He helped people succeed

Timberlake

based Timberlake & Associates in 1968. Long before the recent wave of life coaches and self-help gurus, Timberlake helped clients achieve their dreams and goals through seminars, speeches and training programs. It was radio broadcaster Paul Harvey who once called Timberlake “America’s Apostle of Optimism.”

“A mind that divides itself isn’t as strong,” Timberlake told the American-Statesman in 1990. “That’s why singleminded people seem to have an obsession. They know exactly what they want and go after it.”

He authored motivational books — “Born To Win” with Marietta Reed, “It’s Always Too Soon To Quit” and his latest, “First Thing Every Morning” with Elinor Griffith, in 2010. He had been working on a follow-up to his recent book.

Timberlake also had a strong spiritual side, and his Christian faith was reflected in his books. For more than four decades, he taught Sunday school classes.

He also reached career milestones during decades of travel and speaking. In the late 1990s, the National Speakers Association elected him into the Council of Peers Award for Excellence Speaker Hall of Fame.

Timberlake also was involved in state and national groups. He was president of the Texas State Historical Association, president of the Texas Jaycees, vice president of the U.S. Jaycees, chairman of the Texas Commission for the Blind, president of the Texas Law Enforcement and Youth Development Foundation, and vice president of the Texas Baptist Men.

Timberlake is survived by his wife of 58 years, Georgia Ann, son Brad, daughter Terri Clodfelter, grandchildren, a greatgrandson and others.

The family will receive visitors at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 N. Lamar Blvd., from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday. A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Austin Baptist Church, 7016 Ribelin Ranch Drive.