Gen. Mc Dermott, Sir, rest in peace!

Early this week San Antonio and the USA lost a man who, probably more than anyone else, shaped this city in the last half of the twentieth Century into what she is now in the opening years of the Twenty-first. General Robert F. Mc Dermott left this mortal Earth on Monday the 28th, at age 86, following complication of a mid-August stroke.

The General was known to me primarily as the (retired) CEO of USAA, the major financial and insurance firm for military (active & retired) and their dependents. In that role I'd long admired Gen. Mc Dermott. He was a very respected leader at USAA. which used to be my auto insurer and still is MY BANK. One item that led to my admiration was that early in the 1990s, he insisted that USAA not stoop to the "casual Friday" work apparel, but rather continue to have employees dressed like professionals, e.g. men in dress shirts and neckties. Speaking of apparel, I've never seen a photo of the General where he wasn't wearing a suit and tie. With such dapper garb and his silvery head of hair always neatly combed, and his bearing, he truly looked regal, or as someone has said, like "a made-to-order General for Hollywood casting"

But oh, there was SO MUCH more to "McD", as he was affectionately known. One strong indication of the full life of this man is that his obituary took up TWO entire columns on the Express-News obituary page! (Be aware that the font size for obituaries is smaller than the font size for regular newspaper articles!) And in the day or two following his departure from this life there were easily a half dozen newspaper articles concerning him. Even the Sports section got in on this act, since McD was engaged with S.A.'s beloved NBA team, the Spurs, and was responsible for the hiring of Coach Popovich, a cadet at AFA during McD's tenure there.

Raised in New England, he flew several combat missions in WW II. He was also in the administration of the then-new Air Force Academy in Colorado, and retired as brigadier general (the youngest at the time he was promoted to that rank). While taking USAA from a mediocre auto insurance corporation to an efficient and admired financial giant (for awhile the largest private employer in S.A.), McD also took San Antonio from a sleepy, status-quo-is-fine city basking in the afterglow of HemisFair '68, to the vibrant and economically diverse yet still-colorful metropolis it is today.

On the way, McD started innovative business practices at USAA & had his hand in the origins or major expansions of various now-well-established S.A. entities, such as the Medical Center in the northwest of the city, the Economic Development Foundation, and the Texas Research Park in far west Bexar County. He and USAA joined forces with Opryland USA in Nashville, to bring an Opryland-style music show oriented amusement park to S.A. Hence, we now have Fiesta Texas!

McD was not perfect. (Only one man ever was perfect, and for His perfection He got nailed to a cross!) Early on he and C.O.P.S. got cross-wise of each other. But then McD realized that his E.D.F. and the Communities Organized for Public Service had very similar goals, and conversations led to co-operation. McD also was a staunch early advocate (if not agitator) for air bags in vehicles. I detest those deadly devices -- numerous small children and small women have died thanks to an air bag deployment. So McD loses points with me thanks to that! (However, he doesn't lose many.)

The Express-News, S.A.'s daily newspaper, on its Website had a "Talkback" page where readers could post reminiscences of General Mc Dermott, and condolences to the family. Over 70 such messages were quickly posted, many from retired or former USAA employees. Many a heart-warming anecdote concerning this man got shared here.

Mc Dermott's name graces such items as the USAA headquarters building, a nearby elementary school and professorships at the AFA and the UIW. A grateful San Antonio also gave his name to the portion of IH Ten going north from downtown past the USAA campus and further out toward Fiesta Texas.

Today they held the funeral and then buried this remarkable man. Also, there was a rosary for Gen. McD last evening, in the chapel of the University of the Incarnate Word, where he had been teaching when he suffered the stroke. The funeral itself was this morning at St. Peter Prince Catholic Church in Alamo Heights (just blocks up Broadway from the university chapel). He being a retired military general, the burial was of course in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

Due to work schedule and other factors I didn't get to attend the rosary, the funeral or the burial service. However, I've made a promise that as soon as I am able, I'll visit the FSH Nat'l Cemetery and pay my respects to this man I never met but whose impact has touched my life and whose example I will always hold to be one of the best!

General Mc Dermott, Sir! Thank you for all you gave, to make San Antonio the dynamic city she is today. And a special thanks to you for your hand in the creation of Fiesta Texas! May you rest in the undying peace of Heaven!