C. Terry Plum
Charles Terry Plum was born November 28, 1945, in Pittsburg, Texas, the only child of Frederick Warner Plum, a survey engineer, and Inez Lura (Holcomb) Plum, a banker and wonderful cook. Terry was a proud fourth generation Texan. He grew up in East Dallas and attended James B. Bonham School on Henderson Street. Terry and neighborhood friends rode their bikes to go fishing in Turtle Creek and he learned to swim in the Tietze Park public pool. Nez, his mother, said she knew the neighborhood was starting to go downhill when the streetcar conductors decided to move out of the area. He was delighted to see the dramatic neighborhood improvement and redevelopment in more recent years. Later, the family moved to Mount Pleasant, and he graduated from Mount Pleasant High School. Terry attended East Texas State University in Commerce and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture. He was drafted into the Vietnam War in the late 1960s. He served as sergeant in the medical corps, stationed in Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and later at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia before receiving an honorable discharge. Terry married Alice Ann Hooton October 12, 1968, and had two children, Jon Marcus Plum and Anna Brooke Plum. In the early 1970s, Terry accepted a position with Fort Wayne, Indiana based Central Soya Company, a private company that manufactured soy products used in the food industry. He would enjoy great success at “The Bean” and received several prestigious industry and sales awards. He also formed friendships that would last throughout his lifetime. Instead of accepting promotion to top level management in Indiana, he opted to stay in Texas and work in multiple food industry sales roles until he founded Plum and Associates, an industrial food brokerage company, in 1990. His work at Plum and Associates was rewarded with tremendous growth since the time of its inception and remains an industry leader as Plum Group Foods. Through his business, Terry was proud to provide employment and opportunity to others. The thing we will remember most about Terry is his love of friends, family, the outdoors, and Texas. He was an avid hunter, fisherman, and outdoorsman. Those that knew him best will tell you he enjoyed time in the truck, “riding around on the ranch.” He traveled extensively and was a fixture in several remote locations around Texas, including the encampment on Lucy Creek in Lampasas County, Lake Necessity Ranch in Stephens County, The McLemore in Shackelford County and occasionally the King Ranch in South Texas. Terry loved literature and was a self-taught Texas historian like his father before him. He was well read in Texas history and lore and he could challenge the most studied academic. He also enjoyed tales of the big game hunters throughout the world. Terry had a lifelong dream to visit East Africa and see the landscape, animals and people of the Savannah. This dream was realized in 1997 thanks to the generosity and persistence of close family friends, the Prater Family. We accurately described it as “the trip of a lifetime.” In 2007, Terry was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Through grit and determination, he managed to fight the disease into remission where it remained. He and Ann built a home on family land in Alba now known as The Plum Ranch where family and friends hold legendary feasts and celebrations. Terry died peacefully from complications related to his previous cancer treatment. He passed away at Baylor Medical Center November 26, 2021, in the heart of East Dallas where it all started. He was 75 years old. Terry is survived by his wife of 53 years, Ann Plum, Jon and Shannon Plum of Austin, Rick and Brooke Herold of Dallas, and grandchildren Liam Plum, Henry Plum, Avery Herold, Margot Plum and Hayes Herold.