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78S40633 MMS-D
By: Baxter H.R. No. 104
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The State of Texas has lost an esteemed public
servant with the passing of the Honorable Waggoner Carr of Austin on
February 25, 2004, at the age of 85; and
WHEREAS, Born in Fairlie on October 1, 1918, Mr. Carr moved
with his family to Lubbock during the Depression; he attended Texas
Technological College, where he joined the debate team, and earned
a B.B.A. from that school in 1940; World War II interrupted his
subsequent legal studies at The University of Texas, but after
serving for three years in the Army Air Corps he returned to Austin
and received his law degree in 1947; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carr served as a Lubbock assistant district
attorney from 1947 to 1948 and as Lubbock county attorney from 1948
to 1950, when he was elected to the first of five consecutive terms
in the Texas House of Representatives; he presided as speaker of the
house from 1957 to 1961; and
WHEREAS, Two years after leaving the legislature, Mr. Carr
became Texas attorney general, an office he held until 1967; he won
praise for the assistance he rendered the Warren Commission
following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and in
1966 he was recognized as the most outstanding attorney general in
the nation; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of his career Mr. Carr also engaged
in the private practice of law; while living in Lubbock he opened a
practice with his brother, Warlick, and from the late 1970s until
his passing he was associated with the firm of DeLeon, Boggins, and
Icenogle in Austin, specializing in civil litigation and
arbitration; and
WHEREAS, A Texan born and bred, Waggoner Carr took great
pride in his state, its history, and its people; appropriately for a
son of the Lone Star State, he enjoyed impressive skills as a
raconteur, an ability he turned to account in a one-man performance
he developed about the outlaw Jesse James; this accomplished
gentleman also coauthored two books; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carr was the devoted husband of the former
Ernestine Story, whom he met while both were students at Texas Tech,
and the proud father of David W. Carr; and
WHEREAS, Waggoner Carr served his fellow citizens with
integrity and devotion for more than five decades, and, through his
many contributions, he secured a respected place of his own in the
annals of the state he loved so well; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas
Legislature, 4th Called Session, hereby pay special tribute to the
life of the Honorable Waggoner Carr and extend sincere sympathy to
the members of his family: to his wife, Ernestine Carr; to his son,
Dr. David W. Carr; to his two grandchildren; and to his other
relatives and many friends; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of the
Honorable Waggoner Carr.