Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr.

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr. Now settle in, because this is one of those West Texas lives that just keeps unfolding the more you look at it. Born in Hopkins County, way over in East Texas, young Marshall Formby made the long jump to McAdoo, just three miles north of where you're standing, when he was five years old.

And that move, it seems, set the whole compass of his life pointing west. He never really left. He spent his adult years working, as the marker puts it, for the betterment of this part of the state.

That's a phrase that could sound like hollow praise on somebody else's monument. On Formby's, it turns out to be a plain statement of fact. The man was busy.

He got himself educated, and he didn't do it halfway. Texas Technological College, which you know today as Texas Tech University. Then the University of Texas.

Then Baylor University School of Law. Three institutions, and he used every bit of it. Farming in West Texas, oil ventures, radio, newspapers, cable television.

The man had his hands in enterprises the way some people have change in their pockets. But here's where the story gets its spine. Marshall Formby went into public life.

He served as Dickens County Judge from 1936 to 1940. Then he was elected to the Texas Senate. Now, you might expect the next line to be about landmark legislation, floor speeches, late nights at the Capitol.

But the European Theatre of World War II had other plans. Formby went in as a U.S. Army Captain, and that service kept him away from the State Capitol for much of his term.

He was serving Texas from a different front entirely. When he came home, he didn't slow down. In 1953, the governor appointed him to the Texas Highway Commission, and he served on that body through 1959, two of those years as chair.

During his tenure, he pushed for the paving of farm-to-market roads and worked to bring the Interstate Highway System to Texas. You want to understand why West Texas roads look the way they do today? Well, the marker doesn't draw that line for you, but it does put Marshall Formby right in the middle of that conversation at exactly the right moment.

He sat on the Texas Tech Board of Regents. He served twelve years on the State's College Coordinating Board. He was active in the Baptist Church, in civic organizations, and he collected awards and honors for his service to his community, his region, and his state.

Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr. died at his home in Plainview in 1984. And he is buried in the McAdoo Cemetery, three miles north of here, in the same town his family brought him to when he was five years old. East Texas born, West Texas made, and the roads and schools and fields of this whole region carry a little of his work in them still.

What the marker says

BORN IN HOPKINS COUNTY IN EAST TEXAS, MARSHALL CLINTON FORMBY, JR., MOVED WITH HIS FAMILY TO McADOO (3 MI. N) WHEN HE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD AND SPENT HIS ADULT LIFE WORKING FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THIS PART OF THE STATE. EDUCATED AT TEXAS TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE (NOW TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY), THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AND BAYLOR UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, FORMBY USED HIS TALENTS IN A VARIETY OF BUSINESS AND PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES. MARSHALL FORMBY MAINTAINED EXTENSIVE FARMING INTERESTS IN WEST TEXAS IN ADDITION TO OIL VENTURES AND RADIO, NEWSPAPER AND CABLE TELEVISION ENTERPRISES. HE SERVED AS DICKENS COUNTY JUDGE FROM 1936 TO 1940 AND WAS ELECTED TO THE TEXAS SENATE, ALTHOUGH HIS PARTICIPATION AS A U.S. ARMY CAPTAIN IN THE EUROPEAN THEATRE OF WORLD WAR II KEPT HIM AWAY FROM THE STATE CAPITOL FOR MUCH OF HIS TERM. FORMBY CONTINUED HIS STATEWIDE PUBLIC SERVICE AS A GOVERNOR-APPOINTED MEMBER OF THE TEXAS HIGHWAY COMMISSION IN 1953-59, INCLUDING TWO YEARS AS CHAIR. DURING HIS TENURE, HE WORKED FOR THE PAVING OF FARM-TO-MARKET ROADS AND FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM IN TEXAS. A MEMBER OF THE TEXAS TECH BOARD OF REGENTS, HE ALSO SERVED 12 YEARS ON THE STATE'S COLLEGE COORDINATING BOARD. ACTIVE IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH AND IN NUMEROUS CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS, MARSHALL FORMBY RECEIVED MANY AWARDS AND HONORS FOR HIS SERVICE TO HIS COMMUNITY, REGION AND STATE. HE DIED AT HIS HOME IN PLAINVIEW IN 1984 AND IS BURIED IN THE McADOO CEMETERY.