Zac Lentz hobnobbed with former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy, among others. He wielded power in Texas politics for nearly a half a century, but his heart was squarely with Victoria, his daughter said Monday.
He used his massive influence to ensure the development of safer roads and highways as Victoria grew — making it appropriate that Loop 463, encircling Victoria and connecting the highways surrounding the city, be named in his honor: Zac Lentz Parkway. It was so named in 1985 and is a familiar Victoria place name.
“He was an entrepreneur and a farmer first,” Linda Elmore, of Victoria, Lentz’s daughter said. “He didn’t go into politics, but he was involved in politics. He groomed politicians to benefit Victoria.”
While she was growing up, Elmore said, she met Kennedy and Johnson, among other senators, governors and presidents. Johnson visited her childhood home, she said.
“He didn’t have a son, so I was with him quite a bit. I was all ears and all eyes,” she said. “Second only to his family, he loved Victoria.” Lentz had two daughters with his wife Evelyn.
Lentz was born in 1913 and grew up in Bastrop County, according to an Advocate report filed in the archives of the Victoria Regional History Center. He made Victoria his home after graduating from Texas A&M.
He was first and foremost a cotton farmer, Elmore said, but also a businessman.
House Concurrent Resolution 29, passed by the State of Texas in 1992, summarized Lentz’s life and commended him “for the numerous contributions he has made throughout his life to the betterment of his community.”
In 1943, the resolution said, Lentz opened the Zac Lentz Food Market, the first of several food, seed and hardware stores he owned. Elmore said the store was originally on Rio Grande Street.
As Victoria grew, Lentz’s interests grew with the city. He helped establish South Texas Savings in 1950, the resolution said, and became a founder of Texas State Bank. Like Leo J. Welder, his good friend, he was active in several business and civic organizations.
“Lentz was the driving force behind the legislation that created the University of Houston-Victoria in the 1970s,” his 2001 obituary in the Advocate said.
He owned and served as president of Vic-Cal Grain Company and Gulf Truck and Tractor Company, which used to be on Rio Grande Street where the Little Caesars is now, Elmore said.
Lentz and Welder hosted bird hunts, which the resolution called “legendary.” They entertained Texas political bigwigs during the outings.
Elmore said her father used his powerful connections to ensure wider, safer roads and highways were constructed in and around Victoria.
“He spent a lot of time on safe highways,” Elmore said. “There was a plant in Victoria, for example, and he made sure the road was widened because the employees there worked shifts and they would come off shift tired and have accidents on single-lane roads. It mattered to him that roads were safe.”
Lentz lobbied to have U.S. 59 named in honor of his close friend, former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, Elmore said.
In an Advocate article from the archives at the Victoria Regional History Center, Welder said the Texas highway system was the one thing Lentz worked the longest and hardest to improve.
“When we were both younger, most of our roads were very muddy ruts,” Welder said. “Now that we have all the nice highways, it’s stopped raining.”
“Everything he did, he did for the betterment of Victoria,” Elmore said.
Lentz True Value Hardware, 1207 N. Wheeler St., still does business and is one of his originals, manager Cathy Valenta said, owned now by Elmore. Historic photos of Lentz, Welder, Johnson, Evelyn Lentz and others adorn a hallway leading to the back offices.
Zac Lentz died March 5, 2001, 16 years after the parkway was named after him.
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