Fort Worth philanthropist Richard Rainwater remembered for his generosity

Ken Hersh first removed his suit coat, then his shirt and tie, followed by his pants, before standing in a T-shirt and shorts at the pulpit to remember his friend and former colleague Richard Rainwater.

“This is how I remember Richard,” Hersh said, recalling how the late billionaire sometimes conducted business in workout clothes.

“Richard could get away with anything and that’s what was so magical about him. I never saw him happier than when he was holding court in his office in the early 1990s.”

The unconventional move drew applause and laughter from about 800 mourners who gathered on Friday morning at Broadway Baptist Church to honor Rainwater.

He died Sunday of a degenerative brain disease. He was 71.

Family, friends and business associates from across the country — and from all walks of life — knew the gesture captured Rainwater’s persona.

“He was all about life,” said Hersh, who was hired by Rainwater as an investment manager and is now CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management. Rainwater’s death leaves “a hole we’ll all have to fill over time,” he said.

Friends and colleagues remembered Rainwater for his generosity, charisma, eye for talent, and his love for his family and business mentoring. They also spoke of how unpretentious he remained despite his vast wealth, how much he respected others, and how much fun he liked to have.

Rainwater was born June 15, 1944, to Walter J. Rainwater Sr., a wholesale grocer, and Regina Dieb Rainwater, a J.C. Penney sales clerk. He graduated from R.L. Paschal High School and remained a steadfast Panthers fan. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and had an MBA from Stanford University.

At the age of 26, Rainwater was hired by Sid Bass, a former business school classmate, as an investment manager. He directed the Bass family fortune, helping to turn $50 million into $5 billion between 1970 and 1986 most notably with a major investment in The Walt Disney Co.

In 1986, Rainwater went out on his own, starting Rainwater Inc. where he launched and built successful companies including Columbia/HCA Healthcare, Ensco International, Pioneer Natural Resources, Mid Ocean Limited and Crescent Real Estate Equities. He became known as a leading dealmaker and mentored many young investors who would go on to their own successful careers, a group Hersh called Rainwater’s “capitalist offspring.”

In 2009, the Fort Worth native was diagnosed with a rare, incurable neurological disease called progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP. His son, Todd Rainwater, recalled that after telling him about the diagnosis, he immediately said he had already pulled together a group of top scientists from around the world to try to find a cure, and wanted Todd to oversee the effort.

The group would become the Tau Consortium, which has received more than $50 million in funding from the Rainwater Charitable Foundation so far. Its research into tau-related diseases has already yielded a number of promising treatments, which are heading into trials.

The group’s findings will not only benefit other sufferers of PSP but also patients with Alzheimer’s, Todd Rainwater said.

“I remain committed to doing everything in my power to work with the Tau Consortium and develop treatments for PSP,” he said.

Dr. Bruce Miller, director of the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California at San Francisco, who acts as scientific director for the consortium, spoke about how valiantly Rainwater faced his disease which included multiple misdiagnoses.

“He taught me how to be a physician,” Miller said. The Tau Consortium, he said, “was Richard’s last great deal.”

Miller said the illness eventually made it hard for Rainwater to express himself but the billionaire still attended the semi-annual consortium gatherings. At one of the last meetings, Rainwater wasn’t responding at all. Former Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs, a friend of Rainwater and his wife, Darla Moore, came to speak to the group about brain injuries afflicting many former professional football players.

Toward the end of the meeting, Miller recalled, Gibbs went up to Rainwater and told him he was going to make him a Washington Redskins fan. “That was too much for Richard,” Miller said, and Rainwater raised his middle finger to Gibbs.

Through his foundation and charitable trusts, Rainwater has also donated millions of dollars to education, including public schools in Fort Worth.

Randy Chappel, managing director for the Hersh Family Investments, said he went to work for Rainwater at the age of 23 in Fort Worth, when Rainwater was a co-owner of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. He described Rainwater Inc. in those says as “kind of a never-never land, a magical place held together by Richard’s personality and extraordinary enthusiasm.”

Chappel said Rainwater, asked him to set up a baseball game at the old Arlington Stadium for his friends, complete with real umpires and uniforms. One team was led by Roger Staubach, the other by George W. Bush and Rusty Rose, and Rangers announcer Chuck Morgan was there to call each player to bat.

“It was an unbelievable night that only Richard could make happen,” Chappel said.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Fort Worth philanthropist Richard Rainwater remembered for his generosity."