Fenton Guinee

William Fenton Guinee, Jr. (Fenton) died on Sunday, the 4th of August 2013, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was born on the 24th of April 1928, in Greenville, Mississippi, to William Fenton Guinee and Laura Mai Andrews Guinee. Following a family move to New Orleans, Louisiana, he attended Jesuit High School. He graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science, where he was a Beta Theta Pi and belonged to Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of Red Friars and ODK.

In 1950, he married Gertrude Nelson Sanders (Trudy) in the Duke Chapel. They have five children.

Fenton worked in New Orleans at Wesson Oil Company from 1963 to 1976, as the General Sales Manager and Vice President of Wesson Oil and Snowdrift Sales Company. He worked for the Quaker Oats Company from 1963 to 1976 as Vice President of Corporate Development, Head of Diversified Businesses, and Executive Vice President of Finance. He was an alderman in Lake Forest, IL. In 1976, the family moved to Houston, Texas, where he was President of Anderson Clayton. He ended his career as CEO of Anderson Clayton in 1986. He was on the Boards of the Northern Trust, the Strake Jesuit High School, and the Bank of the Southwest.

His hobbies included fly fishing, reading, travel, playing banjo, tending the blueberry bushes in Vermont and spending time with his children and grandchildren. He was a regular at the Houston Symphony and the Alley Theater. In recent years, he worked for AARP helping people with their taxes.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Trudy, of Houston Texas; and his five children and their mates: William Fenton Guinee III and Sue Hruska of Fulton, Missouri; Cynthia Guinee Fox of Glendale, Arizona; Linda Guinee of Boston, Massachusetts, Ellen Gurzinsky of New York City, Tim Guinee and Daisy Foote of New York; and David Guinee and Alison Stewart-Guinee of Greencastle, Indiana; and seven grandchildren, A. Davis Fox, Elliott Fox, Katie Engel, Daniel Engel, Mallory Guinee, Brockman Guinee, and Liam Fenton Guinee; as well as many friends and relatives. He is predeceased by his parents, parents-in-law, and his brother Donald Griffin Guinee.

The family would like to express its gratitude to the staff of the Hallmark, who provided excellent and compassionate care over the last four years.

A memorial service, and celebration of his life, is to be conducted at ten o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, the 7th of August, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent grand foyer.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed to the Jesuit High School of New Orleans, 4133 Banks St., New Orleans, LA, 70119; the Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. 96011, Washington D.C., 20090-6011; or to the Hallmark Employees Gift Fund, 4718 Hallmark, Dr., Houston, TX, 77056.