Travis Tindol, Jr.

Travis Edward Tindol Jr., 73, of Beeville, Texas, passed away in a San Antonio hospital on Sunday, January 3, 2021. He was a Catholic and member of St. Joseph Catholic Church.

He was born on a Wednesday, March 5, 1947, in Beeville, to (Travis) Edward “Ed” Tindol Sr. and (Laura) Elizabeth (Lewis) Tindol.

He was the owner of Fastop Bottle Shoppe since 2000, and for almost 30 years before that, co-owner of Tindol Distributing Co. with his father, distributing Budweiser products to Bee and the surrounding counties.

He was incredibly humble and kind, thoughtful, most often seen with a smile on his face, and ready to greet you with a strong handshake, pat on the back, or a one-armed hug. He could get away with saying almost anything to anyone, things for which another might have been run out of town. But you always knew it was coming from a place of good-heartedness, and he thrived on the chance that you’d give it right back to him.

One of his absolute biggest joys in life was seeing others happy. For nearly the last decade of his life on earth, he took great pride in bringing some measure of happiness to old and new friends alike by serving the coldest beer in town, offering a wide variety of music on the juke box, and visiting with everyone who came through the doors of T’s Honky Tonk. If he liked you, he’d buy you a beer; if he’d never seen you in T’s before, he’d buy you a beer; if you’d been away for a while or he was just happy to see you, he’d buy you a beer. If you complained about the music (all of which he liked, because he had spent weeks and weeks picking the thousands of songs and creating the CD’s), he’d ask how much money you’d put in the juke box that night. The answer was usually “nothing.”

He wanted T’s to be a place he’d like to hang out in. T’s was the first non-smoking bar in Beeville, and most thought he was crazy for drawing such a line in the sand. He was also incredibly proud of the fact that a fight never occurred at T’s – until it almost did, once and only once. He loved observing group dynamics and enjoyed “betting” someone that he could play a song on the juke box that would make everyone in the place stop what they were doing and start singing. Inevitably the person wouldn’t believe him; and so he’d queue up “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” and win the bet.

You’d see him often on his phone, scrolling, texting, researching some recent curiosity. What his family has come to learn is that we were not special by receiving all those check-ins to ask how we were doing or encourage us along during a struggle or amidst making changes in our lives – he did that with countless friends and acquaintances. He truly cared. And he was incredibly loyal.

Every day but Sunday, he went to breakfast and to read the daily newspaper, mainly to check sports scores and see who he had outlived that day. If there was anything of particular interest, he was quick to snap a photo of the article and send it to someone who’d appreciate it. Every day but Sunday. Because after running the store all week, and then spending the last three nights of every weekend at T’s, he was tired. And he rested on Sundays. And so we found it peacefully fitting that he passed on a Sunday.

He lived and attended school in George West, Texas, until he was 13 years old, then moved with his family to Beeville once his Dad bought the Jax (beer) distributorship. He was a 1965 graduate of A.C. Jones High School and attended Sul Ross State College, from which he would carry lifelong friendships and fond memories of the wide-open West Texas terrain. It wasn’t long, however, before he married his high school sweetheart, (Edith) Evon Wright, and packed up and moved to Uvalde, Texas, to start working and raising his family.

Just starting out, in Uvalde Travis worked at the local auto-parts store and became a volunteer fireman at the urging of his boss. After three years, his father came calling: he’d been given the opportunity to purchase the Budweiser distributorship. He was interested but would only take it if the young couple agreed to move back home so Travis could learn about and run the business with him. By now, they had two daughters, Holly and Kristen, and so in 1969, Travis, Evon and the girls moved back home. A year or so later, their son, Travis, was born. They raised their family in Beeville and were married 24 years.

Travis and his second wife, Guadalupe “Lupita” (Hinojosa), were married ten years and also raised their son, Clayton, in Beeville. They opened Fastop Bottle Shoppe together.

Over the years, Travis was increasingly involved in the community, both as a businessman and overall supporter of Beeville and the surrounding area. For many years, every Wednesday night he could be found bowling in the Men’s league. He was passionate about softball, playing on church and city teams, as well as in countless weekend tournaments across South Texas. He also enjoyed golfing for many years. He inherited his love of baseball and the Houston Astros from his Mom. To feed his own appetite for the sport and, in turn, cultivate an interest in it with young kids, he coached and made calls from behind the plate for many a young aspiring athlete in Little League baseball, before ultimately officiating high school and junior high football games across South Texas for over 25 years. He was widely considered a good and fair official by both fellow officials and area coaches.

Travis was preceded in death by his parents, Elizabeth and Edward Tindol Sr.; and youngest brother, Gary Phillip Tindol.

Survivors include his daughters, Holly Zoe (Michael) Kersten of San Antonio, Texas and Kristen Michele (Jerry) Nelson of Floresville, Texas; sons, Travis Edward (Tamra) Tindol III of Driftwood, Texas and Clayton Jarrett (fiancé Michelle Dang) Tindol of Beeville, Texas; grandchildren, Corin Shelby (fiancé Leon Payne) Nelson of Floresville, Texas, Andrew Alexander Burton of Fort Hood, Texas, Katherine Alexandra Burton of Dallas, Texas and Brock Kiernan Nelson of Floresville, Texas; great-grandchildren, Kylie Rae Kinyon, Kinsley Nicole Kinyon and Leon Roger Payne V, all of Floresville, Texas; numerous beloved nieces and nephews; a brother, Ronald Ray (Jimmye Lu) Tindol of Spring Branch, Texas; mothers of his children, Evon Tindol of San Antonio, Texas, and Lupita Kemple, of Corpus Christi, Texas; his long-time girlfriend, Michelle Martinez, and her children, JoAnthony (Cyndee) Zamora, Adam Zamora, Lynnsey Martinez, all of Beeville, and Samantha Martinez of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 6, at Galloway & Sons Funeral Home and from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, January 7, at St. Joseph Catholic Church. A Rosary will be recited at the church that evening at 7 o’clock.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 8, at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Burial will follow in the Gussettville Cemetery in George West.

Pallbearers will be grandsons Andrew Burton and Brock Nelson, nephews Lance Tindol, Bill Goynes and Colton Tindol, second-cousin Garrett Tindol, friends and long-time fellow high school football officials Eloy Rodriguez and Jason Weischwill.

Honorary pallbearers will be Jason Tindol, Steven Scotten, Marc Eeds, JoAnthony Zamora and Adam Zamora.

All expressions of sympathy, including flowers, honorary donations to a favorite charity, and cards are welcome.