UIW honors 'Red' McCombs
by (San Antonio) Express-News

San Antonio car dealer, philanthropist and former owner of the Minnesota Vikings football team B.J. "Red McCombs" turned 80 last month and, to celebrate, a benefit was held on Nov. 11 at the University of the Incarnate Word for the new Red & Charline McCombs Endowed Scholarship fund. "Red and Charline have given a gift to our school of pharmacy and we thought this would be a nice way to celebrate his 80th birthday, announce the gift to the university and tell people how we're going to apply the money," said Sister Kathleen Coughlin, the school's vice president of institutional advancement. Inside is the Express-News story leading up to the event.

Roberto Zarate, former principal of Mary Hull Elementary School, still remembers that stressful morning 15 years ago. Arsonists had struck his newly renovated school. His teachers were without supplies and he was trying to figure out how to make it through the week. Then he got a phone call from billionaire auto magnate B.J. "Red" McCombs. Zarate didn't know it at the time, but it was the beginning of a partnership that would change the course of the struggling school.

"He called me and asked what he could do," Zarate said.
 
Days later, as Zarate was placing 10-cent price tags on donated items for a garage sale to raise money for supplies, he saw McCombs approaching.
 
"He handed me a check for $10,000," Zarate said. "It almost made me cry."
 
The San Antonio car dealer, philanthropist and former owner of the Minnesota Vikings football team turned 80 last month and, to celebrate, the University of the Incarnate Word is holding a benefit (Nov. 11) for the new Red & Charline McCombs Endowed Scholarship fund.
 
"Red and Charline have given a gift to our school of pharmacy and we thought this would be a nice way to celebrate his 80th birthday, announce the gift to the university and tell people how we're going to apply the money," said Sister Kathleen Coughlin, the school's vice president of institutional advancement.

Neither Incarnate Word nor McCombs would reveal the amount of the gift, but McCombs did say it was seven figures.

McCombs' generosity is no secret in Texas.

In 1996, he gave $5 million to Southwestern University in Georgetown, where he and his wife, Charline, attended, to help fund the Red and Charline McCombs Campus Center. He gave another $2 million to the school in 1999 for a residence hall and athletic facility. In 1997, he awarded a grant worth up to $3 million to the University of Texas at Austin women's athletic department. In 2000, he gave $50 million to his alma mater, the UT-Austin business school which now bears his name.

And that's not a complete list.

"In education, as in every other aspect, Red McCombs doesn't do things in a small way," said longtime friend Henry Cisneros, former San Antonio mayor who served as Housing and Urban Development secretary in the Clinton administration.

San Antonio banker and community leader Tom Frost, who will be the master of ceremonies at tonight's benefit, said McCombs is a role model for business leaders.

"When you walk into a school with him, you know how much it means to him," Frost said. "He has a beautiful way with youngsters."

But McCombs generosity isn't blind.

"I ask 'What would you do if you had the money?'" McCombs said. "I follow my money. I've worked hard all my life and I intend to until the day I die. I want to see the money I give do some good."

Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe said it's McCombs' personal commitment that sets him apart.

"He participates," he said. "That, I think, is the greatest thing."

When McCombs found out that field trips were hard to finance for Mary Hull Elementary, he paid for the whole school to go to the IMAX Theater.

"I remember it was at the same time he was buying the Minnesota Vikings," Zarate said. "We did it over two days and he was there both days to greet the buses and was handing out hot dogs, popcorn and soda to the kids because the theater was understaffed. In the meantime, he was answering calls about the football team."

When the school became the first in San Antonio to be recognized with a national Blue Ribbon award, McCombs was on the phone again, asking Zarate how many kids and parents he wanted to send to Washington D.C. to pick up the award.

"He would say, 'Find out how much and let me know,'" Zarate said. "The dedication and commitment he made to the school never waned and it still hasn't."

McCombs still visits schools. He helps out in classes in response to teachers' letters and mentors students.
 
"What's more important than helping a kid?" McCombs said. "I think that's what life is about."