Kerrville’s own Renaissance man: The life of Bobby Rector
Published in the Kerrville Daily Times on December 12, 2025
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| Bobby Rector Playing the Drums |
In Bobby’s case, it wasn’t so much a reinvention than it was a layering of interests. He started out as a musician, then became a professional artist and eventually rediscovered his childhood love of archaeology. He never gave up one interest to serve another. He always found a way to add to his professional skills. Bobby Rector was a multi-faceted renaissance man who had a keen interest in the world around him.
Robert “Bobby” Rush Rector was born Jan. 25, 1947, in Quanah. He was one of two sons born to Bill and Hazel Rector. The family moved to Kerrville in 1958, where his father served as the Kerr County Extension Agent and his mother taught at Starkey Elementary.
Bobby, a 1965 graduate of Tivy High School, played in the Tivy band. His love of performing in the band led to a career in music. As early as 1962, while still in high school, he was performing in numerous Texas bands. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army from 1969-71 with the 323rd U.S. Army Band at Fort Sam Houston. By 1977, he was touring with Earnest Tubb and the Texas Troubadours and performed at the Grand Ole Opry.
“I found out that life was a chain of Holiday Inns, and drummers were doomed to stay in the background unless you’re a star,” he said of those years.
He eventually tired of life on the road and enrolled in classes at Southwest Texas State University and graduated with a degree in commercial art in 1978.
After returning home to Kerrville 1978, he opened Tripple R Productions, Kerrville’s first commercial/graphic arts company. His company supplied more than 12,000 projects to customers for about 20 years. Projects included logos, signs, cartoon characters, custom designs, layouts for ad campaigns and many other projects. When he first opened business, he had an office in town, but there were too many distractions downtown, and he decided to work from his home.
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| A Map Bobby Rector Drew of Kerrville as he remembered it from his High School Days |
“Since I moved to the house, it’s quieter, and I don’t have to dress up to go to work,” he said in a 1987 interview.
He added that being at home gave him more time to spend with his daughter, Robin, when she was in town.
One project that Rector is best known for is a series of illustrated maps that he drew in the 1980s. The maps were town commemorative posters, drawn in a cartoon style that were produced by Mountain Graphics. The maps were a sprawling 2 feet by 3 feet and made for Kerrville, Brownwood, Seguin, Uvalde, Big Spring, Corpus Christi, El Paso and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Rector referred to the maps as “giant cartoons” that involved a lot of work and information.
When he drew the cartoon of Corpus Christi, he spent one and a half days roaming the town, taking photos of the 100 businesses he was to include on the posters and get a feel for the town. Once he made a rough sketch of the town, he would make a full-sized black and white drawing, making sure all business logos, signs and addresses were included. Once all the businesses were mapped out, Rector would have fun adding cartoon characters, cars on the road and even little boys fishing or collecting arrowheads.
In a couple of posters, he even added a dinosaur or two for fun.
After he finished the project for Mountain Graphics, Rector had the idea to commemorate his hometown by producing “Kerrville, Texas, Over 20 Years Ago Today” in 1988. The poster was another map of Kerrville, but instead of featuring local businesses, it was a tribute to Kerrville as Rector remembered how it looked the year he graduated from High School.
Even with the commercial art business, he still continued to play with bands locally — a commercial artist by day and musician by night. He played in several bands in various venues throughout the Hill Country. It was through his music and art that he found a way to give back to the community where he grew up and worked. Rector appeared on stage in several Point Theater and Playhouse 2000 musical productions, most notably the first local production of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” in the Arcadia Theater.
“You give the kind of service you have, if you don’t have the money,” he said about being involved in his community.
He also donated his artwork to various organizations in Kerr County. His artwork graces the pages and cover of the Kerr County Historical Commission’s “Kerr County Album” — one of my favorite local history publications.
With the advent of computers and desktop publishing, Rector foresaw the need to make another life change. Fewer companies were hiring commercial artists and, to compound issues, a lot of the local music venues started looking for out-of-town bands instead of the local guys. As a result, Rector decided to revisit his childhood love of hunting for arrowheads and turn it into a new profession.
He added that being at home gave him more time to spend with his daughter, Robin, when she was in town.
One project that Rector is best known for is a series of illustrated maps that he drew in the 1980s. The maps were town commemorative posters, drawn in a cartoon style that were produced by Mountain Graphics. The maps were a sprawling 2 feet by 3 feet and made for Kerrville, Brownwood, Seguin, Uvalde, Big Spring, Corpus Christi, El Paso and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Rector referred to the maps as “giant cartoons” that involved a lot of work and information.
When he drew the cartoon of Corpus Christi, he spent one and a half days roaming the town, taking photos of the 100 businesses he was to include on the posters and get a feel for the town. Once he made a rough sketch of the town, he would make a full-sized black and white drawing, making sure all business logos, signs and addresses were included. Once all the businesses were mapped out, Rector would have fun adding cartoon characters, cars on the road and even little boys fishing or collecting arrowheads.
In a couple of posters, he even added a dinosaur or two for fun.
After he finished the project for Mountain Graphics, Rector had the idea to commemorate his hometown by producing “Kerrville, Texas, Over 20 Years Ago Today” in 1988. The poster was another map of Kerrville, but instead of featuring local businesses, it was a tribute to Kerrville as Rector remembered how it looked the year he graduated from High School.
Even with the commercial art business, he still continued to play with bands locally — a commercial artist by day and musician by night. He played in several bands in various venues throughout the Hill Country. It was through his music and art that he found a way to give back to the community where he grew up and worked. Rector appeared on stage in several Point Theater and Playhouse 2000 musical productions, most notably the first local production of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” in the Arcadia Theater.
“You give the kind of service you have, if you don’t have the money,” he said about being involved in his community.
He also donated his artwork to various organizations in Kerr County. His artwork graces the pages and cover of the Kerr County Historical Commission’s “Kerr County Album” — one of my favorite local history publications.
With the advent of computers and desktop publishing, Rector foresaw the need to make another life change. Fewer companies were hiring commercial artists and, to compound issues, a lot of the local music venues started looking for out-of-town bands instead of the local guys. As a result, Rector decided to revisit his childhood love of hunting for arrowheads and turn it into a new profession.
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| Bobby Rector at the Alamo dig |
He opened Rector and Associates Archaeological Consulting Services in in 1990, a company that worked on several projects in the Kerr County area. In 1995, he was part of the first team of archaeologists to investigate the grounds of the Alamo and, by 2001, he had participated in more than 150 archaeological investigations in Central and South Texas.
During a dig in Milam Park in San Antonio, Rector was part of an excavation of the burial site of Ben Milam. He was so taken by the sight of the remains that he pulled out a sketch book and drew a depiction of the remains of Milam after they were unearthed. The sketch became part of the record of the dig’s findings.
Rector went on to establish the Hill Country Archeological Association. In Feburary 1999, he sent a letter to area professionals he felt might be interested in forming an archeological group in Kerrville. Within eight months, the HCAA was formed, had a nonprofit status and was having regular meetings and group activities.
During his career as an archaeologist, Rector was published in numerous journals and publications.
Bobby Rector died on June 2, 2007, but his artistic and archaeological contributions live on in our community. I would like to thank his wife, Nancy Rector, for taking the time to share photos and information of Bobby with me.
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