Roll Call Tribute

Douglas Wayne Wilde
October 21, 1955 - August 24, 2021

Doug Wilde, age 65 of Rockdale, passed away Tuesday evening, August 24, 2021 at Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Round Rock. Services for Doug will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, August 30, 2021 at Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home in Rockdale with Pastor Barry Methvin of Apostolic Faith Church and Pastor Marcus Evans of Katy Community Fellowship Church will officiate. Burial in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Rockdale. Visitation is 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Sunday, August 29, 2021 at the funeral home.

Doug was born October 21, 1955 in Raymondville, Texas to James Louis and Isabella Ottilia (Buxkemper) Wilde. He graduated from Lyford High School.

Doug was known for his big smile and friendly demeanor. He learned a strong work ethic growing up on a farm in the Rio Grande Valley. He also had a strong sense of family with loving parents, two sisters and four brothers. Living near the bay, Doug’s dad passed on a love of fishing to all his children.

Doug attended Texas A&M University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and where he was part of the Corps, Company C-1 (Cobra C Outfit). After graduating, he sold John Deere equipment in East Bernard. Doug moved to Rockdale in 1982 when he purchased the Western Auto Store. Soon after, he built the store at its current location. In 1996, he transitioned the business from Western Auto to CarQuest. On February 28, 1987, he and Marilyn LeAnn Springer were married in Rockdale. He was a member of Apostolic Faith Church in Rockdale where he was also a Sunday school teacher and Men’s Meeting Leader. He was a member and past president of Rockdale Lions Club and had served as a Director with Rockdale Chamber of Commerce.

Doug has been a long-time member of Gideons International and president of a local camp. Because of Doug’s love for God and His Word, he has helped place many Bibles and give many New Testaments. When distributing New Testaments on college campuses, he would give the students a New Testament and say “final exam notes.”

Because God’s love so radically changed Doug’s life, one of his greatest passions was to share that love with others. He would say, “God is in the people business, so we are in the people business.” CarQuest was sometime referred to as Soul Quest. The joy of interacting with people was one of the things that made retail business meaningful for Doug. He was truly a “People person.”

Doug loved “his girls.” He taught his wife and daughters the joy of fishing. His happy place was to be with his girls by an ocean, gulf, or bay.

He is preceded in death by his parents, James Louis and Isabella Wilde; brother-in-law, Patrick “Paddy” Joseph Brady and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Calvin and Doris Springer.

Surviving is his wife of 34 years, LeAnn Wilde of Rockdale; Daughters, Ann Alexandra Wilde of Waco and Caroline Lee Wilde of Rockdale; Sisters, Jane Brady of Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida and Judy Lullo and husband Dick Hansen of Houston; brothers, Jim Wilde and wife Agnes of Caldwell, David Wilde of Cat Spring, Glenn Wilde and wife Julie of Lyford and Keith Wilde and wife Wanetta of Sanger.

Pallbearers are Jeff Wilde, Richard Lullo, II, Hunter Wilde, Barret Wilde, Bryce Wilde, Travis Busselman. Honorary pallbearers are Jack Wilde, Robert Zapata, Del Lange, Dwayne Smith and Ben Montelongo.

Memorial may be made in Doug’s memory to, Gideons International Processing Center, P.O. Box 97251, Washington DC 20090-7251 or call 866-382-4253 or www.gideons.org.

Doug will be missed, and he will be remembered for the loving, compassionate, Christ-filled man he was.

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