Leadership and Responsibility, the passing of an era
On Saturday, September 18, 2021, Joe Webb Sr. aged 86, passed away at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Born in Beeville Texas in 1935. It was in Beeville that Mr. Webb learned the value of community. He graduated from High School in 1952 and married Frances Dee Toliver in 1953. In 1955 Joe and Frances Webb Sr moved permanently to San Antonio. With children and a wife to support, Webb held 3 jobs simultaneously. He worked as a janitor in the post office, was a cook at the St. Anthony hotel and a masseur at the YMCA. It was during these years Joe Webb began to understand the power of higher education and what it could mean for his family financially. He attended San Antonio College and St. Mary’s University.
HEB
In the late 1960’s Joe Webb Sr. began his career with HEB. Charles Butt traveled from Corpus Christi Texas to personally hire Joe Webb Sr. In 1969 he entered the HEB Managerial program. He then became the manager of several HEB grocery stores. Most notably the first African American to manage HEB store #1 and the East Side flagship HEB on N. New Braunfels.
DISTRICT 2
Joe Webb’s relationship with San Antonio’s East Side began with his employment at the YMCA. There he met and networked with many of the city’s movers and shakers. They were impressed with his ability to effectively communicate and express the needs of the people within his neighborhood. It was here that he was encouraged to use his gift to seek greater employment opportunities and political office. Joe Webb’s campaign began as all grassroots campaigns do. The use of family and friends to make phone calls and knock-on doors. He spoke at various Churches and public gatherings and soon his idea of a bigger and more dynamic Eastside caught fire and in 1977 the East Side cast their ballots for Joe Webb Sr. as their representative City Councilman for District 2. Mr. Webb would retain this seat through many elections, finally ending his City Council career in 1991. Making him the longest serving councilman in San Antonio history. Those years between 1977 and 1991 were years of great change not just for the East Side but for the City of San Antonio at large. Joe Webb served on one of the most dynamic City Councils in San Antonio with names we are still familiar with today. His contemporaries included former San Antonio City Councilman, Mayor and United States HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, former TX St. Representative, Senator, Mayor and currently Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff as well as former Mayor and Author Lila Cockrell. These were change agent times.
PRIDE IN THE EAST SIDE
While in and out of office, Joe Webb used his name and clout to support and encourage many East Side causes. He owned and operated his own grocery store on the East Side. Webbway grocery store located at 2145 E. Houston St. was and still is historic as the only full-service grocery store owned and operated by an African American in San Antonio. He was an early supporter of the MLK celebration, and he helped to secure the Alamodome. He has been awarded numerous times for his contributions to San Antonio. In 1992 The City of San Antonio renamed Durango Bridge the Joe Webb Bridge. In 1995 Ruth Jones McClendon read into the City Council minutes a proclamation honoring Joe Webb Sr. for his service to the community. 2016 saw then Councilman Alan Warrick II award Joe Webb Sr. the Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2017 the Bexar County Historical Society interviewed and entered his biography into their official database. Joe Webb Sr. was a lifetime member of the NAACP as well as a Grand Master of the Masonic Masons.
ELDER STATESMAN
In 1999 Frances Webb his wife of 46 years, passed away and Joe Webb Sr, became a widow. He later married his current wife, Mrs. Barbara Webb. The couple remained an active part of the community and Joe Webb Sr. continued to engage in East Side politics through speaking engagements and support of various District 2 candidates and Councilpersons. In addition to community work, Webb attended seminary school and became an ordained minister. He served as associate pastor of God’s Property Christian Community Church.
Webb is survived by his wife, Barbara, and four children: Joe Louis Webb Jr. Vincent Dee Webb, Linda Ray Stephens and Monique Miles Hunter, Grandchildren and Greatgrandchildren. Webb was preceded in death by his son Daniel Webb.
