Houston Blount

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William "Houston" Blount (born January 3, 1922 in Union Springs; died January 10, 2011 in Mountain Brook) was CEO and president of Vulcan Materials.

Blount was the son of Wynton Madison and Clarabel Chalker Blount of Bullock County. He attended the Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Virginia and the University of Alabama for two years before entering the U. S. Naval Air Corps in 1942. He left the service in 1946 as a junior lieutenant.

Blount and his brother, Winton founded the Blount Brothers Construction Company in Montgomery. They purchased war surplus equipment and went to work digging fish ponds before the graduated to road and bridge building. Blount later became president of the Southeastern Sand and Gravel Company in Tallassee, Elmore County and vice president of the Southern Cen-Vi-Ro Pipe Company in Birmingham. In 1956 he joined the board of directors for Vulcan Materials and rose through the executive ranks until becoming president in 1977 and CEO in 1979. He retired in 1991.

Blount's business leadership also extended to the boards of Blount, Inc., First Alabama Bank, the Statesman Life Insurance Company and Vulcan Life Insurance Company. His civic leadership was also highly valued by the Birmingham Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Cahaba Girl Scout Council, Birmingham-Southern College, the YWCA, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alabama School of Fine Arts, Baptist Medical Center, Children's Hospital, and other organizations. He chaired the 1975 United Way annual fund drive and served on the finance committee of the Birmingham Museum of Art and the advisory board for the Brock School of Business at Samford University.

Blount and his wife, the former Frances Dean, had five children: Barbara, William Jr (Bill), Beverly, David, and Franny Dean.

Blount was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 1981, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame in 2005. He died at home in 2011.

References

  • "William 'Houston' Blount" obituary (January 12, 2011) The Birmingham News
  • Faulk, Kent (January 12, 2011) "Retired metro Birmingham CEO, philanthropist Houston Blount dies at age 89." The Birmingham News