[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 2 (Thursday, January 6, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H69-H71]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING TOM VANDERGRIFF
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Judge Tom Vandergriff was a Member
of the House of Representatives from January 1982 until December 1984.
He was defeated for reelection in November of 1984 by Dick Armey, moved
back to Texas, and switched parties from the Democrat Party to the
Republican Party. In 1990 he was elected county judge in which he
served from 1990 until 2007. He passed away on December 30, 2010. His
memorial service is tomorrow afternoon at the University of Texas at
Arlington's Texas Center from 1 till 3.
Judge Vandergriff was a personal friend of mine. When I first was
given part of Arlington in the redistricting process in 1992, he agreed
to be my cochairman for my campaign. He was just an absolute gentleman
and helped in every way possible. One of the most unique things about
Judge Vandergriff is that in his entire political career, which spanned
from 1951 until 2007, he never held a political fund-raising event for
himself. He did actually accept political contributions obviously but
he never solicited and he never held an organized political event that
he himself organized on his behalf. I thought that was astounding in
the modern political era to be as successful politically as he was
without having to go out and do the numerous fund-raisers that most of
us have to do.
We are going to miss Judge Vandergriff. He's got a list of
accomplishments a mile long. He was mayor of Arlington from 1951 until
1967. During his tenure as mayor, he was able to get the General Motors
assembly plant located in Arlington; he helped get the Texas Rangers,
which were then the Washington Senators, to move to Arlington, and was
able to attend the World Series this past October in which he saw the
Texas Rangers first of all win the American League and then fight
valiantly against the San Francisco Giants who ultimately won the World
Series.
He wanted to be a broadcaster. He went to USC in Los Angeles, applied
for a broadcasting job in 1947, and was not successful in getting that
broadcasting job. It went to somebody named Chet Huntley, who later
became an anchorman on NBC News. Judge Vandergriff returned to Texas to
assume a role in his family's Chevrolet dealership with his father,
which he maintained that dealership except for times when he was a U.S.
Congressman in some capacity.
We're going to miss Judge Vandergriff. We give our condolences to his
family. Again, he was a Member of Congress from 1982 until 1984 and he
will be missed.
On December 30, 2010, Texas lost a lion. Tom Vandergriff, former
mayor of Arlington, Texas, former County Judge of Tarrant County, and
former Member of the United States Congress, left this life at the age
of 84. All of us in North Texas will mark time from the moment we heard
of the loss. The loss is monumental.
Few people have had such a positive impact on the development and
quality of life of North Texas, and no one has had a greater impact on
Arlington. His friends and admirers are legion, his accomplishments
legendary. He was the personification of an ideal, the ideal of
[[Page H70]]
a selflessly devoted public servant who always put the people ahead of
personal gain or ambition.
Arlington history is generally divided into two epochs: BV and AV,
Before Vandergriff and After Vandergriff. He first sought and won
elective office in 1951 when he became the ``boy mayor'' of Arlington
at the age of 25. At the time Arlington was a small town on the
railroad midway between Dallas and Fort Worth. Vandergriff saw the
town's potential and set out to make it a center of prosperity in its
own right while fostering a new spirit of cooperation within the North
Texas region. Arlington, now the 49th largest city in the U.S. with
370,000 people, would never be the same, and neither would North Texas.
Indeed, it was Vandergriff who coined the phrase, ``Metroplex'', which
is still the term usually applied to describe the Dallas-Fort Worth
area.
His first major achievement was convincing General Motors executives
to locate their new automobile assembly plant in Arlington. His family
owned a Chevrolet dealership in town, which gave him access to General
Motors Corp. Upon hearing that GM planned to build a plant in North
Texas, he sold Arlington as a superior location by telling GM, as he
would later tell the story, that if they put the plant in Dallas, it
would make Fort Worth angry; if they put it in Fort Worth, it would
make Dallas angry. He ended his pitch by convincing them that if they
put it in Arlington, everybody would be happy. The plant produced its
first automobile in 1954 and today is the only GM plant in the U.S.
that makes full-size SUVs.
The GM plant began a building boom in Arlington that has lasted more
than 55 years. Knowing a small town on well water could not sustain
rapid growth nor accommodate the needs of industry, Vandergriff
convinced the voters of Arlington to pass an initiative to build a
large reservoir to meet the town's future needs. The effort proved to
be as controversial as it was monumental for a small town, but the
initiative passed, and Lake Arlington was built. The project was
ridiculed by many in Arlington and dismissed by others in the region as
``Vandergriff's Folly'', but the folly became ``the miracle lake'' upon
its completion. Large equipment was being removed from the site in 1957
when one of the worst and longest droughts in Texas history broke, and
it began to rain. The lake, which experts believed would take years to
fill, was full in 18 days. The lake ensured the explosive growth that
came in the decades of the '60s, 70s, and 80s that made Arlington,
Texas one of the fastest growing cities in America.
As a college student at the University of Southern California,
Vandergriff was very familiar with Anaheim and by the late 1950s was
aware of the tremendous economic impact tourism had on the city after
the opening of Disneyland theme park in 1955. He knew, because of
Arlington's central location, that the same benefits could accrue to
his city with a product of similar appeal. It came as no surprise to
those familiar with the Vandergriff vision for Arlington when he became
instrumental in establishing the Six Flags Over Texas theme park in
1961. The park was an instant hit, and people all over the southwestern
United States began traveling to Arlington for family styled
entertainment. The first of the Six Flags parks, it still operates at
its original location in Arlington.
But Vandergriff didn't stop there. A devoted baseball fan, he was
determined to bring professional baseball to North Texas. The effort
took years and saw hopes dashed time and again before he finally
convinced owner Bob Short to move his Washington Senators to Arlington
in 1972. The effort did not endear him to the people of the Nation's
capital. On one of his many visits to meet with Short, he was
unceremoniously kicked out of a taxicab when he made the mistake of
telling the cabbie why he was in town. The Washington Senators became
the Texas Rangers Ball Club, and Tom Vandergriff became the team's
biggest fan and supporter. When his beloved Rangers won their first
American League Pennant by beating the New York Yankees in Arlington
last October, Vandergriff was there in the ballpark he helped build to
cheer them on.
Today, Arlington is host to more than seven million visitors each
year and is the second most popular tourist destination in the state,
bringing millions of dollars in revenue to the city annually. The
city's entertainment district boasts Six Flags theme park, the Texas
Rangers Ballpark, a new Dallas Cowboys football stadium, the National
Bowling Congress and Museum, Hurricane Harbor water park, and clusters
of shops and restaurants that make Arlington the City of Wow for
millions of Texans.
In his 26 years as mayor, two years as a member of Congress, and 16
years as County Judge of Tarrant County, Vandergriff championed two
more causes relentlessly: regional communication and cooperation and
helping the University of Texas at Arlington become a major institution
of higher learning. Believing that everyone in North Texas would
succeed if they worked together for the good of the region, Vandergriff
spent decades finessing, cajoling, and winning over the leaders of
other cities in the region. He led the effort to establish and became
the president of the North Central Texas Council of Governments which
today is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for all of North Texas.
He was a strong advocate for regionalism well into his eighties, and
the economic might of the region is a testament to that effort.
Vandergriff's efforts on behalf of his hometown university are
equally impressive. When he became mayor, Arlington College was a tiny
two-year institution affiliated with Texas A&M that was formerly a
military school and then an agricultural college. Vandergriff knew it
could be more, and if Arlington were to succeed as a city, so must its
college. He led the effort to make the college a four-year university.
Working with then-governor John Connally, he succeeded when the college
became a full university within the University of Texas system in 1964.
Today, the University of Texas at Arlington is the largest UT campus
outside of Austin and the fastest growing university in the state. It
is quickly becoming a major research facility and contributes more to
the local economy than any industry in the city.
There is more, of course, much more. In a life lived as fully and as
well as his, there is always more to tell: his unwavering support and
leadership of Arlington Memorial Hospital, his support and leadership
of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, his support of local public
schools, his support of a long list of non-profit agencies, his decades
as an active member of the United Methodist Church, and his roles as
husband, father, grandfather, and mentor to a very long list of
aspiring leaders. All of this almost didn't happen, at least not in
Texas.
Vandergriff was born on January 29, 1926, to W. T. and Charles
Vandergriff in Carrolton, Texas. The family relocated to Arlington when
Tom was 12. After graduating from Arlington High School Vandergriff
attended USC where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1947. He married
his high school sweetheart, Anna Waynette Smith in 1949. Blessed with a
deep, sonorous voice that he used with perfect diction, he prepared for
a career in radio and broadcast journalism. After graduation he applied
for and was a finalist in the competition for what he thought would be
the job of his dreams, but he lost out to another young applicant.
Vandergriff returned to Texas to join his father's automobile
dealership, disappointed and convinced that he was a better candidate
for the broadcast job. The young man who got the job was Chet Huntley.
Chet Huntley would gain fame as an NBC news anchor and reach millions
of listeners nationwide, but the loser in that early competition, Tom
Vandergriff, would touch millions in North Texas in ways that were
deeper and arguably more significant. Many have their own stories to
tell about Vandergriff, many humorous because he possessed a wonderful
sense of humor, many thankful because he touched so many with acts of
kindness large and small, and many inspirational because he inspired
us, goaded us, and led us to be greater than we thought we were and
achieved things we never thought possible. All in North Texas are
better off today because Tom Vandergriff was here, and our children and
grandchildren will have better lives even though they will never know
him. Those of us who did will never forget him.
Well done, good and faithful servant.
I now yield to Congresswoman Kay Granger of Texas who wishes to speak
also on behalf of Judge Vandergriff.
Ms. GRANGER. Today we remember with great fondness Tom Vandergriff.
Tom was a leader in everything he did. He was a man who saw challenges
and tried to solve them. He found opportunities and made them work for
us. He had a vision that he always reached for. He never accepted the
status quo. He was always working for what ought to be.
As a successful businessman, a mayor, a Member of Congress and a
county judge, he did so much to promote economic development and
opportunities to make Tarrant County, Texas which it is today. Just
think of this: Starting as, what he was called, the boy mayor, he was
25 years old. He served his community, helping Texas bring General
Motors, Six Flags Over Texas, the Texas Rangers, all to north Texas. He
had a vision to anticipate the needs of a growing community and
population. But more than that, he was a decent and kind man. His grace
was matched only by his courage, and his personal character was
exceeded only by his compassion for others. He was the epitome of a
great public servant. He will be missed but not forgotten; and our
thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. I yield to the gentleman from Denton,
Congressman Burgess.
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Mr. BURGESS. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
As a member of the Tarrant County delegation, I also want to stand in
remembrance of Tom Vandergriff and his 55-year career in public
service. Thirteen years it took him to bring major league baseball to
Arlington, Texas, and he took the team from Washington, DC that was
then known as the Senators; had to fight two Presidents in a bipartisan
fashion, both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Judge Vandergriff was the original representative from the 26th
District of Texas when it was formed after the 1980 census. My fondest
memory of Judge Vandergriff is, however, as the voice of the Texas
Rangers. Along with Dick Risenhoover, he would do the broadcasts. They
were spellbinding and exciting and kept me away many times from my
graduate school studies.
To his family, we offer our prayers and condolences. Thank you, Judge
Vandergriff, for 55 excellent years in public service.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I know we have a new protocol for
recognizing former Members who have passed away. Is it appropriate
under our rules to have a moment of silence for Judge Vandergriff? And
if so, how would I request such a moment of silence?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would recommend that the gentleman
from Texas consult with the leadership on making such requests.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. So it would not be appropriate at this time?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is correct, and the
gentleman's time has expired.
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