[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 85 (Thursday, May 22, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    REMEMBERING THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND LIFE OF JUDGE LARRY T. CRAIG

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2008

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise along with Congressman Louie 
Gohmert to honor today a distinguished County Judge and great American, 
Judge Larry T. Craig, of Tyler, TX, who recently passed away at the age 
of 71 on April 12th.
  Judge Craig was born in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on July 20, 1936. 
After moving to Tyler in the summer of 1949, he attended Tyler public 
schools, graduating from Tyler High School and Tyler Junior College. 
Having served his country in the United States Naval Reserve, he was 
honorably discharged in 1963 and attended The University of Texas and 
the University of Houston, where he earned his bachelor of science in 
Pharmacy. For the next 25 years Judge Craig worked in retail pharmacy, 
with 10 of those years as the owner and operator of Craig Pharmacy. In 
March of 1972, Judge Craig married Barbara Jean Copeland, with whom he 
raised a family of five children.
  Judge Craig continued his education and graduated from the Reserve 
Law Enforcement Academy at Tyler Junior College and the Police Academy 
at Kilgore College, where he was licensed by the Texas Commission on 
Law Enforcement Education and Standards.
  He was elected County Judge of Smith County in 1986, and was re-
elected in 1990, 1994, and 1998. With four terms of service as Smith 
County Judge, he became the longest serving judge to hold that 
position.
  It was an on-the-job learning process, and he admitted that lacking a 
law degree made judicial aspects of the job initially difficult. But he 
studied hard, read late into the evenings, and did his job well. Judge 
Craig consistently received high marks for his work on the bench in 
local bar polls, and of the three decisions he rendered that were 
appealed, all were eventually upheld by higher courts.
  Judge Craig also served on several statewide boards, associations, 
and commissions, including the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Then 
Texas Governor George W. Bush appointed Craig and designated him 
chairman in 1995, where he would become the longest serving Chair of 
the agency after holding the post for five years.
  Judge Craig will be remembered as a man of service and a gentleman, 
but above all, his memory will be honored by the commitment he made to 
``keep God and your family first and foremost.'' It has been said that 
Judge Craig ``was the kind of man that made God proud,'' and we would 
concur.
  Madam Speaker, we ask our colleagues to join us in paying tribute to 
a gentleman, an outstanding public servant, and a great American--Judge 
Larry Craig.

                          ____________________