Joe B. Hinton

Joe B. Hinton, born in Valley Mills, Texas, on February 17, 1935, died peacefully on Thursday, December 29, 2016, in Waco. Funeral Services will be 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 3, 2017, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home. Visitation will be 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Monday, January 2, 2017, in the Wilkirson-Hatch Bailey Garden Room. He received a bachelor of science degree and a master’s degree in education from Texas A&M University-Commerce, where he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1988. While in the National Guard, Joe served in the 14th Armored Infantry Battalion for 8 years. Joe B. Hinton retired as president of Mobil Oil Corporation Europe in London, which had interests in numerous countries worldwide. He began his career with Mobil Oil Corporation as a college student working as a roustabout and roughneck in the oil fields of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas during the summer. Joe spent more than 40 years with Mobil Oil Corporation, serving as vice president of U.S. Marketing and Refining in New York, Philadelphia, Fairfax, Va., and executive vice president for Montgomery Ward, Inc., a Chicago-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Mobil Corporation. Over the course of his career, his business activities involved him in some 60 countries and brought him into contact with high-level government officials in such diverse locations as China, Japan, India, the Soviet Union, Brazil and countries throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. After he retired, Joe served as adviser to the chair and CEO of Andrew Corporation, a Chicago-based multinational electronics and telecommunications company. Hinton was appointed by Governor George W. Bush to the Brazos River Authority board of directors for a six-year term, and served as chair of the Authority's 21-member board for four years. He was reconfirmed to this position by Gov. Rick Perry, when George W. Bush was elected president. After completing his term with the Brazos River Authority, Hinton was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, where he served until his six-year term expired in August of 2011. Hinton served as chair of the board for the Texas A&M University-Commerce Foundation for 11 years. He established the Joe. B. Hinton Office of International Studies at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and the Joe B. Hinton Fellows in Business Scholarship. He also provides miscellaneous financial support, as well as scholarships, to the Texas A&M University-Commerce athletics programs. The same is true for the needy students in the International Studies program. Hinton was the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Texas Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame Advisory Board, retired, as well as the McLennan County Republican Party Chairman. Joe once owned Bosque Ridge Ranches, Inc., operating several beef cattle ranches in Central Texas. Joe was married to Betty A. Goelzer of Chilton, Texas, for 63 years. He is survived by his wife, Betty; his two daughters, Gail Hinton and her son, Lt. Thomas M. Christian, and his wife, Teresa, and son, Seth; and Joanne Hinton Morton and her sons, award-winning director of cinematography, William T. Kamp, III, and Joseph B. Morton, a junior at Texas Christian University. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com. Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey