Terry Boothe is one hundred percent Texan. He grew up on the farm near Onion Creek that his great-grandfather had acquired during the 1860s, and he is both fiercely proud and deeply appreciative of his Texas heritage. In fact, his mission in life (after a successful business career) is to help preserve the “traditional Texas culture” that “so enriched my life.”

But don’t think you’ve got him figured out just yet. Boothe, whose business card reads, “T. Boothe – Empresario” (and adds, somewhat gratuitously, “We don’t need no stinking badges!”) approaches his mission with a uniquely Texan flair and more than a hint of satire. It all goes back (he claims) to his upbringing.

Terry Boothe was born in 1946, and his early life was, as he describes it, “Texas-style Norman Rockwell,” with extended family all around his parents’ idyllic dairy farm. “I think of it as a sort of Tom Sawyer – Huckleberry Finn existence,” he says. “But we had Onion Creek instead of the Mississippi River.”

He also had a lot more family guidance than either of those two Mark Twain characters. His father (“a farmer first and foremost,” Boothe recalls), Lawson Boothe, was a born leader with an outgoing personality and an excellent reputation for integrity. He ran for the office of Travis County commissioner just a year after Terry was born, and distinguished himself in that office for the next 23 years. Terry describes his father as being “old-school” in his child-raising philosophy, and Terry had lots of chores to do on the family farm.

Terry was the youngest of three children; his brother was eleven years older, and joined the Army when Terry was still young. His sister was seven years older than he, and Terry recalls, “She really helped raise me.” His parents were devout Christians, and Terry says, “Even though I’ve been kind of a wild and crazy guy, their faith has had a huge influence on me.”

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