NCHA News

 Albert Runels (A.R.) Ginn, Jr was born July 17, 1939 in Houston, Texas to parents Albert R. Ginn, Sr and Dorothy May Carr Ginn. A.R. passed away Thursday, January 7, 2021 in Cypress, Texas. A.R. is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Ollie Lynn Ginn, son Kelly Ginn (Becki) and children Madison (Cory) and Karter (Courtney), daughters Tracy Dandy (Mark) and sons Joshua (Wea) and Jacob (Rebekah), Julie Casburn and daughters Katie (Shane), Sarah and Shelby and Ginger Ziebold (Brent) daughter Mia. A.R. and Ollie had one child together, Albert Ryan “Crew” Ginn. Crew preceded A.R. in death in 2015 at the age of 29. A.R. is also survived by 12 great grandchildren, his brother, Russell E. Ginn (Beverly) and numerous other relatives. 

A.R. grew up on the Northside of Houston with a large extended family which lived in close proximity of his childhood home. During his childhood, he was fortunate to be able to spend time at the family’s close friends Earl and Faye Griffiths’ ranch in Central Texas, where A.R.’s love of working in the outdoors, hunting and fishing began. A.R.’s Dad and Mom instilled in him a strong work ethic together with an unwavering belief in Jesus Christ. The family attended Lindale Baptist Church. At the time of A.R.’s passing, he and his wife Ollie were members of Waller Baptist Church. 

A.R. graduated from Sam Houston High School in January 1958. He was a star tight end and place kicker (Greater Houston 1st Team) and received a full ride football scholarship to Rice Institute (currently Rice University). In the 1950s Rice was a national football powerhouse. 

In 1959 he left Rice and joined Metallic Building Company in Houston moving up to Superintendent. He left Metallic to join A&S Steel Buildings Houston as General Manager and then returned to Metallic as Vice President responsible for all operations. In 1976, A.R., together with his brother and three industry associates founded Metal Building Components, Inc. (MBCI) where A.R. was the President & CEO. In February 1978 MBCI opened its second location in Lubbock, TX. 

In January 1980, MBCI sold 80% interest of the company to Monier Limited of Australia. A.R. continued to run MBCI and build it over the next 18 years by adding another 20 plants in North America. During this growth period A.R. realized the need for MBCI to have a plane in order to visit these plants regularly. He used that opportunity to learn to fly and ultimately had a Commercial license, and was type rated in several jets that he flew regularly as a Captain. 

In 1998 the then owner of MBCI, BTR (London, England), with AR’s agreement, sold MBCI to NCI Building Systems in Houston, TX. At that time NCI was similarly sized company to MBCI. A.R. later became the Chairman, President & CEO of NCI, a New York stock exchange company and A.R. served as such until he retired in 2007. During his time at NCI, A.R. led the combined companies into a much larger and very profitable company. A.R. was involved in many industry associations and was inducted into the Metal Construction Hall of Fame in 2016. 

A.R. and Ollie married in 1979 and lived a wonderful life of love, adventure, fun and family. During their marriage they enjoyed ranching and were involved with cutting horses and raising both white-tailed and exotic deer. Additionally, for a very long time, they bred, trained and campaigned both English Cocker Spaniels and English Springer Spaniel bird dogs in field trials throughout the US and Canada. A.R. 

and Ollie made many great friends from their bird dog travels which remain to this day. A.R. was inducted into the Field Trial Hall of Fame at the National Bird Dog Museum in February of 2018. 

A.R. also hunted and fished both in the US, Canada and Africa. One of his favorites was an annual elk hunt at the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation near Ruidoso, New Mexico. He had many mounted trophies as reminders of his opportunities to pursue those passions. A.R. also loved old cars, his favorite (restored twice) was a 1957 Chevrolet convertible which won First place and Best of Show at the Houston Autorama. 

Family was a large part of A.R. and Ollie’s life experiences. The family enjoyed water sports (boating, jet skiing and water skiing). Along with traditional water skiing, A.R. was also an accomplished barefoot water skier which was great fun to watch. Family gatherings over the years became very large events with all of the extended family. A.R. loved to cook for these events and food was always a large part of these family gatherings no matter the season or reason for getting together. 

A.R. will be missed on many levels by so many people. His larger than life character will never be forgotten and forever cherished. 

A celebration of A.R.’s life will be held Thursday, January 14, 2021 at Second Baptist Church Cypress Campus, 29900 HWY 290, Cypress, TX 77433. Visitation will be from 9:45-10:45 with the funeral at 11 a.m. Private family interment to follow. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alzheimer’s Association. Online donations: alz.org. Mail: P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011