing what it would take to build a successful operation. This success set a course that would follow him through many phases of his life.

Having succeeded in changing that land from a tired, somewhat worn out property to a successful farming and ranching operation, he began to put his own operation together with a combination of family land and land leased from others. He eventually built a farming and ranching enterprise that operated in three counties of North Texas and spanned thousands of acres. Freddie was not only great at the growing side of agriculture but very accomplished in the marketing side. Freddie was uniquely talented in being a successful rancher and farmer. Usually a person excels in raising crops or livestock, but Freddie excelled at both.

In this time, Freddie reconnected with his high school sweetheart, Tanya. After a couple of years of dating, they married and blended together his two boys, Justin and Josh and her daughter Meegan. They built a home in Iowa Park and started their life together as a family. Freddie was a great family man, taking vacations whenever he could, going to cruise nights and laughing together with friends over dinner. He instilled in all of the kids a good deal of independence and a strong work ethic.

Years later, an opportunity arose to purchase a large portion of the Burnett Ranch just west of Iowa Park. Freddie had a vision for what this land could be. Like all the other challenges he had undertaken, he saw potential. He and a couple of others purchased the property and began a year-long refurbishing program of the property. Having cleared, meticulously prepared and planted a crop on the entire acreage in less than a year, he went on to apply conservation measures and other upgrades to build it into one of the most productive properties on the Rolling Plains of Texas. Once again, he took a challenge and turned it into a success story.

Freddie later found an opportunity to purchase and operate a scrap metal processing facility in Wichita Falls. Being as busy as he was with his agricultural operation, he decided to put a group of his friends together to own and operate the facility. This group owned and operated Dwyer Auto Parts and Recycling for a number of years.

After a great farming and ranching career, Freddie thought it was time to retire and spend time doing the things he had let slip by while working so hard. He enjoyed his family, working in his Church, and traveling the country with Tanya and their friends. He also pursued other passions that so often took a back seat to farming and ranching. This included working on and improving his airplane and his classic performance cars. He even had a slick paint job put on his plane and tried to convince friends it was dark red metallic. His friends knew, however, it was MAROON, you know, “Gig ’em Aggies" maroon…just like his Nova, Corvette, golf cart and pickup. One didn’t have to know Freddie long to understand where his love for maroon came from.

The break from farming would not last long, however, as Gene Willingham, who was managing the legendary Waggoner Ranch, called Freddie for some help. He had been told that Freddie was the “best wheat farmer in the area” and asked him to come run the farming operation at the ranch. Freddie could not pass up the opportunity to manage the many thousands of acres of the historic Waggoner and once again update and improve the land. Freddie was in that position for 9 years until the property sold and he loved every minute of the challenge. Once again he left something much better than he found it through good fertility management, solid conservation practices and a love of the land.

Freddie accomplished all of this in about 54 years, but was known for so much more. He was recognized recently for 40 years of service on the Wichita Soil and Water Conservation Board. He was an active member of the Wichita County Young Farmers, served many years on The Board of Directors of State National Bank, and was an active member of First Baptist Church of Iowa Park where he served on the finance committee, transportation committee and as a Sunday morning Greeter. He was a longtime supporter of the Iowa Park FFA, and served on numerous Texas Agri-life Extension Committees. Freddie was also an accomplished pilot with hundreds of hours under his belt and a high performance endorsement. He was well-read in every area of interest he had and was a loyal friend and mentor to many people. Freddie had a soft spot for the many pets (i.e. stray dogs) that he and Tanya took in through the years that became family members. But most of all, he cherished the moments where all three of his kids could be together with their families as he loved being a father and a grandfather.

Freddie is survived by his loving wife Tanya Sue Daume of Iowa Park; sons Justin Wade Daume of Iowa Park, and Joshua Lee Daume and wife Leah of McPherson, KS; daughter Meegan Smith and husband Joshua Smith of McKinney, TX. Freddie was blessed with four grandchildren. Rayce Scott Daume of Wichita Falls; Kambree Faith Daume of Decatur, TX; Jennings Bowen Daume of McPherson, KS; Austin Martin Smith of McKinney, TX. He is also survived by his sisters and their spouses Nancy Margeret Daume Haynes and Danny Haynes of Holliday, TX; Linda Gail Daume Evans and Chuck Evans of Holliday, TX; 4 nieces and many great nieces and nephews. Freddie was preceded in death by his parents.

Visitation will take place at Dutton Funeral Home on Friday, March 29th from 6-8PM. A service will be held at First Baptist Church of Iowa Park on Saturday, March 30th at 10AM followed by interment at Holliday Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, you may send donations to First Baptist Church of Iowa Park or Hospice of Wichita Falls

A visitation for Freddie will be held Friday, March 29, 2024 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Dutton Funeral Home, 300 E Cash, Iowa Park, TX 76367. A celebration of life will occur Saturday, March 30, 2024 at 10:00 AM at First Baptist Church, 300 N Yosemite St, Iowa Park, TX 76367.