Odell Lavon McBrayer was a Fort Worth

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

 attorney

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 layman, and a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 candidate for governor

Governor of Texas

The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...

 of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in the 1974 party primary election

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

.

McBrayer was born in Lakeview

Lakeview, Texas

Lakeview is a town in Hall County, Texas, United States. The population was 152 at the 2000 census. A July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 140.-Geography:Lakeview is located at...

, a town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in Hall County in the Texas Panhandle

Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

, to Odell Luke McBrayer (1907—1979) and the former Ola Gregory (1911—1987). He grew up in Clarendon

Clarendon, Texas

Clarendon is a city in Donley County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,974 at the 2000 census. The county seat of Donley County, Clarendon is located on United States Highway 287 in the Texas Panhandle some sixty miles east of Amarillo. It was established in 1878 by Methodist clergyman L.H...

, the seat of nearby Donley County

Donley County, Texas

Donley County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 3,828. It is named for Stockton P. Donley, a frontier lawyer. Its county seat is Clarendon....

 and graduated from Clarendon High School. McBrayer was a veteran of the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

, having been trained in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and stationed for his entire service at the former Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock

Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...

. He was a member of the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

. McBrayer initially attended Clarendon College

Clarendon College (Texas)

Clarendon College is a community college located in Clarendon, the seat of Donley County in the Texas Panhandle. The college operates branch campuses in Pampa and Childress....

, a community college

Community college

A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...

, and subsequently received his bachelor of arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 and law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 degrees from the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

.

A lawyer in Fort Worth for thirty-three years, he served for a time as an assistant district attorney in the Fort Worth area. He ran unsuccessfully for a state district judgeship. He was a member of the American and Texas bar associations. In 2002, he became affiliated with the First Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 Church in Idabel

Idabel, Oklahoma

Idabel is a city in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,658 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of McCurtain County. The town is located in the tourist area Kiamichi Country.-History:...

, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, upon his retirement from his law practice when he and his wife, the former Mary McCurtamn, moved there to be near their son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Debbie McBrayer. He was a chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

-distribution group, the Gideons International

Gideons International

Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible in over 94 languages and 194 countries of the world, most famously in hotel and motel rooms. The organization was founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin, as an early American parachurch...

 in McCurtain County

McCurtain County, Oklahoma

McCurtain County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2010, the population was 33,151. Its county seat is Idabel.-Geography:...

 in southeastern Oklahoma.

In 1974, McBrayer, who adapted the poster theme "Texas Must Have Odell McBrayer for Governor" ran in the party primary against the establishment choice, Jim Granberry, a dentist

Dentist

A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...

 who had served as mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Lubbock

Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...

 from 1970–1972, and had been responsible for directing the rebuilding after the deadly tornadoes

Lubbock Tornado

The 1970 Lubbock tornado was a tornado event that occurred in Lubbock, Texas, on May 11, 1970. It was one of the worst tornadoes in Texas history, and occurred exactly 17 years to the day after the deadly Waco Tornado...

 of May 11, 1970. Granberry was a favorite of then United States Senator John G. Tower. McBrayer attracted national attention in his race when he called for the televising of executions in Texas to provide a greater deterrent to the commission of violent crime. McBrayer even said: "I favor televising executions only if not done offensively." His campaign is sometimes seen as the forerunner to the "New Right

New Right

New Right is used in several countries as a descriptive term for various policies or groups that are right-wing. It has also been used to describe the emergence of Eastern European parties after the collapse of communism.-Australia:...

" movement which appeared just two years later to support Ronald W. Reagan in the Texas primary against sitting U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., the choice of Senator Tower and many other Texas party leaders. By 1980, the New Right forces claimed a role in the nomination and election of Reagan as president.

Granberry easily defeated McBrayer, 53,617 votes (77.6 percent) to 15,489 ballots (22.4 percent) in a low-turnout primary. As the Republican nominee in the November general election

General election

In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

, Granberry was in turn crushed by the incumbent

Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

 Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Governor Dolph Briscoe

Dolph Briscoe

Dolph Briscoe, Jr. was a Uvalde, Texas rancher and businessman who was the 41st Governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979....

, a rancher, large landowner, and banker from Uvalde

Uvalde, Texas

Uvalde is a city in and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,929 at the 2000 census.Uvalde was founded by Reading Wood Black in 1853 as the town of Encina. In 1856, when the county was organized, the town was renamed Uvalde for Spanish governor Juan de...

 in the southern Hill Country.

In addition to his wife and son Tim, Brayer was survived by another son, Scott A. McBrayer (born November 14, 1958) and his wife, Gaylynn McBrayer, of Fort Worth; three daughters, Stacy Torrellas and her husband, Carlos Torrellas, MD

Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

, of Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, Barbara Hendricks and husband, Matthew Hendricks, and Lorie Gibbons and husband, Tom Gibbons, all of Burleson

Burleson, Texas

Burleson is a city in Johnson and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is considered a suburb of Fort Worth and is located in the rapidly growing suburban expanse just south of the city. As of the 2010 census, the population was 36,690, having increased from the 20,976 residents counted...

 near Fort Worth; four brothers, Gene McBrayer of White Settlement

White Settlement, Texas

White Settlement is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a northwestern suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 16,116 at the 2010 census.-Geography:White Settlement is located at ....

 near Fort Worth, Bud McBrayer of Granbury

Granbury, Texas

Granbury is a city in Hood County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5,718. It is the county seat of Hood County and the principal city of the Micropolitan Statistical Area....

 in Hood County, Jerry McBrayer of Edmond, Oklahoma

Edmond, Oklahoma

Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the population was 81,405, making it the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma....

, and David McBrayer of Los Alamos, New Mexico

Los Alamos, New Mexico

Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...

; a sister, Barbara Brown of Weatherford

Weatherford, Texas

Weatherford is a city in Parker County, Texas, United States, and a western suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 19,000 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Parker County and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Geography:...

, the seat of Parker County

Parker County, Texas

As of the census of 2003, there were 98,495 people, 31,131 households, and 24,313 families residing in the county. The population density was 98 people per square mile . There were 34,084 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...

west of Fort Worth, eleven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Services were held on March 22, 2008, at the First Baptist Church of Idabel.