Brady P. Gentry

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says, right here in Van Zandt County. Now settle in, because this is the story of a man who spent a good portion of his life studying roads, and I mean that in the most literal sense you can imagine. Brady P.

Gentry was born on March 25, 1895, on a farm near this very site. Van Zandt County soil. And from that beginning, he built a career that would reach from the county courthouse all the way to the halls of Congress, with just about every highway in Texas somewhere in between.

He got his education at Cumberland University over in Tennessee, and at Tyler Commercial College. Then he went to work in Smith County, first as county attorney, then as county judge. Not a bad trajectory for a farm boy from Van Zandt.

But the chapter that really defines the man began in 1939, when he took the chairmanship of the Texas State Highway Commission. Now here is where the story gets interesting. Brady Gentry did not sit behind a desk and read reports.

He traveled almost every Texas highway himself, personally, to learn what the roads needed. Think about that for a moment. Almost every Texas highway.

If you have ever driven this state, you know that is not a small undertaking. He served as chairman through 1945, and during those years he worked to secure the long-range financial foundation of the highway program, supporting the idea that money generated from road use ought to go back into road building. That sounds obvious now.

It was not obvious then. In 1943, his peers recognized his authority on highway policy by electing him President of the American Association of State Highway Officials. And in that role, he helped implement legislation that funded farm-to-market roads and what the marker calls the first major expressways in the country.

The roads that connected farms to markets, and cities to each other, bear some measure of his fingerprint. He also helped establish Tyler Junior College, because a man who cares about where roads go tends to care about where people go, too. Then in 1953, Brady Gentry went to Washington as the U.S.

Congressman for the Third Congressional District of Texas, a seat he held through 1957. He landed on the committees for public works and roads, which, given everything you now know about him, seems about right. And there, in Congress, he helped design the legislation for the interstate highway system.

The network of highways that every American driver uses to this day carries, somewhere in its foundation, the work of this man from Van Zandt County. The marker notes something else about his time in Congress, something worth saying plainly: he refused to vote along merely political lines. That line sits quietly in the inscription, but it carries weight.

Brady P. Gentry died on November 9, 1966. This park was dedicated to his memory.

The marker puts it simply and the simplicity is earned: the preeminent position of the Texas Highway Department, and the high quality of roads in Texas and across the country, are a tribute to the ability of Brady P. Gentry. A man born on a farm near this spot, who made it his life's work to make sure the roads led somewhere worth going.

What the marker says

Park dedicated to memory of Texas State Highway Commission Chairman Brady P Gentry (March 25, 1895-Nov 9, 1966) A man whose public service was of highest order. Born on a farm near this site in Van Zandt County. Educated at Cumberland University (Tennessee) and Tyler Commercial College, was county attorney and county judge of Smith County. As chairman of Texas Highway Commission, 1939-1945, he traveled almost every Texas highway to learn road needs of state. Aided long-range financial strength of highway program by supporting the reservation of road-use revenue for road building. An authority on highway policy, Gentry served in 1943 as President of the American Association of State Highway Officials. In that capacity he aided post-war expansion in use of motor vehicles by implementing legislation to provide funds for farm-to-market roads and the first major expressways in the country. Interested in education, Gentry helped to establish Tyler Junior College. He served as U. S. Congressman, 1953-1957, for Third Congressional District of Texas. A member of committees for public works and roads, he helped design legislation for interstate highway system. Refused to vote along merely political lines. The preeminent position of the Texas Highway Department and the high quality of roads in Texas and the U. S. are a tribute to the ability of Brady P. Gentry. (1967)