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

Randall's Food Markets Randalls Food & Drug L.P. is an American supermarket chain which 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 arou ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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 829 at the 2020 census, up from 806 at the 2010 census. Geography Garrett is located in eastern Ellis County and is bordered to the south by the city of Ennis. Interst ...

. 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, United States. The population is 20,159 according to the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 23,686 in 2023. Ennis is home to the annual National Polka Festival. It is part of the Dall ...

. 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 university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

in 1954. Onstead also served for two years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. 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 ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Business Hall of Fame in 1993. Onstead died in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

during a vacation. He had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

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