A great friend to the Razorback program passed away today. Tom Schueck, 78, died after battling a series of illnesses. He was the founder of Lexicon Steel in Little Rock, a huge Arkansas company with a wide reach across the country.
Obviously, the company’s name identifies it as a steel company, but there were also divisions that did many other things, including build high end golf courses.
I got to know Tom through my good friend Wayne Reed, a Lexicon vice president. I have been a guest many times at Steel Wings Duck Club, owned by Lexicon. I have had many dinners and breakfasts with Tom. He loved to talk about the Razorbacks.
Steel Wings is a unique place, once owned by Jerry Jones. But Tom took it and remodeled and expanded it into probably the nicest duck lodge in Arkansas. If there is something you can think of that was not there, and mentioned it, Tom would have it there the next time.
I’ve had a tour of Lexicon and it’s an impressive place. Massive facility near the airport.
Tom has served on the highway commission, airport board and many others. Some of my friends have served with him and said you knew what you’d get with Tom, always involved and always holding others accountable. If you spoke up, he was going to challenge you and what you said. He just wasn’t going to slide through things. It was going to be done right. He might agree with you, but he was always going to question what was going down.
Tom allowed his jet to be used by the UA coaches for recruiting. Wanted the Hogs to do well and if they didn’t, wanted to know why. When there were special projects going on at the UA, he could be counted on to help, although most never knew it.
The other thing I learned, Tom treated his people right at Lexicon. They made him a lot of money and he made sure to reward them. That wasn’t just pay, it was with things like use of his duck club or trips to hunt elk, etc.
Tom was a giant of a man. Many around him just called him “Big Daddy.” And, that was a great way to reference him.