Robert Randall Onstead, Senior (July 20, 1931 – August 4, 2004) was founder of

Randall's Food Markets Randalls operates 32 supermarkets in Texas under the ''Randalls'' and ''Flagship Randalls'' banners. The chain consists of 13 stores located around the Houston area and 15 stores located around the Austin area as of May 2020. Randalls today forms ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and served as chair of the board from 1966 to 1999.

Biography

Onstead was born in

Garrett, Texas Garrett is a town in Ellis County, Texas, United States. The population was 806 at the 2010 census, up from 448 at the 2000 census. Geography Garrett is located in eastern Ellis County at (32.362055, –96.651735). It is bordered to the south ...

. Onstead first gained experience in the grocery business when he delivered groceries for his uncle in

Ennis, Texas Ennis () is a city in eastern Ellis County, Texas. It is on the edge of the blackland prairie region of Texas. The population is 20,159 according to the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 21,210 in 2021. Ennis is home to the annual Nat ...

. He graduated from

Ennis High School Ennis High School is a public high school located in the city of Ennis, Texas, in Ellis County, United States and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Ennis Independent School District located in southeast Ellis County. ...

in Ennis, Texas in 1948 and the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

in 1954. Onstead also served for two years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. He had been president of Onstead Interests since 1999 and a limited partner in the Houston Texans since 2001. He was inducted into the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Business Hall of Fame in 1993. Onstead died in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

during a vacation. He had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at the airport while traveling with his wife, daughter, and granddaughter. He was 73 years old when he died.

External links

174 Years of Historic Houston, Who's Who: Robert Randall Onstead

EWISP Opportunity award with biography of Onstead
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onstead, Robert Randall 1931 births 2004 deaths People from Ellis County, Texas People from Ennis, Texas University of North Texas alumni