[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 35 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E430-E431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       HONORING CHARLES K. DEVALL

                                 ______


                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 23, 1995
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to pay tribute to 
a great civic leader and newspaper publisher, Charles K. Devall, of 
Kilgore, TX, who passed away January 28, at the age of 86. For decades, 
Charles Devall was a guiding light and driving force in Kilgore. Like 
other newspaper publishers in small towns across America, Charles 
Devall was a man of stature in his community, and his influence was 
felt far beyond his professional position.
  Born on July 11, 1908, in Mount Vernon, TX, to Charles Robert and 
Leila Milam Devall, Charles Devall grew up to work for his father's 
Mount Vernon newspaper. He received a journalism degree from the 
University of Texas and assumed responsibility for the newspaper in 
1931 following his father's death. Within 4 years he was elected mayor 
of the city and a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee. 
During that period he acquired newspapers at Daingerfield and Hughes 
Springs and established the weekly Kilgore Herald, in competition with 
the 4-year-old Kilgore Daily News.
  In 1939 he married Lyde Williford of Dallas, and in 1940 he and Lyde 
purchased the Kilgore Daily News, consolidating their two papers as the 
Kilgore News Herald. He then served for 39 months in the U.S. Navy 
during World War II and attained the rank of lieutenant commander, 
while his wife directed operations of their newspapers.
  As publisher of the Kilgore News Herald from 1935 to 1979, Devall was 
committed to making Kilgore ``America's No. 1 Small City.'' He served 
as president and highway chairman of the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce, 
president of the Lions Club, organized the Kilgore Improvement and 
Beautification Association, and originated and secured historical 
designation as ``world's richest acre'' in downtown Kilgore. He was 
instrumental in improving the city's highways, including establishing 
the 4-lane U.S. 259 through Gregg and Rusk Counties. He was active in 
efforts to establish the Kilgore Ceramics Corp. and Kilgore Community 
Hotel-Motel Co., the Industrial Foundation, and East Texas Treatment 
Center. He and his wife also were credited for helping in locating the 
prestigious East Texas Oil Museum on the Kilgore College campus.
  Devall also was active at the State level. He was the youngest to 
serve as president of the Texas Press Association and was a director of 
the Texas Daily Newspaper Association. He served two terms as president 
of the Texas Good Roads Association and served two terms as a director 
of the Texas Election Bureau. He also was appointed director of Texas 
Southern University. His wife, who preceded him in death in 1987, 
served as a member of the board of regents of the University of Texas 
system and served
 on the first Texas Commission on Higher Education.

  Devall also was an advocate for independent oil producers in his 
community. He represented the Independent Petroleum Association of 
America before a Senate committee in Washington as a witness seeking 
the reduction of excessive oil imports. He waged a long and successful 
editorial campaign in the News Herald in support of independent 
operators and royalty owners who opposed efforts to legalize mandatory 
unitization of Texas oil and gas fields. The fight in the Texas 
Legislature continued for 30 years until every major Texas field was 
unitized--except the east Texas field.
  Devall received numerous recognitions during his lifetime. He was 
named Kilgore's Man of the Year, received the Taggart Award from the 
Texas Daily Newspaper Association for being ``Texas Newspaper Leader of 
the Year'' in 1979, received the Sam C. Holloway Meritorious Service 
Award from the north and east Texas Press Association, and was named an 
honor member of Kappa Tau Alpha--honorary Phi Beta Kappa of 
journalism--by its University of Texas chapter. On nine occasions his 
Kilgore News Herald won the Texas Press Association sweepstakes for 
best all-around daily in cities under 15,000 and won the top award 
seven times from the north and east Texas Press. The Texas Chamber of 
Commerce awarded the paper its Community Service Award six times, and 
it received the Texas School Bell Award twice from the Texas State 
Teachers Association. Upon the sale of the News Herald in 1979, Devall 
was named publisher emeritus.
  [[Page E431]] Devall also was an elder and trustee of First 
Presbyterian Church, a commissioner to the U.S. Presbyterian Church 
General Assembly in 1973, and in 1984 was named trustee emeritus. He 
was a member of Sigma Delta Chi, national professional journalism 
society, American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He is survived 
by one sister, Mrs. Ruth Heywood of Fort Worth, a nephew, two nieces, 
and a cousin.
  Mr. Speaker, America is enriched by the lives of those citizens like 
Charles Devall, who have devoted their energy and their talent to the 
betterment of their communities. As a newspaperman and civic leader who 
strived for excellence in his community, he will be forever remembered 
in Kilgore, TX, for his efforts to make it ``America's No. 1 Small 
City.'' Many would attest that he accomplished that goal.
  Mr. Speaker, I join his family and many friends in paying our last 
respects to Charles Devall and thanking him for a job well done. His 
legacy will be felt for many generations to come.


                          ____________________