Radcliffe Killam

RADCLIFFE KILLAM

OLIVER WINFIELD “O.W.” KILLAM AND HARRIET SMITH KILLAM, THE PARENTS OF RADCLIFFE KILLAM, WERE BORN AND EDUCATED IN MISSOURI, AND MOVED TO LAREDO IN 1920. WITH THEM TRAVELED THEIR SON, RADCLIFFE KILLAM, BORN IN GROVE, OKLAHOMA ON JULY 1, 1910. O.W. CAME TO SOUTH TEXAS TO PROSPECT FOR HYDROCARBONS ON MINERAL LEASES ACQUIRED WHILE HE WAS AN OKLAHOMA STATE SENATOR. RADCLIFFE KILLAM GRADUATED FROM LAREDO HIGH SCHOOL IN 1928, FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IN 1932, AND FROM HARVARD LAW SCHOOL IN 1935. AFTER COMPLETING HIS EDUCATION, RADCLIFFE RETURNED TO WORK WITH HIS FATHER IN THE OIL FIELDS. IN 1942, HE ENTERED THE U.S. NAVAL SERVICE. HE FIRST SERVED IN THE ATLANTIC THEATER AND THEN AS COMMANDER OF A PT BOAT BASE NEAR PAPUA NEW GUINEA. HE LEFT THE NAVY IN 1945 AND RETURNED TO LAREDO.

RADCLIFFE CONTINUED TO WORK WITH HIS FATHER AND SUCCESSFULLY PROSPECT AND DRILL FOR OIL AND NATURAL GAS BY DRILLING WILDCAT AND DEVELOPMENT WELLS THROUGHOUT SOUTH TEXAS. AFTER O.W.’S DEATH IN 1959, RADCLIFFE ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FAMILY BUSINESS. UNDER HIS SUPERVISION, THE BUSINESS GREW AND DIVERSIFIED INTO CATTLE RANCHING, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT, AND FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS. HE SERVED AS DIRECTOR OF SEVERAL TRADE ORGANIZATIONS, DIRECTOR OF THE LAREDO NATIONAL BANK AND THE ALAMO NATIONAL BANK BASED IN SAN ANTONIO, AND WAS HONORED WITH NUMEROUS AWARDS. RADCLIFFE WAS A DRIVING FORCE BEHIND TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY (TAMIU) AS A FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTION IN LAREDO AND DONATED LAND AND FUNDS IN THE EARLY 1990s. RADCLIFFE KILLAM’S DEDICATION TO EDUCATION, THE COMMUNITY, AND THE OIL INDUSTRY LED TO THE GROWTH OF THE AREA AND BENEFITED MANY IN THE COMMUNITY AND THE STATE OF TEXAS.

175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011.