Erroll Wendland

Erroll Wendland, a Temple civic, church, and business leader, died at a local care center on June 3, 2018. Robert Erroll Wendland was born at Scott & White Hospital in Temple on August 28, 1929, to Robert Ernst (Bob) and Nora Lee Mayhew Wendland. He attended Vandiver Elementary School, Central Junior High School, and Temple High School, graduating in 1946. He studied violin with his mother, and one of the highlights of his life was to attend a music camp at Interlaken. Attending college as a young 16-year-old alongside returning soldiers, he received a BBA degree in finance and marketing from SMU in 1950 and an MBA in administrative management in 1951. He served in the US Air Force from 1951 to 1954, during the Korean War. He was in the Strategic Air Command, 12th Air Force, 22nd bomb wing, at March Air Force Base in California, as armament and electronic supply officer, responsible for armaments including nuclear weapons. He was then in the USAF Reserve from 1954 until 1958, when he was discharged with the rank of captain. He continued to enjoy flying as a private pilot, thanks to the examples of his uncle, Moody Mayhew, and a family friend, Neal Messer. He married Barbara Jean Cook of Houston on November 21, 1959, at St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Houston. They had met through Erroll’s cousin Bonnie Wendland of Temple, a friend of Barbara’s at SMU, and he had flown in his private plane many times to Houston. Having begun by driving trucks as a teenager, Erroll Wendland spent his professional life in the family feed-manufacturing business that was begun in Killeen by his grandfather and moved to Temple in the 1920s. In 1995 he sold the company, Wendland’s Farm Products, Inc., and retired as its president and treasurer. He served as president of the Texas Grain and Feed Association in 1972-73, as a member of the Executive Committee and Feed Production Council of the American Feed Manufacturers’ Association, and as a director of the Midwest Feed Manufacturers’ Association, National Grain and Feed Association, and Texas Seedsmen’s Association. Erroll Wendland was a leader in numerous Temple organizations and projects. In 1996 he received the Frank W. Mayborn Humanitarian Award in recognition of his leadership in raising $4.3 million to buy and convert a bank building into the present Temple Public Library. In 1985 he was named Outstanding Citizen of Temple. He was the founding president of the Foundation of the Temple Public Library, and for many years was president of it and of the Temple College Foundation. For many years he was also treasurer of King’s Daughters Hospital. He served as president of the Temple Community Concert Association. He was a board member of the Cultural Activities Center, Central Texas Orchestral Society, Hillcrest Cemetery Association, Temple chapter of American Field Service, Temple Chamber of Commerce, and United Fund of Temple. He also served as president of the Temple Camp Fire Council and the Cen-Tex Alcohol Rehabilitation Center, despite the fact that neither he nor his family members ever personally used their services; he simply felt that they were needed by the local community, so he wanted to help make them available.This was also his motivation for aiding the public library; he rarely read books and never even had a library card, but he knew his city needed a good library. A member of the Temple Rotary Club since 1951, he served as president of the club and had perfect attendance for 29 years. He was a co-founder of the Temple South Rotary Club. He served as Rotary District Governor in 1981-82, was named to the district Roll of Fame in 1975, and held numerous district offices. He was especially proud to have joined Rotary International in contributing to the near-eradication of polio worldwide. He was also proud to have served as the leader of a Group Study Exchange with England, which promoted women business leaders. He was a Paul Harris Benefactor of Rotary International. Erroll Wendland was a lifelong member of First United Methodist Church of Temple, having been baptized there as a baby by his grandfather, Rev. W. J. Mayhew. He held many offices in that congregation, including chairman of its Board of Trustees from 1990 to 1997 and chairman of its Administrative Board, Finance Committee, and Music Committee. In the latter role, he was instrumental in promoting the restoration and rebuilding of the church organ. He was a member of the church’s Chancel Choir from 1942, when his voice changed, until 2006. He was a lay member of the Central Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church from 1985 until 2003. He served as president of Wesleyan Homes in Georgetown, the retirement home system of the Central Texas Conference, and was a board member for many years. He was also a board member of the United Methodist Reporter Foundation. Throughout his life, Erroll Wendland was active as a philanthropist and manager of investments for family members and their estates. He was a trustee of Wendland and Cook family trusts, and of the Joe B. and Louise P. Cook Foundation, established by his wife’s parents. Erroll had many interests. He loved classical music, especially orchestral and choral music. He loved travel, especially by car, and traveled to Canada, Mexico, all 50 US states, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and several European countries. He loved investing and following the stock market. He read numerous magazines regularly. He loved good food and drink, and loved socializing with friends, especially when he could make frozen margaritas or pop popcorn for them. Erroll Wendland was preceded in death by his parents and his sister and her husband, Bobbye Lee and Rev. Charles P. Godbey. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Cook Wendland; their daughter, Carol Wendland; their foster daughter, Maria Goreti Lima, and her husband José Darío Rodas Pérez, of Bogotá, Colombia; his nephews and their wives: Robert Carson Godbey and Ellen Godbey Carson of Honolulu; Judge David Charles Godbey and Beverly Bell Godbey of Dallas, and their children John Godbey and Ruth Godbey; and several Wendland and Mayhew cousins. The family expresses particular thanks to the caregivers who took care of him in the last years of his life, from Visiting Angels home aides to the staff of Arbor House, where he spent his last three years. A memorial service will be held on Friday, June 8, at 3 p.m. in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church of Temple. The service will be preceded by a private burial at Hillcrest Cemetery. Family members will receive visitors between 5 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 7, at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home, 3110 Airport Rd. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to the Temple College Foundation; the Foundation of the Temple Public Library; the Temple Symphony endowment fund; or any other community-service organizations that Erroll supported during his life.