Roy Bass
Encyclopedia
Roy Byrn Bass, Sr. was an attorney with the firm Bass and Hobbs who served from 1974 until 1978 as the mayor
of Lubbock
, Texas
. In 2008, prior to the 100th anniversary of the founding of Lubbock observed in 2009, Bass was named one of the "100 Most Influential Persons" in the city's history.
, Texas, to Ivan Bass and the former Carrie Byrn. Bass received his Bachelor of Arts
and LL.B degrees from Baylor University
and Baylor Law School
in Waco. He was a trustee of Baylor and a former member of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas
. He also served on the advisory council of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Fort Worth
.
, the offices of mayor and city council are nonpartisan
in all Texas municipalities. Bass met in Lubbock with U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., on the day before Ford lost his fight to challenger Ronald W. Reagan of California
for all delegates at stake in the Texas Republican
primary election
held on May that year. The Ford diary does not indicate that Bass crossed party lines to endorse Ford but relates merely that he, along with radio
broadcaster Clint Formby
of Plainview
, Texas, greeted the President.
George Kennett Hobbs (1929–2010), a native of Ardmore
, Oklahoma
, was Bass's law partner and mayoral campaign manager. Hobbs left Lubbock in 1987 and relocated to Knoxville
, Tennessee
.
Mayor Bass championed human rights
initiatives. Former Mayor David Langston recalls that the Basses were "leaders in the effort to improve racial relations within our community. They were for people and businesses who went the extra mile trying to promote diversity in employment and improving and reducing racial discrimination." The Roy B. Bass Human Relations Award is named in his honor.
There is also a Roy Bass Memorial Award presented by the Southwest Lubbock Rotary International
.
, Tennessee
. After his death, Mrs. Bass maintained the family's involvement in Lubbock civic and community affairs. Bass died of an apparent heart attack
after working out with a son at the Lubbock Young Men's Christian Association gymnasium. Some six months earlier, he had completed his second two-year term as mayor. Mrs. Bass died twenty-two years later of Parkinson's disease
.
The Basses had three sons, Roy Byrn Bass, Jr. (born 1947), also a Lubbock attorney, David Dewey Bass (born 1949) of Tampa
, Florida
, and Mark Ivan Bass (born 1951), a Lubbock financial planner, and five grandchildren. The couple is interred at Resthaven Memorial Park in Lubbock. The Basses were charter members of the Second Baptist
Church of Lubbock. Mrs. Bass was one of the first women to sit on the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention
. She also was a founding member of Second Baptist Church and was one of the first female deacons in the convention. Bass himself was also a Second Baptist deacon.
Anita Bass was vice president of the founding board of the South Plains Food Bank. She was cited for her long-term dedication to community service as the recipient of the George Mahon Award, named for former U.S. Representative George Herman Mahon and given by the group, Women in Communications. She was also active with the American Cancer Society
, Lubbock Arts Festival, and Muscular Dystrophy Association
.
In 2008, Roy Bass was listed among the "100 Most Influential People" from Lubbock, as part of the city centennial observation.
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
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...
, 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...
. In 2008, prior to the 100th anniversary of the founding of Lubbock observed in 2009, Bass was named one of the "100 Most Influential Persons" in the city's history.
Background
Bass was born in WacoWaco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, Texas, to Ivan Bass and the former Carrie Byrn. Bass received his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and LL.B degrees from Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
and Baylor Law School
Baylor Law School
Founded in 1857, Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas and has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1938. Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas...
in Waco. He was a trustee of Baylor and a former member of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas
Baptist General Convention of Texas
The Baptist General Convention of Texas is the oldest surviving Baptist convention in the state of Texas. The churches cooperating with the Baptist General Convention of Texas partner nationally and internationally with both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,...
. He also served on the advisory council of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a private, non-profit institution of higher education, associated with the Southern Baptist Convention...
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...
.
Political career
Though Bass was a DemocratDemocratic 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...
, the offices of mayor and city council are 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....
in all Texas municipalities. Bass met in Lubbock with U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., on the day before Ford lost his fight to challenger Ronald W. Reagan of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for all delegates at stake in the Texas 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...
primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
held on May that year. The Ford diary does not indicate that Bass crossed party lines to endorse Ford but relates merely that he, along with radio
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 Clint Formby
Clint Formby
John Clinton Formby, known as Clint Formby , 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...
of 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 ....
, Texas, greeted the President.
George Kennett Hobbs (1929–2010), a native of Ardmore
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Ardmore is a business, cultural and tourism city in and the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 24,283, while a 2007 estimate has the Ardmore micropolitan statistical area totaling 56,694 residents...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, was Bass's law partner and mayoral campaign manager. Hobbs left Lubbock in 1987 and relocated to Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Mayor Bass championed human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
initiatives. Former Mayor David Langston recalls that the Basses were "leaders in the effort to improve racial relations within our community. They were for people and businesses who went the extra mile trying to promote diversity in employment and improving and reducing racial discrimination." The Roy B. Bass Human Relations Award is named in his honor.
There is also a Roy Bass Memorial Award presented by the Southwest Lubbock 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...
.
Death and family legacy
Bass and his wife, the former Anita Seay (May 3, 1919–February 27, 2001), a native of Briscoe County, Texas, married in 1942 in MemphisMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. After his death, Mrs. Bass maintained the family's involvement in Lubbock civic and community affairs. Bass died of an apparent heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
after working out with a son at the Lubbock Young Men's Christian Association gymnasium. Some six months earlier, he had completed his second two-year term as mayor. Mrs. Bass died twenty-two years later of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
.
The Basses had three sons, Roy Byrn Bass, Jr. (born 1947), also a Lubbock attorney, David Dewey Bass (born 1949) of Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and Mark Ivan Bass (born 1951), a Lubbock financial planner, and five grandchildren. The couple is interred at Resthaven Memorial Park in Lubbock. The Basses were charter members of the Second 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 Lubbock. Mrs. Bass was one of the first women to sit on the Executive Committee of 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...
. She also was a founding member of Second Baptist Church and was one of the first female deacons in the convention. Bass himself was also a Second Baptist deacon.
Anita Bass was vice president of the founding board of the South Plains Food Bank. She was cited for her long-term dedication to community service as the recipient of the George Mahon Award, named for former U.S. Representative George Herman Mahon and given by the group, Women in Communications. She was also active with the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
, Lubbock Arts Festival, and Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public...
.
In 2008, Roy Bass was listed among the "100 Most Influential People" from Lubbock, as part of the city centennial observation.