SJ Stovall
Encyclopedia
SJ Stovall was an American
politician
and civil engineer
. Stovall served as the Mayor
of Arlington, Texas
, the seventh largest city in the state
, from 1977 until 1983. In total, Stovall held office either on the Arlington City Council or as Mayor for twenty years.
. Stovall's parents could not decide on a given name
for their son so they wrote his father's initials, SJ, temporarily on his birth certificate
. However, his parents never chose a permanent given name for Stovall, so SJ remained his legal first name. In a late 1970s interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
, he recalled, "I guess I was 13 before I realized that SJ - my father's initials - didn't stand for anything."
He enlisted in the United States Air Force
before attending Texas A&M University
.
with the United States Army Corps of Engineers
. Stovall worked for Army Corp of Engineers for more than thirty years before his retirment.
He would later be elected to the Arlington City Council in 1963, where he served as a councilman and mayor until leving office in 1983.
. Vandergriff announced his resignation, effective immediately, at a regular Arlington city council meeting. Council members, including Stovall, were unaware of Vandergriff's intention to resign. Stovall, mayor pro tem at the time, became the new mayor of Arlington. In a 1983 interview, Stovall recalled his sudden, unexpected rise to the mayorship, "I felt some pressure, yes...As soon as I became mayor, I tried to make the point that Arlington was entering into another period in its life, and, in a way, I would be sort of a transition mayor. I would be a completely different type of mayor."
Vandergriff, Stovall's prdecessor, has successfully brought the Texas Rangers baseball team
and a General Motors
assembly plant to Arlington during his tenure in office. However, city-owned, voter-funded Seven Seas Marine Life Park
, which opened in 1972, proved to be a failure for Arlington. The park, which featured aquariums, a life-size pirate ship and killer whales, failed to attract enough visitors to keep the facility open. It was briefly renamed Hawaii Kai before low attendance forced the city council to close the attraction in 1976, just months before Stovall took office.
Stovall focused on improving the city's basic infrastructure
and city services during his tenure as mayor. Arlington voters aided Stovall's efforts by approving two large bond
programs, including a $69 million dollar bond issue to improve the city's streets.
Stovall spearheaded the city's efforts to build the $10 million Arlington Convention Center and Sheraton Hotel on the site of the failed Seven Seas Marine Life Park. Voters also approved financing for the construction of the convention center
. Through the construction of the convention center and other projects, Stovall is credited with turning Arlington's entertainment district into a tourism
center. The development of the concention center also helped the city financially recover from the failure of the Seven Seas Marine Life Park.
Stovall is widely credited with leading a number of important projects in Arlington during his tenure as mayor, as well as his time on the city council. He recruited national companies, such as National Semi-Conductor, to relocate to the city. Stovall also led efforts to construct a new City Hall
and create Leadership Arlington, which trained community members for positions within the local government. He also collaborated with the Texas Department of Transportation
to build Interstate 20
through Arlington.
Stovall decided not to seek run for re-election in 1983. He was succeeded by Harold Patterson.
, who is now the mayor of Fort Worth, to serve on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court
. Moncrief appointed Stovall to the court following the death of Commissioner Jerry Mebus. He remained on the court until his loss to O.L. Watson in 1984.
The city of Arlington named the 52 acres (210,436.7 m²) SJ Stovall Park in honor of the former mayor in 1991. Stovall served on the board of trustees for Arlington Memorial Hospital
, the president of the North Central Texas Council of Governments and the chairman of the board of the Mission Metroplex/Mission Arlington.
SJ Stovall died at a nursing home
in Mansfield, Texas
, on July 14, 2010, at the age of 84. His wife, Mary Margaret "Margie" Stovall, predeceased him. He was survived by a son, Marc, and a daughter.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
. Stovall served as 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 Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
, the seventh largest city in the state
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...
, from 1977 until 1983. In total, Stovall held office either on the Arlington City Council or as Mayor for twenty years.
Early life
SJ Stovall was born on September 26, 1925, in Lufkin, TexasLufkin, Texas
Lufkin is a city in Angelina County, Texas, United States. Founded in 1882, the population was 35,067 in 2010. It is the county seat of Angelina County, and is situated in Deep East Texas.-History:...
. Stovall's parents could not decide on a given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
for their son so they wrote his father's initials, SJ, temporarily on his birth certificate
Birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth...
. However, his parents never chose a permanent given name for Stovall, so SJ remained his legal first name. In a late 1970s interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
, he recalled, "I guess I was 13 before I realized that SJ - my father's initials - didn't stand for anything."
He enlisted in the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
before attending Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
.
Career
Stovall moved with his family to Arlington, Texas, in 1950 to take a position as a civil engineerCivil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
with the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
. Stovall worked for Army Corp of Engineers for more than thirty years before his retirment.
He would later be elected to the Arlington City Council in 1963, where he served as a councilman and mayor until leving office in 1983.
Mayor of Arlington
Stovall became Mayor of Arlington in January 1977, following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, Tom VandergriffTom Vandergriff
Tommy Joe Vandergriff was a politician from Texas. He served as Mayor of Arlington from 1951 to 1977, as a U.S. Representative from from 1983 to 1985, and as County Judge of Tarrant County from 1991 to 2007...
. Vandergriff announced his resignation, effective immediately, at a regular Arlington city council meeting. Council members, including Stovall, were unaware of Vandergriff's intention to resign. Stovall, mayor pro tem at the time, became the new mayor of Arlington. In a 1983 interview, Stovall recalled his sudden, unexpected rise to the mayorship, "I felt some pressure, yes...As soon as I became mayor, I tried to make the point that Arlington was entering into another period in its life, and, in a way, I would be sort of a transition mayor. I would be a completely different type of mayor."
Vandergriff, Stovall's prdecessor, has successfully brought the Texas Rangers baseball team
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
and a General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
assembly plant to Arlington during his tenure in office. However, city-owned, voter-funded Seven Seas Marine Life Park
Seven Seas Marine Life Park
Seven Seas Marine Life Park was a marine mammal park, and animal theme park built and owned by the city of Arlington, Texas, United States.The park opened on March 18, 1972...
, which opened in 1972, proved to be a failure for Arlington. The park, which featured aquariums, a life-size pirate ship and killer whales, failed to attract enough visitors to keep the facility open. It was briefly renamed Hawaii Kai before low attendance forced the city council to close the attraction in 1976, just months before Stovall took office.
Stovall focused on improving the city's basic infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
and city services during his tenure as mayor. Arlington voters aided Stovall's efforts by approving two large bond
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
programs, including a $69 million dollar bond issue to improve the city's streets.
Stovall spearheaded the city's efforts to build the $10 million Arlington Convention Center and Sheraton Hotel on the site of the failed Seven Seas Marine Life Park. Voters also approved financing for the construction of the convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
. Through the construction of the convention center and other projects, Stovall is credited with turning Arlington's entertainment district into a tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
center. The development of the concention center also helped the city financially recover from the failure of the Seven Seas Marine Life Park.
Stovall is widely credited with leading a number of important projects in Arlington during his tenure as mayor, as well as his time on the city council. He recruited national companies, such as National Semi-Conductor, to relocate to the city. Stovall also led efforts to construct a new City Hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
and create Leadership Arlington, which trained community members for positions within the local government. He also collaborated with the Texas Department of Transportation
Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas. Its stated mission is to "work cooperatively to provide safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state...
to build Interstate 20
Interstate 20 in Texas
Interstate 20 in Texas is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, running east from a junction with Interstate 10 east of Kent, Texas, through the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to the border with Louisiana near Waskom, Texas...
through Arlington.
Stovall decided not to seek run for re-election in 1983. He was succeeded by Harold Patterson.
Later life
Just two months after leaving office as mayor, Stovall was appointed County Judge Mike MoncriefMike Moncrief
Michael J. Moncrief is an American politician who served as mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, from 2003 to 2011.Moncrief was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 1971 serving for two years....
, who is now the mayor of Fort Worth, to serve on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court
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...
. Moncrief appointed Stovall to the court following the death of Commissioner Jerry Mebus. He remained on the court until his loss to O.L. Watson in 1984.
The city of Arlington named the 52 acres (210,436.7 m²) SJ Stovall Park in honor of the former mayor in 1991. Stovall served on the board of trustees for Arlington Memorial Hospital
Arlington Memorial Hospital
Arlington Memorial Hospital is a full-service acute-care medical center located in Arlington, Texas with 417 licensed beds....
, the president of the North Central Texas Council of Governments and the chairman of the board of the Mission Metroplex/Mission Arlington.
SJ Stovall died at a nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
in Mansfield, Texas
Mansfield, Texas
Mansfield is a city in Ellis, Johnson, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 56,368.In 2009, CNN/Money Magazine rated Mansfield as one of the "Best Places to Live" in the United States, ranking 24th out of the top 100 places.-History:The first...
, on July 14, 2010, at the age of 84. His wife, Mary Margaret "Margie" Stovall, predeceased him. He was survived by a son, Marc, and a daughter.