Walter Ray Newcomb, Jr. (Buddy), age 96, of La Grange, Texas, died in Austin, Texas on October 19, 2024.

He was born in McAlester, Oklahoma on October 13, 1928 to Walter Ray Newcomb and Nina Louise Williams Newcomb. He is a descendant of Francis and Rachael Newcomb who came to America in 1635 from England arriving at the Boston Harbor on the sailing ship, the Planter.

When the Great Depression began, his parents moved in 1930 to the family farm west of Woodward, Oklahoma that was homesteaded by his paternal grandparents Cassius Annas and Lydia Ann Savage Newcomb in 1900.

His maternal grandparents were Jake Vanlandingham Williams and Elizabeth Ann Steered Williams of Ennis, Texas.

Buddy started school in 1934 at Tangier in Woodward County, Oklahoma. He was a member of the 4-H Club and enjoyed playing basketball during his high school years. He attended the same school for twelve years, graduating in 1946.

He served in the United States Air Force from 1950 to 1954 during the Korean War. He was assigned to the Strategic Air Command in airborne radar and was sent to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa in 1951 where he maintained radar in B-29's.

He married Peggy Ruth Thompson, daughter of Claude and Paralee Gillean Thompson of Roscoe, Texas on August 9, 1953 in the First Baptist Church in Roscoe.

Buddy attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture Education.

He was employed by the Texas Department of Agriculture. In 1966 he was transferred to Austin, Texas, where he organized a seed testing program in the seed division of the TDA that took him to many countries. Buddy is known nationally for his expertise in hybrid sorghum, sorghum sudan grass hybrids and hybrid sunflowers. The testing program was a cooperative program with the Texas Seed Trade Association. He was a member of the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies where he served on several committees and as chairman of the sorghum and tree seed committees that made Federal rules for the production and enforcement of certified seed under the Federal Seed air.

Buddy is survived by his wife, Peggy Newcomb, son David Newcomb of La Grange, daughter, Janet Newcomb Schmidt and husband, Richard of Round Top, Texas, grandson, Tyler Schmidt and wife, Libby, of La Grange, granddaughter, Lauren Schmidt of Wimberley, Texas, sisters, Betty Adams of Woodward, Oklahoma, Jane Hightower and husband, Glenn of Oklahoma City, brother, Corbin Newcomb and wife, Billie Jean of Moberly, Missouri, and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was a member of Highland Park Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.

Visitation will be at Koening-Belvill Funeral Home in La Grange, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. with family present at this time to receive friends.

Graveside services and burial will be at the City Cemetery in La Grange at a later date.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Koenig-Belvill Funeral Home & Cremations, 208 W. Pearl, La Grange, TX. Family and friends can view and sign the guestbook online at www.lagrangefunerals.com.