Lloyd Shoppa

Lloyd Shoppa

Lloyd Shoppa, 86, died peacefully Monday, February 11, 2019, surrounded by his family. He was born August 31, 1932, to Adolph and Christina Shoppa on a farm in Wharton, Texas.

            While at Wharton High School, he played on the 1950 State Football Championship team, starting on both offense and defense. He was captain of the basketball team and went to the State Championship in track his junior year. He also played trombone in the high school band. He loved to hunt and fish, skills he learned as a Boy Scout.

            He attended Wharton County Junior College on a football scholarship and later attended and graduated from The University of Texas. His professional career started as a part-time employee at Western Auto Store in Austin. He was a member of the Sigma Iota Epsilon National Honorary and Professional Management Fraternity and president of Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity.

            Lloyd married the love of his life, childhood sweetheart Betty Jean Ziober, on January 25, 1955. After graduating from UT, Lloyd accepted a job in process improvement with Texaco. In 1964, he started his 34-year career at Bell Helicopter as a systems engineer. Lloyd served in several capacities, including president of Bell Helicopter Textron Canada and eventually president and CEO of Bell Helicopter Textron until retirement. Thanks in part to his career, Lloyd and Betty traveled around the world, visiting 64 countries.

            Throughout these years, Lloyd supported his children in their lives and in their business endeavors, becoming Chairman and Director of Shoppa’s Farm Supply, a John Deere dealership with eight locations on the upper Gulf Coast, owned by his son Chris Shoppa, and Chairman of Shoppa’s Material Handling, a Toyota Industrial Equipment distributor with nine locations, owned by his son Jim Shoppa.

            In 1997, Lloyd was honored by being inducted into the National Management Association Hall of Fame in recognition of significant personal and professional contributions to the development of management and leadership.

            Lloyd was a member of First Baptist Church of Euless. He was active in civic affairs, president of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford School Board and its Chamber of Commerce. He served on the board of directors for Texas Commerce Bank and Chase Bank and was on the Capital Farm Credit Board.

            His family was the center of his life. He is survived by his beloved wife Betty; their children, Jim and Janie Shoppa, Chris and Laura Shoppa, Gail and Larry McClure and Debra and Garland Hill; grandchildren, Clayton Shoppa and Mary Hiebert, Preston and Kimber Shoppa, Kristin Shoppa, Mackenzie and Preston Moore, Madison and Dietrich Davis, Will and Caroline Shoppa, Christina and Danny Driskell, Erica Hill, Tara and Martin Spencer and Scott McClure and Caroline Solari, and 9 great-grandchildren; his sister Shirley Swinford; and many loving nieces and nephews.

            Visitation is slated for Thursday, February 14 from 6-8 p.m. at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home, 5725 Colleyville Blvd, Colleyville, TX 76034 with church service scheduled for Friday, February 15 at 10 a.m. at Cross City Church First Euless, 1000 Airport Freeway, Euless, TX 76039. Funeral services will take place Saturday, February 16, at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 507 N. Fulton St., Wharton, TX 77488 with interment immediately following at Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery, 3511 E Alabama Rd, Wharton, TX 77488.

            In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Wharton County Junior College, Lloyd and Betty Shoppa Scholarship Endowment, at 911 E Boling Hwy, Wharton, TX 77488.