Travis W. Hammer, Jr.

08/25/1943 – 09/25/2024

Travis William Hammer Jr., 81, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, following a courageous battle with Lewy Body with Parkinson’s Disease.

Travis was born in Austin, Texas on August 25, 1943, to Travis William Hammer and Naomi Milligan. His father, Travis Sr., was a Naval Lieutenant during World War II and was serving overseas at the time of Travis Jr.’s birth. Travis Jr. was raised in Dallas, Texas, and though he was an only child, he was surrounded by dear cousins – Marvilou, James, and Mark Thompson – with whom he shared countless adventures and misadventures.

Travis was a student in Highland Park for the entirety of his childhood, from Hyer Elementary to Highland Park High School. He repeated his senior year three times – surely because he loved it so much and could not bear to leave – until the class of 1963 finally claimed him as their own. Travis then made his way to the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He found a home for his passion for reading and American literature, ultimately graduating with a BA in English from the School of Liberal Arts. Travis then went on to earn an MBA at the UT Austin McCombs School of Business. His love for the university and the Longhorns was a force in his life until the very end. 

After his time at UT Austin, Travis joined some fraternity brothers in New York City and started what would be a varied and successful thirty-five-year career in corporate banking. He began at the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, where he was a part of the National Division. His time at “Manny Hanny” created lifelong friendships and shaped the rest of his career. Travis then moved to Los Angeles, California in 1977, and worked at First Interstate Bank, where he made his way to Senior VP of the Special Credits Group. His job at First Interstate gave him the opportunity to travel to far corners of the world, which he relished.  

Travis met his wife Sally while waiting for a tennis court in Marina del Rey, California. After marrying in 1982, they moved to the Pasadena area of Los Angeles to raise their two children, Kristin and Matt. Travis was an active, loving, and involved father, who cherished coaching his daughter’s softball teams, teaching his son fishing, and attending Dodger games with the whole family. Travis also imparted his enormous love of animals to his young children, with pets that included a golden retriever, two cats, a rabbit, guinea pigs, turtles, and more. 

Even with his deep fondness for New York and Los Angeles, Travis was always a Texan at heart. In 1996, he and his family moved back to the Dallas community that he loved, and where his children attended the same high school from which he graduated. He continued his career in Corporate Banking at Bank One of Texas, JP Morgan Chase, and the Bank of New York. 

Travis was a man with a big, kind heart, and was known for his loyalty, openness, and warm spirit. He loved the people in his life, whether it was his wife, children, co-workers, or friends. He was passionate about travel to far-away places, playing and watching tennis, and the vast outdoors. Fly-fishing was one of his great loves, and he lived for moments in the rivers of Idaho and Montana. 

The family is deeply grateful to all the nurses, aides, and doctors that cared for Travis during his battle with Lewy Body with Parkinson’s, particularly the staff at CC Young and the teams at Texas Health Presbyterian, all who provided him with loving care. 

Travis is survived by his beloved wife of 42 Years, Sally Biondo, and his two children, Kristin Elizabeth and Matthew Clayton, as well as numerous cousins and extended family. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Travis’s name to the Lewy Body Dementia Association. https://www.lbda.org/donate/  or the SPCA of Texas, https://www.spca.org. 

A Memorial Service will be held for Travis on November 13, 2024, at 3 pm in the Cox Chapel at the Highland Park Methodist Church. 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, Texas 75205.