Baylor Mourns Passing of Benefactor Carroll Webb, Baylor Legacy Award Honoree and Athletic Director’s Hall of Honor Member

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WACO, Texas (Aug. 15, 2017) – Baylor University is mourning the passing of Carroll L. Webb Jr., B.B.A. ’47, a generous benefactor of the University, Baylor Legacy Award honoree and member of the Athletic Director’s Hall of Honor. Webb died Sunday at the age of 94.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church, 1300 Columbus Ave. in Waco. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, 6101 Bosque Blvd. in Waco.

Webb and his wife, Aline, B.A. ’54, have supported numerous areas of the University, both in academics and athletics. He was a Distinguished Alumnus of Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, served as chairman of the business school’s Advisory Board and established the Deloitte & Carroll Webb Accounting Scholarship in 1984. Most recently, the Webbs provided the funds for a classroom in the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, the new home of the Hankamer School of Business.

In 2006, the Webbs received the Milton T. Gregory Distinguished Service Award, in recognition of their eagerness to influence others to do their part in supporting Baylor. In 2016, they were honored with the Baylor Legacy Award, which recognizes individuals who demonstrate extraordinary service and philanthropy to Baylor or to causes that fit the institution’s mission as a Christian university.

“No one like Carroll Webb”

But Carroll Webb was very well-known among the Baylor Family for his unwavering support of Baylor athletics, both as a fan and as a fundraiser. On Oct. 9, 1937, he accompanied his uncle to Waco Municipal Stadium to watch the Baylor Bears beat the Arkansas Razorbacks. Since then, with the exception of his service time in World War II, Webb faithfully attended Baylor football games. He supported the construction of McLane Stadium and was recently presented with a No. 37 football jersey to acknowledge his dedicated support of Baylor throughout his lifetime.

“There is no one like Carroll Webb,” said Mack V. Rhoades, vice president and director of athletics at Baylor. “He has been a rock for Baylor through all seasons, supporting our teams, our student-athletes and our coaches in every way possible. Our prayers go out to his dear wife, Aline, and the rest of the Webb family, as we celebrate his incredible life.”

A longtime member of the Baylor Bear Foundation, Webb was one of the original supporters at the Championship Club level, and he, as a volunteer, raised more than $3 million for the organization that supports student-athlete scholarships.

“I’ve been involved in over 30 years of fund drives and using the team concepts of volunteers, and no one – I repeat, no one – ever did what Carroll Webb did. He was just a bulldog in fundraising,” said Doug Smith, executive associate athletic director for development and major gifts. “When he got on it, and he was determined that you were going to give money to the Bear Foundation, you better give it, because he’s going to keep on you until you do give it.”

“Mount Rushmore for people who loved Baylor”

The Webbs have supported excellence funds for men’s and women’s golf, softball, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, and soccer, and in appreciation of such support, they were inducted into the Athletic Director’s Hall of Honor. In 2012, the Webbs stepped forward again to sponsor the head coach’s office in the Carlile Equestrian Team Building.

“If there is a Mount Rushmore for people who loved Baylor, Carroll Webb would be on it. He lived an amazing life of 94 years full of love, service and generosity,” said Doug McNamee, Baylor senior associate athletic director/external relations.

Baylor basketball coaches, Kim Mulkey and Scott Drew, had nothing but fond memories of Webb.

“Great man who absolutely loved Baylor University. He and his wife, Aline, were the first Baylor people to feed me a meal after I arrived in Waco,” Mulkey said.

“Carroll and Aline are exactly the type of fans coaches dream about. Always there and always supportive of Baylor University. We will miss Carroll greatly,” Drew said.

Carroll and Aline Webb’s desire to serve their alma mater was so strong that in 1992, the couple moved to Waco from their hometown of Dallas so they could easily help out whenever needed.

Ten years apart, they both attended Highland Park High School in Dallas and then Baylor, where both persevered through challenging circumstances as students on the way to earning their degrees.

From Baylor to WWII and back to Baylor

Webb was born in Vivian, Louisiana, but spent most of his life in Dallas. Just three months after he began at Baylor, the attack on Pearl Harbor compelled him to enlist in the Navy. In 1944, after training, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant Junior Grade Communications Officer. He was shipped to the Pacific to serve on a crew transport and saw the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was preparing to go to Japan when the war ended in 1945.

Webb returned to Baylor to complete his accounting degree, played trumpet in the band and was a member of the Nose Brotherhood. He graduated in 1947 and joined the prestigious accounting firm of Haskins & Sells, now Deloitte & Touche, where he spent nearly 38 years before retiring as the managing partner of the company’s Dallas office.

The Webbs’ stories converged in the early 1980s. After his wife Frances died, Carroll was introduced to Aline by mutual friends at Park Cities Baptist Church. The couple were married in 1982 by their beloved pastor and great friend, Dr. James Pleitz, a former Baylor trustee. In Waco, Carroll and Aline joined Columbus Avenue Baptist Church.

Webb was preceded in death by his first wife, Frances Rogers Webb; son, David Lawrence Webb; and his sister, Grace Moreau.

He is survived by his wife, Aline Groner Webb; children, Carol, Russell and Catherine, all of whom graduated from Baylor with degrees in elementary education, business administration and English, respectively; five grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and brother, Douglas Webb.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Baylor Bear Foundation and Deloitte & Carroll Webb Accounting Scholarship at Baylor University, c/o University Development, One Bear Place #97050, Waco, TX 76798-7050. Gift also may be made online at: www.baylor.edu/giving.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.