Jack Garey

Alan Jack Garey, born January 20, 1930, passed away late Friday night, March 18, 2022 at 92 years of age. He was preceded in death by his wife Camille Blackmore Garey. He later married Doris Breaux Garey, who was beside his bed when he passed away at home after a brief illness.

Known as “Jack” by all his friends and associates, he was a business and civic leader, rancher and philanthropist. In 1978 he founded Garey Construction Company, a road, street, and highway contractor, and served for many years as its president. Under his leadership, Garey Construction was recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing, privately owned companies in the United States. In 1998, Mr. Garey served as the president for the Associated General Contractors of Texas.

Mr. Garey began his professional career as a trial lawyer, specializing in personal injury and workers’ compensation law. He is the author of “Handling Workman’s Compensation Case for the Plaintiff,” published by the State Bar of Texas. In the 1990s, he was appointed by the governor to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission, serving as its chair during 1990-91 and 1994-95.

A longtime rancher, Mr. Garey has actively managed large cattle ranches in Williamson, Falls, and Runnels Counties. He also enjoyed horse racing and was fortunate enough to have a big winner in Heritage of Gold which won a Breeder’s Cup race.

Mr. Garey has been extraordinarily generous to Central Texas generally and to Georgetown in particular. In 2004 Mr. Garey donated his 525-acre ranch, which is located along the South San Gabriel River, along with $5 million for the development of a city park. Garey Park opened in 2018 as Georgetown’s flagship park, roughly 1.5 times the size of Zilker Park in Austin.

Mr. Garey also has been one of Southwestern University’s most generous benefactors. His landmark contribution was a trans-formative $15 million endowment gift in 2017 to underwrite need-based student financial assistance and endowed chairs in the natural sciences. The gift, which was the largest single cash gift in Southwestern’s history, established Southwestern’s Jack and Camille Garey School of Natural Sciences as one of the three named schools within the University.

Mr. Garey earned a bachelor of business administration degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1955 and a law degree from that institution in 1957. He served on the Southwestern Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2015. In 2016, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and was named a life trustee of Southwestern.

A memorial service, open to all who wish to attend, will be held on Sunday, April 3 at 3:00 PM at Garey House located in Garey Park, 6450 RM 2243, Georgetown, TX 78628. https://parks.georgetown.org/gareypark