EDWARD H. BAUERLE

1930-2019

Edward H. (Ed) Bauerle

Jr. began his life’s journey on November 18, 1930 as the eldest son of Edward H. (Curley) Bauerle, Sr. and Mary Ione Berndgen Bauerle. He was preceded in death by his parents, his twin brothers, Gene and Jerry Bauerle, and his wife Esperanza Bauerle. He was survived by his sister, Barbara Weber, two children, Graciela Alvarez and Carlos Bauerle, three stepdaughters, Patricia Martinez, Teresa Marquez and Rosa Rodriguez and one stepson Juan Luna, 23 Grandchildren, 31 Great Grandchildren and 1 Great-Great Grandchildren. He graduated from Reagan Senior High in 1949. He enrolled in the University of Houston but had his education interrupted by two years’ service in the army during the Korean War. He spent most of this time at Fort

Sill in Oklahoma. After his discharge from the Army he resumed his education at the University of Houston. In June of 1956 he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a degree in Mathematics. As a teenager he began his employment in the auto parts business during the summer of 1942 at the age eleven. His father opened an auto parts business in 1946 and Ed operated the new business after school for the first year. After the first year the business grew enough to employ a full time manager with an expanded market to include auto repair shops and use car dealers. When he graduated from college he planned to go to work in the Aerospace industry but his plan was interrupted by the death of his brother Jerry in a freak accident. He agreed to stay in the company business until his father could replace his brother. After a time the manager that his father had hired left to go in business himself. His father spent several months interviewing candidates for the job but never found the right person. Ed in the meantime had been managing the company and was given the job by default. In 1958 they acquired the distribution of United Delco, the parts division of the General Motors. This enabled the company to move up one rung in the distribution ladder, with a market including jobbers but excluding all of the previous customers. In 1964 the family business spun off the Jobber function named Comet Auto Supply which was given to his brother Gene while Ed and his father formed Jobber’s Service Warehouse. He attended “Our Lady of Guadalupe” parish from

1996 to 2008 where he was a member of the financial committee. He valued the friendships and experiences of those years. After twenty successful years, in 1984, the family business was sold to A-I Industries, a huge chain of warehouses formed by a very wealthy family from Kuwait. Ed remained as an employee until Labor Day of 1987. While he was the manager of Jobber’s Service, Ed had guaranteed a not for a good customer who had sold his store to his key employees. In 1985 the Jobber Company ran out of money and was broke. Ed wound up with the store that was deeply in debt. He hired a few managers to keep it open while he searched for a buyer. In 1987, when he left the Warehouse he decided to manage the store himself to salvage what he might from the wreckage. In 1992 he reorganized the company with a zero net worth and a personal note to Ed for the net value of the store’s assets. At that time he took in a partner, Lee Garcia, who he had known and worked with for many years. The partnership was successful and in 2007 they sold the business and Ed retired. After more than sixty years in business he retired at the age of seventy eight. His wonderful life’s journey was completed on. Services will be held at Funeraria Del Angel-Crespo 2516 Navigation Blvd. Houston, TX 77003. A visitation will be held on Monday, July 22, 2019 from 2 p.m-9 p.m. A rosary service at 7 p.m. Also, a Funeral Mass on July 23, 2019 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe 2405 Navigation Blvd Houston TX, 77003 with a burial at Hollywood Cemetery, 3506 N Main St, Houston, TX 77009.