B.P. Newman
Encyclopedia
B.P. Newman was a business
entrepreneur
, developer
, civic leader, and philanthropist
in Laredo
, Texas
. Newman Elementary School in Laredo is named for him.
, he met Peggy Jean (née) Behelar (born 1932). They wed in 1950 and during their fifty-eight year marriage had four children.
in the United States
. In 1964, Newman purchased the Foremost Dairy distributorship in Laredo, the largest city in South Texas
. From his initial capitalization of the Laredo Foremost Dairy distributorship, he launched B.P. Newman Enterprises and built a business empire of restaurant
s, subdivisions
, apartment
s, and ranch
es.
B.P. Newman Enterprises eventually brought the Church's
and Popeye's fried chicken
franchise
s to Laredo. By 1989, Newman owned five Popeye's franchises in Laredo and Austin
, Texas, all sixteen Church's outlets in El Paso and planned to build an additional ten Popeye's. In 1990, Newman and architect
Jack Rice Turner developed a 10-story, 46-unit building in Corpus Christi
, known as the Twin Dolphins, then the third high-rise condominium
in that city. In 1991, Newman was a significant Popeyes and Church's franchisee, having forty-one stores, primarily Church's, in El Paso, Laredo, and the Shreveport
, Louisiana
, area. By 2004, Newman was a top contributor to the Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits restaurant chain and was one of only two worldwide Popeyes restaurant franchisees to receive Popeye's Gold Plate Award, the most important award given by Popeyes management.
Newman also owned ranch
es, apartment
s, and office buildings in Laredo, El Paso
, Marshall
, Longview
, the Rio Grande Valley
, Las Cruces, New Mexico
, and Shreveport. He developed the Laredo neighborhoods of Chaparral, Vista Hermosa, and Sierra Vista. During his lifetime, Newman donated the land for two Laredo schools: Newman Elementary School at 1300 Alta Vista Drive in the Valle Alto subdivision off McPherson Road, the Dr. Sigifredo Perez Elementary School at 500 Sierra Vista. The Newmans also launched the first lot for Habitat for Humanity in Laredo. He gave the land too for the B.P. Newman Park and the B.P. and Peggy Newman Recreation Center in Laredo.
. At the time of his passing, Newman was a member of the First Baptist
Church of Laredo. Ronald A. Scott, Newman's pastor since 2002, recalled that Newman
At Neman's funeral, Laredo attorney Javier de Anda, vice president of B.P. Newman Investments and Newman's son-in-law, read from a letter:
Newman is interred in the Masonic
section at Laredo City Cemetery. After his death, his wife Peggy became the chief executive officer of B.P. Newman Investments.
, Texas State Representative
Richard Pena Raymond
recalled Newman
of Laredo told the
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, developer
Real estate development
Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved land or parcels to others...
, civic leader, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
in Laredo
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Newman Elementary School in Laredo is named for him.
Early years
Bernard Pearce "Bob" Newman was born in Red River County in northeast Texas to Thomas Newman and Veda Newman Scotti (1907–1995). While attending college in DallasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, he met Peggy Jean (née) Behelar (born 1932). They wed in 1950 and during their fifty-eight year marriage had four children.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist
In 1951, Foremost Dairies was then the third largest dairy cooperativeCooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1964, Newman purchased the Foremost Dairy distributorship in Laredo, the largest city in South Texas
South Texas
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...
. From his initial capitalization of the Laredo Foremost Dairy distributorship, he launched B.P. Newman Enterprises and built a business empire of restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, subdivisions
Subdivision (land)
Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision...
, apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s, and ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
es.
Church's Chicken
Church's Chicken is a US-based chain of fast food restaurants specializing in fried chicken, also trading outside North America as Texas Chicken. The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To Go by George W. Church, Sr., on April 17, 1952, in San Antonio, across the street from The Alamo...
and Popeye's fried chicken
Fried chicken
Fried chicken is a dish consisting of chicken pieces usually from broiler chickens which have been floured or battered and then pan fried, deep fried, or pressure fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior...
franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
s to Laredo. By 1989, Newman owned five Popeye's franchises in Laredo and Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas, all sixteen Church's outlets in El Paso and planned to build an additional ten Popeye's. In 1990, Newman and architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Jack Rice Turner developed a 10-story, 46-unit building in Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, known as the Twin Dolphins, then the third high-rise condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
in that city. In 1991, Newman was a significant Popeyes and Church's franchisee, having forty-one stores, primarily Church's, in El Paso, Laredo, and the Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, area. By 2004, Newman was a top contributor to the Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits restaurant chain and was one of only two worldwide Popeyes restaurant franchisees to receive Popeye's Gold Plate Award, the most important award given by Popeyes management.
Newman also owned ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
es, apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s, and office buildings in Laredo, El Paso
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, Marshall
Marshall, Texas
Marshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523...
, Longview
Longview, Texas
Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 80,455. Most of the city is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat; only a small part extends into the western part of neighboring Harrison County. It is...
, the Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley or the Lower Rio Grande Valley, informally called The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas...
, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Las Cruces, also known as "The City of the Crosses", is the county seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 97,618 in 2010 according to the 2010 Census, making it the second largest city in the state....
, and Shreveport. He developed the Laredo neighborhoods of Chaparral, Vista Hermosa, and Sierra Vista. During his lifetime, Newman donated the land for two Laredo schools: Newman Elementary School at 1300 Alta Vista Drive in the Valle Alto subdivision off McPherson Road, the Dr. Sigifredo Perez Elementary School at 500 Sierra Vista. The Newmans also launched the first lot for Habitat for Humanity in Laredo. He gave the land too for the B.P. Newman Park and the B.P. and Peggy Newman Recreation Center in Laredo.
Death
Newman died at Laredo Medical Center of complications from long-term Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. At the time of his passing, Newman was a member of the First Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church of Laredo. Ronald A. Scott, Newman's pastor since 2002, recalled that Newman
"helped a lot of kids go to college through the B.P. Newman Scholarship Fund at Texas A&M International UniversityTexas A&M International UniversityTexas A&M International University, often referred to as TAMIU, is a public, co-educational, state-supported university located in Laredo, Texas...
and provided for others in need. B.P.'s and Peggy's example of love and sacrifice is noticeable. His was a life reflective of one lived out by Jesus Christ."
At Neman's funeral, Laredo attorney Javier de Anda, vice president of B.P. Newman Investments and Newman's son-in-law, read from a letter:
"B.P., many of us gather here as a testimony to how much you've helped them. We will feel your loss in countless ways. For those of us here strong in faith, we know our loss is merely temporary. B.P., we thank GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
for your presence in our lives."
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
section at Laredo City Cemetery. After his death, his wife Peggy became the chief executive officer of B.P. Newman Investments.
Laredo leaders laud Newman
The Laredo political leadership lauded Newman. In a statement to the Laredo Morning TimesLaredo Morning Times
The Laredo Morning Times is a daily newspaper publication based in Laredo, Texas, USA. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation.The Laredo Morning Times was founded on June 14, 1881 as "the Laredo Weekly," a four-page newspaper published by James Saunders Penn. Two years later, the paper became a...
, Texas State Representative
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
Richard Pena Raymond
Richard Raymond (Texas politician)
Richard Peña Raymond is a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives. He currently represents District 42, which encompasses western Webb County and includes most of the city of Laredo. He is Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and is also a member of the Border...
recalled Newman
"one of the great giants of Laredo. He was a great entrepreneur and has helped expand our economy and create a vibrant city. We will always look back at what he did to build our city economically. Mrs. Newman is a pillar; we love her and our hearts go out to her and her family." State Senator Judith ZaffiriniU.S. Representative Henry CuellarJudith ZaffiriniJudith Zaffirini is a Democratic member of the Texas State Senate representing the 21st District, which includes her home city of Laredo. On January 9, 2007, Zaffirini became the second in seniority in the 31-member Texas Senate, where she has served since 1987...
of Laredo called the Newmans "Laredo's first power couple."
Henry Cuellar
Henry Roberto Cuellar is the U.S Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district extends from the Rio Grande to the suburbs of San Antonio, including Guadalupe County and nearby Wilson County.Outside of politics, he has served as a professor at the...
of Laredo told the
Laredo Morning Times that Newman was "an excellent business person [who] cared a lot for Laredo. . . . I believe Bob's spirit will live on. . . . He always had a big smile, kind word ... always had the right thing to say. He was a kind, noble man."
MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Raul G. SalinasRaul G. SalinasRaúl González Salinas is a private security consultant, a businessman, and a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who was first elected mayor of Laredo, Texas, on June 17, 2006...
called Newman "a true gentleman, a man who cared a lot for Laredo and cared for the community. He gave so much of himself. His generosity has helped many organizations throughout our city. He will always be remembered as a man with a big heart."