Businessman, Civic Leader Willard Pfluger Passes Away

NORTH AUSTIN-PFLUGERVILLE, TX -- Willard Pfluger--a member of the founding family for whom the city of Pflugerville is named--has passed away at the age of 95.

According to the Pflugerville Pflag newspaper, Pfluger, the descendant of German immigrants, passed away on Jan. 2. A World War II veteran, businessman and volunteer in many civic initiatives are among the many roles Pfluger contributed to the town named for his family.

Born in 1920, Pfluger was the son of George Pfluger, whose own father emigrated to the U.S. with his brothers from Germany in 1856.

In 1904, Albert Pfluger donated land for the depot and right of way for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad, which was to become the economic spark that would create Pflugerville, according to the Pflugerville Pflag narrative.

George and Albert Pfluger would go on to plat the city’s first subdivision. In a 2010 interview, Willard Pfluger said his grandfather’s fervent wish was to see the area to expand and prosper.

“He was the one who wanted the town to grow, and the one that actually started Pflugerville,” Pfluger told the newspaper.

A graduate of Pflugerville High School in 1939, Pfluger was in the drama club and was an athletic standout--playing football, tennis, baseball and basketball. He later attended Texas Lutheran College in Seguin.

During WWII, Pfluger managed to avoid seeing combat after basic training at Fort Hood. He was later stationed in California, but was never sent overseas for battle.

Before and after the war, he was focused on his business interests, launching ventures in oil, livestock, grain and other investments. He founded Pflugerville Feed and Grain in 1956, while distributing butane and propane products.

Among his civic contributions were helping to found the area’s first volunteer fire department in 1955, serving on the board of the Immanuel Lutheran Church and joining the Pflugerville Lions Club as a charter member.

Funeral services are scheduled at Immanuel Lutheran, located at 500 Immanuel Road, on Jan. 6 beginning at 1 p.m. On Tuesday, a visitation is scheduled at Cook-Walden Funeral Home’s Dignity Memorial at 6100 N. Lamar Boulevard in Austin from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.