George Coulam, who cofounded the Texas Renaissance Festival with his brother David in 1974, passed away by self-destruction on May 21 He was 87
TODD MISSION, Texas– George Coulam , the owner of the Texas Renaissance Event and a towering number in its 50 -year background, died by suicide, according to an update from Grimes County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Mark Laughlin.
Laughlin stated Coulam’s remains were launched to Magnolia Funeral chapel by the Ft Bend Area Medical Supervisor’s Office. Coulam left a will that consisted of prepare for his funeral. Laughlin really did not specify on those information, pointing out respect for the family members’s personal privacy.
Magnolia Funeral Home informed KHOU 11 that a funeral day has not been established yet.
The 87 -year-old was located dead at his home in Todd Mission on the morning of May 21 Grimes Area Sheriff Donald Sowell previously said there were no indications of bad deed and no danger to the public.
Mary Carol Herrington claimed she operated at the Texas Renaissance Event for 3 years starting in 2012, marketing cigars during the annual event. She defined Coulam as “extremely friendly” and added that she was ruined by his fatality.
“I cried when I initially listened to,” Herrington said. “It’s broken my heart due to the fact that those were some of my fondest memories.”
Herrington claimed that during the time she was employed at the festival, she was getting away from a residential violence circumstance with her then-husband. She said Coulam headed out of his means to protect her.
“He designated me a bodyguard who supervised me the whole time I was there at the Renaissance Festival. I’m going to obtain weepy. Not many people would certainly do that,” Herrington claimed. “They became my household, so it made me feel secure at that point in time.”
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A celebration founder and Texas icon
Understood affectionately as “King George,” Coulam cofounded the Texas Renaissance Festival in 1974 with his bro David. His vision changed it into one of the largest and most cherished Renaissance-themed celebrations in the nation. The occasion attracts hundreds of countless visitors to Todd Objective each loss and has come to be a social staple throughout Texas.
Coulam likewise acted as the city’s mayor from its consolidation in 1982 up until May 8, just weeks prior to his fatality.
In a declaration launched after his passing away, festival coordinators claimed, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of George Coulam, founder of the Texas Renaissance Celebration. For greater than 50 years, he developed a community that has actually ended up being a treasured tradition for generations of performers, team, and visitors.”
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Lawful battle surrounding the event
Coulam’s death came shortly after a Grimes Region judge bought the $ 60 million sale of the Texas Renaissance Festival and surrounding properties. The ruling followed a civil suit in which plaintiffs affirmed that Coulam had actually revoked a major sale contract after accepting a down payment and closing prices.
The court awarded the complainants– RW Lands, Texas Stargate, and Royal Campground– $ 22 million in damages and $ 1 million in legal charges. Despite the lawful battle, event organizers have said the 2025 period will continue as intended.
Meril Rivard, president of Texas RF, Inc., launched a declaration in the wake of Coulam’s fatality:
“We are shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the fatality of George Coulam. Like every person else that enjoys the Texas Renaissance Festival, we continue to be committed to ensuring that the event resides on.”
Anthony Laporte is the attorney representing the would-be purchasers in that case. He stated the transfer of possession has actually not technically gone through yet, in spite of the court’s judgment, but that the process is still underway.
“They still possess and possess what they owned before. The procedure is still moving forward to minimize the court’s ruling to reasoning, which will then allow or force the parties to conform,” Laporte stated. “That must be able to go forward. The issue is made complex by the reality that Mr. Coulam, who was a bulk shareholder in those entities, now he has or will certainly have agents or an estate or somebody that is mosting likely to always have to get authority to continue, that sort of thing.”
Offered the unpredictability of the ownership heading into this year’s celebration, KHOU 11 asked Laporte what the future has in shop– particularly for this autumn.
“All parties are motivated to make certain that the celebration continues as it would certainly,” he claimed.
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