Wallace Claude Sparkman

Another angel has earned his wings. Wallace Sparkman of Midland, Texas passed from this world to the next on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. The youngest of four children born to Dudley Albert and Jewell Enlow Sparkman, Wallace joined his family on April 21, 1930 in Denton, Texas. It didn’t take long for those around him to realize Wallace was destined for greatness. He was a natural leader, a hard worker, and a successful entrepreneur before the term was ever coined.

In 1945 Wallace experienced two events that would forever change his life. As a member of the Future Farmers of America, he was chosen to represent his area at the national FFA convention. The young farm boy who had never been far from home travelled all the way to Chicago from Denton, by train. Later that summer, while working at his brother’s filling station in town, he looked up and spotted a young woman walking down the road. It was love at first sight and at the age of 15 he declared, “I’m going to marry that girl one day!” He did marry that girl – Patsy Delores Devine Mason – on June 30, five years later, and they shared over 67 years of life together.

Two years after their marriage Wallace was drafted by the Army and sent to Paris, where he helped build landing strips for the Air Force. When talking about those years, he always joked and said he was proud to have kept the North Koreans out of Paris. After he made it home however, he faced a much more traumatic trial when the car he was driving was struck head on by a drunk driver, killing two of his best friends and seriously injuring another friend and himself. Later he would talk about how, as he was dying, he had seen “the light” of Christ but determined God had additional work for him to do on Earth. And work, he did.

After attending elementary school in a one room schoolhouse, Wallace graduated from North Texas Demonstration School, then took several finance courses at the University of North Texas. He was then hired as secretary/treasurer of Denton Federal Savings & Loan in 1957 and worked his way up to president. After eight years he left the Savings & Loan and formed a real estate investment company, where he taught himself how to be a successful entrepreneur. Several years later he joined his brother-in-law, George Horine, in building Tejas Gas Corporation. He learned the oil and gas business from the ground up, working in the field before he ever entered the office, serving first as Vice President, then President of the company. As President he took the company public, listed on NASDAQ. It was during this transaction that he met Zene Gurley, who would become his lifelong friend and “brother.” Wallace later started or purchased several more companies he and Zene would take public in the ensuing years.

When he sold his shares in Tejas, Wallace decided to “dabble” in oil and gas to “have something to do.” Within a few years he had built Sparkman Energy into a NYSE-worthy mega company and, with the purchase of Midland-based Yale E. Key, was once more headed to New York to ring the bell. Several years later he again found himself needing something to do. After helping many other aspiring entrepreneurs build successful businesses, Wallace focused his sights on the West Texas oilfields and, when he bought Flare King in 1993, he and Patsy moved to Midland. Several mergers and acquisitions later he made his last trip to the floor of the NYSE when he took Flare King, by then called Natural Gas Services Group, public. In 2005 Wallace retired in order to “enjoy things I have postponed.” That retirement didn’t last long and for the rest of his life Wallace, instead, enjoyed what he loved the most: making deals and watching his family grow. Of the many proud moments in his life, his proudest were when he was baptized in Cooper Creek, marrying the girl of his dreams, and the birth of his children.

Wallace Sparkman’s life is a lesson in success. He loved God, he loved his family, he loved his country, and he loved people in general. He was quick with a smile and quick to help. He loved business and he loved challenge. Wallace Sparkman was a visionary who could see so much more in any situation than those around him. It is all these things and so many more that grew the little farm boy from Denton, Texas into the legend he became.

Left behind are his children, René (Tommy) Pipes and Scott (Stephanie) Sparkman, grandchildren Lindsey (Jonathan) Pipes Smith, Courtney Pipes, Heath (Suzanne) Pipes, Donny (Stacey) Pipes, Nathan (Emily) Bouchér, and Jessica Bouchér Sparkman, great-grandchildren Tucker, John, Mark, Elle and Ryland Matis, Nixon, Wyatt and Lucas Bouchér, Avery, Alyssa and Ashley Pipes, Kinzi and Tate Pipes, and Finn Korben Smith, and his beloved 18 ½ year old poodle, Emmie Lou. He was preceded in death by Patsy, his parents, each of his siblings – Dudley C. and Urial S. “Pig” Sparkman, and J. Alyne Sparkman Horine – and many friends and business partners.

The family would like to especially thank Dr. Raj Patel and Dr. P. J. Patel for the unwavering care given Wallace during the last many years, as well as his long-time caregivers, Lily, Claudia, Karen and Gabby.

A public viewing will be held Sunday, March 28 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home, 3800 N. Big Spring in Midland.  Visitation will be held from 10:00am to 11:00am, Tuesday, March 30 at Gribble Springs Baptist Church, 6933 FM 2164 in Sanger, TX. Funeral Service will follow at 11:00am.  Masonic graveside will follow at Gribble Springs Cemetery.

To honor Wallace’s sixty year Masonic Lodge membership, the family requests that In lieu of flowers, donations be made to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in his name.

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland.  Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com.