Giles McCrary
Encyclopedia
Giles Connell McCrary, Sr. (November 5, 1919 – October 30, 2011), was a self-employed oil
operator, investor
, art collector, rancher, and the owner of the OS Museum
in Post
, the seat of Garza County
, southeast of Lubbock
on the Texas
South Plains
.
McCrary was the mayor
of Post from 1969–1991; in Texas, all mayors are elected on a nonpartisan
ballot. McCrary, however, was a Republican
, having contributed in recent years to many GOP
candidates as well as the Republican National Committee
and the National Republican Senatorial Committee
.
, the seat of Tarrant County
, in north Texas. In 1940, while still twenty, he married his wife, the former Helen Louise Luton (born 1920). Their children are daughter, Mary L. McCrary of Lubbock, and a son, Giles C. McCrary, Jr. (born 1952), of Fort Worth, and four grandchildren. A second daughter, Pamela McCrary, died in 1979 at the age of thirty-four.
In 1942, McCrary graduated from Washington and Lee University
in Lexington, Virginia
, an institution headed by General
Robert E. Lee
from 1865 until Lee's death in 1870. McCrary then entered the United States Army
's 63rd Infantry Division. He was in the first unit to cross the Rhine River and to penetrate Germany
prior to the surrender to the Allied forces. McCrary assisted in the liberation of one concentration camp. It was during his military service, when he often went to concerts and museums, that he acquired his interest in art.
in Rome. In addition to its western works, the museum hosts cases of Faberge eggs, textiles, and ivory
carvings from the Far East
. Although it is now illegal to bring ivory into the United States, McCrary acquired his samples when importation was permitted. In 2002, McCrary helped to bring the Vatican Museums Collection to Texas Tech University
in Lubbock. The collection of medieval frescoes and paintings attracted some 133,000 visitors.
In addition to being treasurer for the Vatican Museums Collection, McCrary financed the education of more than two hundred Texas Tech students in recent years. According to Wanda Mitchell, Post's Commerce and Tourism Bureau president, McCrary paid the tuition of about twenty students each year but preferred not to speak of his philanthropic endeavors.
, former manager of the Pitchfork Ranch
east of Lubbock, who received the Founders Award from the National Ranching Heritage Center
at Texas Tech, which offers a highly acclaimed free outdoor museum on the Tech campus. The award is given to people who have made the ranching center, along with its inside museum, a priority in their lives. The McCrarys also support Texas Tech through the Ershel A. Franklin Charitable Trust, named for McCrary's partner in the oil business. Franklin died in 1980, and McCrary became sole trustee for the trust.
McCrary's grandfather sold part of his ranch to the legendary cereal
maker Charles William Post in the early 20th century. McCrary still owns part of the original ranch that his grandfather purchased from Clarence Scharbauer of Midland
. McCrary returned to Post in the late 1940s to run the family ranching operation. He left the community only for vacations and business and art-collecting trips. He has visited more than one hundred countries on all continents, including Antarctica, which he has toured three times with National Geographic magazine. Despite such extensive travels, McCrary said that he would not live in a large city because he preferred the camaraderie of life in a small west Texas town.
McCrary once said that he believed his town of Post would have become the size of Lubbock had C. W. Post lived to fulfill his dream of creating a self-sustaining community. Post, who was in poor health for much of his life, died just before his sixtieth birthday and was in Texas for only seven years of his life.
In addition to the OS Museum, Post promoted tourism through its restored Garza Theater, Garza County Historical Museum
, and its Hotel Garza, an 11-room downtown bed and breakfast
. There is also the 400-seat Ragtime Gospel Theater, designed to resemble a street in old Jerusalem and known for its southern gospel music
.
The revitalized downtown Post was once featured on a segment of Bob Phillips
' Texas Country Reporter
syndicated television series.
McCrary was a member of Rotary International
and the Masonic lodge
. He was Presbyterian
. McCrary died in Lubbock a week before his ninety-second birthday. He was a recipient of the Doctorate of Humane Letters honorary degree from the Texas Tech University Health Science Center.
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
operator, investor
Investor
An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...
, art collector, rancher, and the owner of the OS Museum
OS Museum
The OS Museum, also known as the OS Ranch Museum, is a hybrid collection of mainly sculpture and paintings of Texas, the American West, and Asia located in the small city of Post, the seat of Garza County in West Texas...
in Post
Post, Texas
Post is a city in and the county seat of Garza County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,708 at the 2000 census.There are many ranchers and civic boosters in Garza County, among them Giles McCrary, a former mayor who operates the OS Museum, a hybrid of exhibits from both the American West...
, the seat of Garza County
Garza County, Texas
Garza County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas southeast of Lubbock. In 2000, its population was 4,872. Its county seat is Post. Garza is named for a pioneer Bexar County family, as it was once a part of that county....
, southeast of 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...
on the 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...
South Plains
South Plains
South Plains is a vernacular term that refers to a region in West Texas consisting of the portion of the Llano Estacado extending south of the Texas Panhandle, centered at Lubbock. While prominent in the area of petroleum production, the South Plains is mainly an agricultural region, producing a...
.
McCrary was the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Post from 1969–1991; in Texas, all mayors are elected on a nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
ballot. McCrary, however, was a 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...
, having contributed in recent years to many GOP
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...
candidates as well as the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
and the National Republican Senatorial Committee
National Republican Senatorial Committee
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is the Republican Hill committee for the United States Senate, working to elect Republicans to that body. The NRSC was founded in 1916 as the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee...
.
Background
McCrary was born to I. N. McCrary and the former Nell Connell in Fort WorthFort 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...
, the seat of Tarrant County
Tarrant County, Texas
Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...
, in north Texas. In 1940, while still twenty, he married his wife, the former Helen Louise Luton (born 1920). Their children are daughter, Mary L. McCrary of Lubbock, and a son, Giles C. McCrary, Jr. (born 1952), of Fort Worth, and four grandchildren. A second daughter, Pamela McCrary, died in 1979 at the age of thirty-four.
In 1942, McCrary graduated from Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
in Lexington, Virginia
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...
, an institution headed by General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
from 1865 until Lee's death in 1870. McCrary then entered 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...
's 63rd Infantry Division. He was in the first unit to cross the Rhine River and to penetrate Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
prior to the surrender to the Allied forces. McCrary assisted in the liberation of one concentration camp. It was during his military service, when he often went to concerts and museums, that he acquired his interest in art.
Museum collection
The OS Ranch Museum is one of three museums in Post, a small town known for its hospitality and its encouragement of tourism. McCrary features works by many Southwestern artists that depict Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His museum includes works which he has collected over many years from trips throughout the world, including Vatican CityVatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
in Rome. In addition to its western works, the museum hosts cases of Faberge eggs, textiles, and ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
carvings from the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
. Although it is now illegal to bring ivory into the United States, McCrary acquired his samples when importation was permitted. In 2002, McCrary helped to bring the Vatican Museums Collection to 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. The collection of medieval frescoes and paintings attracted some 133,000 visitors.
In addition to being treasurer for the Vatican Museums Collection, McCrary financed the education of more than two hundred Texas Tech students in recent years. According to Wanda Mitchell, Post's Commerce and Tourism Bureau president, McCrary paid the tuition of about twenty students each year but preferred not to speak of his philanthropic endeavors.
Civic leadership
In 2005, McCrary was one of five individuals, including Jim HumphreysJim Humphreys
James O'Neill Humphreys, Sr., usually known as Jim Humphreys , was a prominent Texas rancher and the former board chairman of the National Ranching Heritage Center, an entity of Texas Tech University in Lubbock...
, former manager of the Pitchfork Ranch
Pitchfork Ranch
The Pitchfork Ranch, established in 1883, encompasses some in Dickens and King counties in West Texas, in the United States, with an annex in Jefferson County in southern Oklahoma. Previous properties in Kansas and Wyoming have been since sold....
east of Lubbock, who received the Founders Award from the National Ranching Heritage Center
National Ranching Heritage Center
The National Ranching Heritage Center, a museum of ranching history, is located on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. It features almost fifty authentic ranch buildings dating from the late 18th to the mid-20th century...
at Texas Tech, which offers a highly acclaimed free outdoor museum on the Tech campus. The award is given to people who have made the ranching center, along with its inside museum, a priority in their lives. The McCrarys also support Texas Tech through the Ershel A. Franklin Charitable Trust, named for McCrary's partner in the oil business. Franklin died in 1980, and McCrary became sole trustee for the trust.
McCrary's grandfather sold part of his ranch to the legendary cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
maker Charles William Post in the early 20th century. McCrary still owns part of the original ranch that his grandfather purchased from Clarence Scharbauer of Midland
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
. McCrary returned to Post in the late 1940s to run the family ranching operation. He left the community only for vacations and business and art-collecting trips. He has visited more than one hundred countries on all continents, including Antarctica, which he has toured three times with National Geographic magazine. Despite such extensive travels, McCrary said that he would not live in a large city because he preferred the camaraderie of life in a small west Texas town.
McCrary once said that he believed his town of Post would have become the size of Lubbock had C. W. Post lived to fulfill his dream of creating a self-sustaining community. Post, who was in poor health for much of his life, died just before his sixtieth birthday and was in Texas for only seven years of his life.
In addition to the OS Museum, Post promoted tourism through its restored Garza Theater, Garza County Historical Museum
Garza County Historical Museum
The Garza County Historical Museum houses a large collection of mostly ranch, cowboy, Indian, and pioneer artifacts located in a 1912 two-story colonial-style building of twenty-six rooms and hallways in Post, Texas, a community established by and named for the cereal magnate C. W. Post.The museum...
, and its Hotel Garza, an 11-room downtown bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
. There is also the 400-seat Ragtime Gospel Theater, designed to resemble a street in old Jerusalem and known for its southern gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
.
The revitalized downtown Post was once featured on a segment of Bob Phillips
Bob Phillips
Robert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips , is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program Texas Country Reporter...
' Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter is a weekly syndicated television program hosted and produced by Bob Phillips. It airs in all 22 Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and reruns are broadcast nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV...
syndicated television series.
McCrary was a member of Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
and the Masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
. He was Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church in the United States
The Presbyterian Church in the United States was a Protestant Christian denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983...
. McCrary died in Lubbock a week before his ninety-second birthday. He was a recipient of the Doctorate of Humane Letters honorary degree from the Texas Tech University Health Science Center.