Clint Formby
Encyclopedia
John Clinton Formby, known as Clint Formby (December 22, 1923 – July 31, 2010), was a veteran radio
broadcaster called the "Old Philosopher" based in the small city of Hereford
, Texas
, the seat of Deaf Smith County in the Texas Panhandle
. His daily broadcast ran continuously on his KPAN AM & FM
country-music
station since October 10, 1955. Eventually reduced to five minutes in length, Formby's commentary was the oldest continuously-running broadcast by a single host in radio history.
in Dickens County, also in West Texas
, to John C. Formby (1902–1989), a Rural Free Delivery carrier, and the former Willie Elsby (1903–1994). John and Willie married in 1922, and Clint was their only child. Clint Formby was the paternal grandson of Marshall Clinton Formby, Sr. (1877–1957) and the former Rosa Mae Freeman (1882–1971). He attended public schools in Plainview
and then Dickens County, where he graduated in 1942 from McAdoo High School. He played basketball
, tennis
, and was quarterback on the six-man football
team at McAdoo. He then began college at Texas Tech University
in Lubbock
.
However, he soon left college to enlist in the United States Army
. He served as a staff sergeant
and medic, having been attached to the 235th General Hospital in Marseille, France. He remained in Switzerland
after the end of the war in April 1945 and attended the University of Basel
in Basel. After the war, he returned to Texas Tech where he met and married the first official Tech beauty queen, the former Margaret Clark
(July 12, 1929–April 10, 2003). Margaret, who was reared on a ranch
near Van Horn
. She founded the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
, first in the Hereford library and later in a large modern building in Fort Worth
. While a student at Texas Tech, Formby he worked during the summer of 1948 to help his uncle, Marshall Formby, construct KPAN AM in Hereford, having performed as a carpenter and painter. Clint Formby's was the first voice on the new radio station when it went on the air on August 4, 1948, exactly sixty-two years to the date of his own funeral.
Formby was a nephew of Democratic
State Senator and state highway commissioner Marshall Formby
(1911–1984). He was a cousin of sitting Senator Robert L. Duncan
, a Lubbock Republican
. Clint Formby practically grew up with Duncan's mother, Mae Robena Duncan (1921–2009), his aunt who was only two years Formby's senior.
, the seat of Mitchell County north of San Angelo
, where they rented a garage apartment
from attorney and future U.S. Representative George Mahon. Formby established a radio station in Snyder
, the seat of Scurry County, and then began working on August 22, 1951, at his Uncle Marshall’s radio station in Hereford for $47.50 per week. He became a partner in the station and eventually bought out his uncle. His persistent broadcasts, called "predictably unpredictable," can touch on nearly any subject. He has urged listeners to tip waiters and waitresses more generously. He refuses to reveal his political party preference, advising listeners that they should be able to tell his inclination from his commentaries. Once Vice President of the United States
Lyndon B. Johnson
contacted Formby to advise him that he would like to hear Formby speak at the First Baptist
Church of Hereford, filling in for the absent pastor, but Johnson was unsure if his plane could land in the small Hereford airport. About this time, Marshall Formby, the state highway commissioner, was seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination against Johnson’s presumed favorite and eventual winner, John B. Connally, Jr. Clint Formby served as his uncle's campaign manager in the gubernatorial primary.
Formby in time charted a radio path across Texas including outlets in Floydada
, Tulia
, Levelland
, Andrews
, Seminole
, Tyler
, Seminole
, Huntsville
, Temple
, and Marshall
. In the 1950s, Formby went by train from Hereford to Chicago to attend the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters
.
In one of his broadcasts, Clint Formby advocated dropping trade restrictions with Communist
Cuba
on the grounds that the Fidel Castro
government is the only communist regime that has yet to kill an American citizen. He also visited Cuba. On another occasion, he scolded Hereford residents for parking their vehicles in their front yards. A widower, Formby each week advises his married male listeners to kiss their wives goodnight. KPAN calls itself the "only radio station in the world that gives a hoot about Hereford, Texas." Local sports are carried live on the Internet
by KPAN. Otherwise, listeners must connect through regular AM or FM radio. Formby traveled widely across the United States and the world and reported on his varied trips to his listeners.
In 2010, Formby's Monday-Saturday program marked its 60th year on the air. Officially known as the "Day-By-Day Philosopher", the program ran for fifteen minutes from 7:45 to 8 a.m. for the first ten years and during the peak of radio drive time. In later years, Formby reduced the time to five minutes, saying that listeners now have too short of an attention span to justify a longer broadcast. It was the longest-running daily radio broadcast by an individual in America. "The Old Philosopher", as he was usually known, was featured on NBC
's The Today Show
on December 29, 2007. Formby claimed to have not missed a broadcast in more than 16,000 consecutive mornings. His "Most Beautiful Alley" contest raised $89,000 in scholarship money for students attending the Hereford campus of the two-year Amarillo College
in Amarillo
.
In 1984, Formby was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Texas Broadcasters Association.Governor
George W. Bush
named Formby to the board of the Texas Telecommunication Infrastructure Fund. In addition to KPAN, Formby’s other remaining radio stations include KSAM/KHUN in Huntsville and KTEM
in Temple, Texas. Formby was a former board member of Broadcast Music, Inc.
and in 1964 received the "Citizen of the Year" award from that group. He also won the "Good Neighbor Award" from the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of First Baptist Church, where he taught the boys' high school Sunday school class for several years. He and Margaret were later charter members of Fellowship of Believers Church. He received the Texas Communicator of the Year from the Southern Baptist Convention
. He worked to bring cable television
to Hereford as the managing partner of Hereford Cablevision from 1975-2006.
Formby was the only person thus far to have appeared on the cover of Texas Highways
magazine
. He was also the only individual thus far to have served Texas Tech Universit as president of the student body, head of the Texas Tech Alumni Association
, and chairman of the Board of Regents of Texas Tech University.
and Ben Formby and Scott C. Formby (born 1961) and wife Kathy, all of New York City
. A daughter, Linda Kay Formby, predeceased her parents.
Formby died of cancer
at the age of eighty-six. Services were held at First Baptist Church of Hereford on August 4, 2010, with pastor Kyle Streun officiating. He is interred beside his wife and daughter at West Park Cemetery north of Hereford.
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcaster called the "Old Philosopher" based in the small city of Hereford
Hereford, Texas
Hereford is a city in Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,597 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated Hereford in the country. It is the county seat of Deaf Smith County....
, 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...
, the seat of Deaf Smith 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...
. His daily broadcast ran continuously on his KPAN AM & FM
KPAN-FM
KPAN-FM is a radio station broadcasting a country-music format. KPAN-FM is licensed to serve the community of Hereford, Texas, USA. The station is currently owned by KPAN Broadcasters....
country-music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
station since October 10, 1955. Eventually reduced to five minutes in length, Formby's commentary was the oldest continuously-running broadcast by a single host in radio history.
Early life, education, and military
Formby was born in McAdooMcAdoo, Texas
McAdoo is an unincorporated community in northwestern Dickens County, Texas, United States.McAdoo is named for the former United States Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo, son-in-law of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson....
in Dickens County, also in West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
, to John C. Formby (1902–1989), a Rural Free Delivery carrier, and the former Willie Elsby (1903–1994). John and Willie married in 1922, and Clint was their only child. Clint Formby was the paternal grandson of Marshall Clinton Formby, Sr. (1877–1957) and the former Rosa Mae Freeman (1882–1971). He attended public schools in Plainview
Plainview, Texas
Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 22,336 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Plainview is located at ....
and then Dickens County, where he graduated in 1942 from McAdoo High School. He played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, and was quarterback on the six-man football
Six-man football
Six-man football is a variant of American football that is played with six players per team, instead of 11.-History:6-man football was developed in 1934 by Chester High School coach Stephen Epler as an alternative means for small high schools to field a football team during the Great Depression...
team at McAdoo. He then began college at Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
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...
.
However, he soon left college to enlist in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He served as a staff sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
and medic, having been attached to the 235th General Hospital in Marseille, France. He remained in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
after the end of the war in April 1945 and attended the University of Basel
University of Basel
The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...
in Basel. After the war, he returned to Texas Tech where he met and married the first official Tech beauty queen, the former Margaret Clark
Margaret Formby
Margaret Clark Formby was the daughter of southwest Texas ranchers who founded the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in the basement of the public library in Hereford in Deaf Smith County before she relocated the collection to Fort Worth.Formby was born to Fred and Mabel Clark in Van Horn...
(July 12, 1929–April 10, 2003). Margaret, who was reared on a ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
near Van Horn
Van Horn, Texas
Van Horn is a town in and the county seat of Culberson County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,435 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Van Horn is located at ....
. She founded the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum and association which honors women of the American West who have displayed courage or spirit and who have distinguished themselves while exemplifying the pioneer spirit...
, first in the Hereford library and later in a large modern building in 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...
. While a student at Texas Tech, Formby he worked during the summer of 1948 to help his uncle, Marshall Formby, construct KPAN AM in Hereford, having performed as a carpenter and painter. Clint Formby's was the first voice on the new radio station when it went on the air on August 4, 1948, exactly sixty-two years to the date of his own funeral.
Formby was a nephew of 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...
State Senator and state highway commissioner Marshall Formby
Marshall Formby
Marshall Clinton Formby, Jr. , was a Texas attorney, newspaper publisher, radio executive, and a Democratic politician who served a term in the Texas State Senate from District 30 from 1941 to 1945. He was a defender of West Texas interests and entitled a 1962 book, These Are My People...
(1911–1984). He was a cousin of sitting Senator Robert L. Duncan
Robert L. Duncan
Robert Lloyd Duncan is a Republican member of the Texas Senate from the 28th District, centered on Lubbock. First elected to the Senate in a 1996 special election, Duncan had previously served in the Texas House of Representatives from District 84 from 1989 to 1993.-Background:Duncan is the only...
, a Lubbock 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...
. Clint Formby practically grew up with Duncan's mother, Mae Robena Duncan (1921–2009), his aunt who was only two years Formby's senior.
Career in radio
Formby and his wife lived for a time in Colorado CityColorado City, Texas
Colorado City is a city in and the county seat of Mitchell County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,281 at the 2000 census....
, the seat of Mitchell County north of San Angelo
San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...
, where they rented a garage apartment
Garage apartment
A garage apartment is an apartment built within the walls of, or on top of, the garage of a house. The garage may be attached or a separate building from the main house, but will have a separate entrance and may or may not have a communicating door to the main house...
from attorney and future U.S. Representative George Mahon. Formby established a radio station in Snyder
Snyder, Texas
Snyder is a city in and the county seat of Scurry County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,653 at the 2010 census. It is located on Deep Creek, a minor tributary of the Colorado River of Texas. Snyder is approximately 150 km southeast of Lubbock.Located in Snyder is the Scurry County...
, the seat of Scurry County, and then began working on August 22, 1951, at his Uncle Marshall’s radio station in Hereford for $47.50 per week. He became a partner in the station and eventually bought out his uncle. His persistent broadcasts, called "predictably unpredictable," can touch on nearly any subject. He has urged listeners to tip waiters and waitresses more generously. He refuses to reveal his political party preference, advising listeners that they should be able to tell his inclination from his commentaries. Once Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
contacted Formby to advise him that he would like to hear Formby speak at 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 of Hereford, filling in for the absent pastor, but Johnson was unsure if his plane could land in the small Hereford airport. About this time, Marshall Formby, the state highway commissioner, was seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination against Johnson’s presumed favorite and eventual winner, John B. Connally, Jr. Clint Formby served as his uncle's campaign manager in the gubernatorial primary.
Formby in time charted a radio path across Texas including outlets in Floydada
Floydada, Texas
Floydada is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,038 at the 2010 census.-History:According to the Texas State Historical Association, the community of Floydada, originally named Floyd City, was established on 640 acres of land donated by James B....
, Tulia
Tulia, Texas
Tulia is a city in, and county seat of, Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,117 at the 2000 census; in the 2005 census estimate, it had fallen to 4,714. The city is at the junction of U.S. Route 87 and Texas State Highway 86, approximately two miles east Interstate 27...
, Levelland
Levelland, Texas
Levelland is a city in Hockley County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,542. It is the county seat of Hockley County. It is located on the Llano Estacado, west of Lubbock. Major industries include cotton farming and petroleum production...
, Andrews
Andrews, Texas
Andrews is a city in and the county seat of Andrews County in the U.S. state of Texas within the West Texas region. The population was 10,448 in 2009. Along with Midland and Odessa, these cities form the Midland-Odessa Combined Statistical Area with a population of 241,316 in four counties...
, Seminole
Seminole, Texas
Seminole is a city in and the county seat of Gaines County in west Texas, United States. The population was 6,430 at the 2010 census. It is the birthplace of Country music singers Larry Gatlin and Tanya Tucker...
, Tyler
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
, Seminole
Seminole, Texas
Seminole is a city in and the county seat of Gaines County in west Texas, United States. The population was 6,430 at the 2010 census. It is the birthplace of Country music singers Larry Gatlin and Tanya Tucker...
, Huntsville
Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....
, Temple
Temple, Texas
Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas. Located off Interstate 35, Temple is 65 miles north of Austin and 34 miles south of Waco. In the 2010 Census, Temple's population was 66,102, an...
, and Marshall
Marshall, Texas
Marshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523...
. In the 1950s, Formby went by train from Hereford to Chicago to attend the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
.
In one of his broadcasts, Clint Formby advocated dropping trade restrictions with Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
on the grounds that the Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
government is the only communist regime that has yet to kill an American citizen. He also visited Cuba. On another occasion, he scolded Hereford residents for parking their vehicles in their front yards. A widower, Formby each week advises his married male listeners to kiss their wives goodnight. KPAN calls itself the "only radio station in the world that gives a hoot about Hereford, Texas." Local sports are carried live on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
by KPAN. Otherwise, listeners must connect through regular AM or FM radio. Formby traveled widely across the United States and the world and reported on his varied trips to his listeners.
In 2010, Formby's Monday-Saturday program marked its 60th year on the air. Officially known as the "Day-By-Day Philosopher", the program ran for fifteen minutes from 7:45 to 8 a.m. for the first ten years and during the peak of radio drive time. In later years, Formby reduced the time to five minutes, saying that listeners now have too short of an attention span to justify a longer broadcast. It was the longest-running daily radio broadcast by an individual in America. "The Old Philosopher", as he was usually known, was featured on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Today Show
The Today Show
Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series...
on December 29, 2007. Formby claimed to have not missed a broadcast in more than 16,000 consecutive mornings. His "Most Beautiful Alley" contest raised $89,000 in scholarship money for students attending the Hereford campus of the two-year Amarillo College
Amarillo College
Amarillo College is a two-year fully accredited community college in Amarillo, Texas with over 10,000 students that was established in 1929 as Amarillo Junior College...
in Amarillo
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
.
In 1984, Formby was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Texas Broadcasters Association.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...
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
named Formby to the board of the Texas Telecommunication Infrastructure Fund. In addition to KPAN, Formby’s other remaining radio stations include KSAM/KHUN in Huntsville and KTEM
KTEM
KTEM , branded as "Newsradio 1400", is a radio station serving the Killeen-Temple, Texas, area with a News/Talk/Sports format. This station operates on AM frequency 1400 kHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media....
in Temple, Texas. Formby was a former board member of Broadcast Music, Inc.
Civic matters
Formby was involved over the years in civic affairs in Hereford, first as a member of the Junior Chamber. He was a past president of the Kiwanis Club as well as district lieutenant governor and was involved in chartering two new clubs in West Texas. He served as president of Deaf Smith County Chamber of CommerceChamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and in 1964 received the "Citizen of the Year" award from that group. He also won the "Good Neighbor Award" from the West Texas Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of First Baptist Church, where he taught the boys' high school Sunday school class for several years. He and Margaret were later charter members of Fellowship of Believers Church. He received the Texas Communicator of the Year from the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
. He worked to bring cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
to Hereford as the managing partner of Hereford Cablevision from 1975-2006.
Formby was the only person thus far to have appeared on the cover of Texas Highways
Texas Highways
Texas Highways is a monthly magazine put out by the Texas Department of Transportation that, according to the agency, "promotes travel and tourism to Texas through articles and photography."...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
. He was also the only individual thus far to have served Texas Tech Universit as president of the student body, head of the Texas Tech Alumni Association
Texas Tech Alumni Association
The Texas Tech Alumni Association is the alumni association for former students of Texas Tech University. The organization was founded in 1927 and sponsors multiple programs for Texas Tech University and its alumni.-History:...
, and chairman of the Board of Regents of Texas Tech University.
Family and death
The marriage of Clint and Margaret Formby produced five children, Larry C. "Chip" Formby (born 1953), who works with his father at the station, along with Chip's two sons by his wife Lisa, Jonathan and Lane Formby. The other sons are Marshall Clark Formby and wife Betty of San AntonioSan Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
and Ben Formby and Scott C. Formby (born 1961) and wife Kathy, all of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. A daughter, Linda Kay Formby, predeceased her parents.
Formby died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at the age of eighty-six. Services were held at First Baptist Church of Hereford on August 4, 2010, with pastor Kyle Streun officiating. He is interred beside his wife and daughter at West Park Cemetery north of Hereford.