10/20/2003 - Ex-Gov. of Texas, Preston Smith, dies at 91

Ex-Gov. Smith dies at 91
By JOHN FUQUAY
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL


Preston Smith, Texas' 40th governor, who graduated from Lamesa High School and owned movie theaters in Lubbock, died Saturday in University Medical Center three days after being admitted with pneumonia.

Longtime friend Otice Green said Smith's family was with him when he died at 4:45 p.m. He was 91.

"It was a very sudden at tack," Green said. "He was feeling fine Monday, recovering, and he was with his daughter, then he began feeling bad. Other factors began to set in, and he experienced one failure after another."



Preston Smith

Services are scheduled for 10 a.m Monday at St. John's United Methodist Church in Lubbock

In Austin, viewing will be from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday in Senate chambers in the Cap itol. Burial with state honors will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Texas State Cemetery.

Smith was injured Sept. 2 in a single-car accident and was briefly hospitalized. In February, he was hospitalized at UMC with pneumonia.

Smith, born March 8, 1912, in Williamson County near Austin, is remembered for overcoming Depression-era poverty to become a successful businessman and popular politician.

One of 13 children of a tenant farmer, Smith worked his way through Texas Tech with a job at a service station while earning a business administration degree.

He graduated in 1934 and married Ima Smith, who passed away in 1998. They had a son, Preston Michael, and a daughter, Jan Lauren.

Smith entered the Lubbock business community in 1936 by opening Tech Theater in a partnership with W.O. Bearden. Smith later opened more theaters in Lubbock. In 1957, he merged interests with Video Theaters, operating theaters and drive-ins in Lubbock and Oklahoma City.

He also branched into other businesses, including real estate.

But Smith also is known for a political career matched by few others.

It began in 1944 when the Democrat was elected to his first of three straight terms as state representative from the nine-county 119th District.

He lost his first try for the state Senate in 1952 but won in 1956 and was re-elected in 1960.

In 1962, Smith was elected lieutenant governor. He was re-elected in 1964 and 1966. Smith was elected governor in 1968 and re-elected in 1970.

"Politically, you don't find many people with the kind of experience he had," Green said. "He was probably the most experienced governor we've had."

Smith's hometown approach to politics was evident.

"I think those who have positions of public trust should do the things they think necessary to move this area forward and not ever think of future political consequences or honors they might have," Smith told The Avalanche-Journal last year.

"That never occurred to me. I was just grateful for the opportunity. ... A public official is nothing more than a public servant. Unfortunately, some of our elected officials take the position that they own the office, which they don't."

As governor, Smith was the driving force behind establishment of a medical school at Tech, which altered the university's landscape and put Lub bock on the map as a major player in Texas health care.

He said his efforts were born more of necessity than broad vision.

"I had no idea what the future held," Smith said. "I knew that we needed a medical school and we needed medical facilities out in this area. That sort of a concern was the priority that I had."

He also signed the bill that authorized the Texas Tech School of Law, further stretching the university's mission.

His administration, however, was tarnished by the Sharpstown Scandal, which, during the early 1970s, reached into the upper echelons of the state's political power apparatus.

Stung by the bank and stock fraud case, roughly half the state's incumbent legislators either were defeated or chose not to seek re-election in 1972. Among the casualties was Smith, who was ousted from the governor's mansion by Dolph Briscoe. Smith lost another gubernatorial bid in 1978.

He returned to Lubbock in 1973.

"I had some feelers about running for vice president," he said. "That was about 1971 or 1972. I told them I was not interested in national politics."

When not spending time with his family, Smith enjoyed fly fishing.

"I think I'm the best fly fisherman that I was ever around," he once said with a laugh. "I never found anybody that I couldn't catch more fish than."

jfuquay@lubbockonline.com 766-8722

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