Tom Landry - Personal Life

Personal Life

Born in Mission, Texas, to Ray (an auto mechanic and volunteer fireman) and Ruth Landry, Tom was the second of four children (Robert, Tommy, Ruthie and Jack). Landry's father had suffered from rheumatism, and relocated to the warmer climate of Texas. Ray Landry himself was an athlete, making his mark locally as a pitcher and football player Tom played quarterback (primary passer and runner, and also punter) for Mission High School, where he lead his team to a 12-0 record his senior season. The Mission High School Football Stadium is named Tom Landry Stadium and is home to the Mission Eagles. He attended the University of Texas in Austin as an industrial engineering major. Landry had given thought to enrolling at SMU, but he knew that he would be away from his friends and family. The main driving force in keeping him from enrolling at SMU was the notion that it would be too long a travel for his parents to see him play college football.

He interrupted his education after a semester to serve in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. Tom was inspired to join the armed forces in honor of his brother, Robert. Robert Landry had enlisted in the Army Air Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. While ferrying a B-17 over to England, Robert Landry's plane had gone down over the North Atlantic, close to Iceland. It was several weeks before the Army would be able to officially declare Robert Landry dead. Tom Landry began his basic training at Sheppard Field near Wichita Falls, Texas (now Sheppard AFB), and his pre-flight training would begin at Kelly Field (now Kelly Field Annex), located near San Antonio, Texas. Tom's first experience as a bomber was a tough one. A few minutes after take off, Landry realized that the pilot seemed to be working furiously, and it was then that Landry had realized that the plane's engine had died. Despite this experience, Landry was committed to flying. At the age of nineteen, Landry was transferred to Sioux City, Iowa, where he trained as a co-pilot for flying a B-17 had begun. In 1944, Landry got his orders, and from Sioux City he went to Liverpool, England, where he was assigned to the Eighth Air Force,493rd Squadron in Ipswich. Landry earned his wings and a commission as a Second Lieutenant at Lubbock Army Air Field, and was assigned to the 493d Bombardment Group at RAF Debach, England, as a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber co-pilot in the 860th Bombardment Squadron. From November 1944 to April 1945, he completed a combat tour of 30 missions, and survived a crash landing in Belgium after his bomber ran out of fuel.

He returned to his studies at the University of Texas (UT) in the fall of 1946. On the football team, he played fullback and defensive back on the Texas Longhorns' bowl game winners on New Year's Day of 1948 and 1949. At UT, he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Omega Chi chapter). He received his bachelor's degree from UT in 1949. In 1952, he earned a Master's degree in Industrial engineering from the University of Houston.

Landry was known as a quiet, religious man, unfazed by the hype that surrounded the Cowboys, then being billed as America's Team. A Methodist Sunday school teacher, he would sometimes arrive for home games only moments before a noon kickoff after teaching an adult Bible study class in the morning. He was in a comic book promoting Christianity in 1973. Landry was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Landry was a friend of the Reverend Billy Graham, speaking at many of his crusades. In fact, one of the suit coats Landry commonly wore was a gift from Graham.

Landry married the former Alicia Wiggs on January 28, 1949. The Landrys were married for 51 years, until his death, and had three children: a son, Tom, Jr., and daughters Kitty and Lisa (d. 1995).