Ronnie Grant May

- Ronnie Grant May was born in Rule, Texas January 22nd 1947 to Wilburn G. and Elma L. May

- Dad went to Rule high school and was the star running back, receiving a football scholarship to play at West Texas A&M

- He never finished out that scholarship, but he also never finished learning and growing. He was an executive, a business owner, a realtor, a community leader, a husband, father and grandfather. And he excelled at all of them.

- I remember asking my father how he knew what he wanted to do for a living. He said “I didn’t know. All I knew was, at the end of every hot summer day working in the family cotton field, I just wanted a job with A/C.” Mission accomplished.

- Dad owned a company called Grande Custom Homes that built mostly in the Southlake, Grapevine, Colleyville area. It was the name “Grande” that best described him and became a family joke over the years. Dad did nothing halfway more so than any person I have been around.

- So let’s talk about my Dad living Grande…

 It started early. He could have been just a Boy Scout, but he became an Eagle Scout

 Most of us just buy the things that catch our eye, right? Not Dad. Whether it be cars, guns, steaks, radar detectors, whatever—he’d research and research until he found the very best thing in that category. This was before the internet and how he did this, I still don’t know. Even something as small as a pen. He used to carry a Mont Blanc, which was a big deal back in the day. But in true Dad form, he was bothered that it functioned like a normal pen. So, he went to researching…and found a “space pen”. Yes, a space pen. It was designed for astronauts so it didn’t need gravity to feed the ink. I get why astronauts would need it, but Dad? He said “well if I ever need to write lying down, I’m covered!” He was a relentless researcher and would settle for nothing but the best. It wasn’t always the most expensive, but he wanted the research to back it up.

 A lot of us like to hunt here in Texas, and my Dad loved it. But the Whitetail, Turkey, Dove, and pheasant that are all over a state that’s bigger than France, weren’t quite Grande enough. See, one of his goals was to get the grand slam of bears (meaning kill all the North American Species). He would make multiple trips to Alaska over the years and shot the Black Bear, Grizzly bear, Brown bear off Kodiak Island, and eventually made his way to the North Pole to hunt the Polar Bear. There’s an article about it in the Fort Worth Star Telegram if you want to dig through some microfiche. Hard to get more Grande than that.

 Some of us like to work, and a few of us are pretty good at working hard. But Dad was an absolute machine. Not because he was a workaholic, but because he loved it. He would always say “you will get out what you put into something”. To him, a 40-hour work week was part time. Dad played hard, but he worked harder. He said if you log the same hours as everyone else, how do you expect to get ahead? He taught us that rule applied to everything. Work, sports, school, basket weaving….it did not matter.

 He could’ve been just another dad with kids in school. Instead, he served on the HEB School Board for 7 years--as President for most of them. I can’t remember the details, but he helped pass and eventually signed what at the time was the largest school bond in the State of Texas. It gave teachers raises, added new classrooms, and built new facilities. Did he stop there? Nope. Dad decided to run for the Texas State School Board and won. I mean, why just settle for 7 years serving your community School Board?! Those positions were not paid and he truly felt a calling to help the community.

 Dad followed in the footsteps of his father and became a Free Mason. But…in typical Ronnie May fashion, he didn’t stop there either, becoming a Master Mason and eventually a Shriner. It was as high as you could go.

 Dad got his real estate license later in life. He said he was tired of dealing with homeowners in Construction. He sold so much for Century 21, he won their Centurion Award almost every year. They give this to the top agents on sales.

 Speaking of construction, Dad had learned and studied (and researched) so much during his home building side that he knew trades better than the subs. Meaning he knew when the plumber had not done things right, he corrected the framer, electrician, and others. Dad would sit and read building code books all day and night to know their trades better than they did. Hard to describe how rare this is on knowledge and the amount of hours this takes.

Dad, was truly unique and almost had a chip on his shoulder. In his scrap book, he had offers from OU, UT, and every major college in the US with a full ride to play running back. He said he was intimidated being from the small town of Rule, and he regretted not taking a scholarship and proving he could compete at one of the big schools. Maybe it was the one thing in his life he didn’t do Grande. But he darn sure made up for it. We feel like it stoked the fire of his “I might be from a small town, but I will out work you and will compete like no other” mentality. I like to think all of us inherited a portion of his tenacious spirit. I have been around many successful business people, worked for Billionaires, and everything in between. I can honestly say, I never come across someone like our father. His pursuit to master excellence was relentless.

Things Dad taught me.

1) Business – Emotions cloud judgement. You have to be able to make a decision that is best for the business using facts.

2) Hiring Family – You have to be able to fire your mother without losing a wink of sleep if that is what is best for the Company. If you cannot do this that is okay. You just need to need to smart enough to not hire your mother.

3) Hard Work – Nothing is given and everything is earned. Do not think for one second you are entitled to a fair shake. Hard work creates separation and life is not fair. If everyone is working 40 hours, you better work 80 to get a leg up. If you don’t want to log those kinds of hours that is okay, just don’t expect to get ahead.

4) Family Name – I was in the 6th grade (11 years old) and we were losing in a football game. I loafed down the field on a play. Dad came down from the stands and asked the coach to take me out. He looked me square in the eye and said “our family name is on the back of your jersey”. I was clueless and frustrated by losing. He told me “You disrespect our family name like that again, that will be the last time you get to wear it on your back”. I could tell by his tone and his face he meant business. I am not sure how other kids were, but my father could and did put the fear of God in me. The Bible always instructs us to fear the Lord, which when you are young is a strange concept. How do you fear someone and love them at the same time? I learned this concept from Dad, I feared the consequences of disobedience, but loved him with everything I had.

5) Love – Dad had an interesting relationship with his father. Pawpaw May (as we knew him) never told Dad he loved him. On his deathbed Dad said “I love you Dad” and Pawpaw May’s response was “Well Okay”. I don’t fault him for this and neither did Dad. I think that generation was so different growing up in the depression, having kids, then going off to war for years at a time. I’m not saying it was right, but there had to be some coping mechanisms for all of that. Emotions were costly as your family was back home and you were seeing your friends die daily and not return home. Dad told me he wanted to be different and he was. We always heard “I love you”. I heard “I love you son” when I hung up with him last Thursday. Those were the last words I heard my father say., and I thank God for that. Thank you.

– Jessica Purdom & Husband David Purdom

Children – Austin & Lauren

– Robyn Hirneise & Husband Bart Hirneise

Children – Will, Emma, & Maddy

– Chad May & Raichelle May

Children – Jason, Abby, Patrick, Jessica & Aviel

– Ashley Wade & Husband Cliff Wade

Children – Natalie & Campbell

– Grant May & Wife Stephanie May

Children – Lilly & Hudson