Richter, Walter H.

Politician and author Walter H. Richter (1916-2003) was born in Marble Falls, Texas and was educated in San Marcos and Austin. After graduating from Southwest Texas State College (now Texas State University) in 1938, Richter served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He married Dorothy Jean Sample, with whom he had two children. From 1939 to 1948, Richter was the Director of Journalism and Publications at Southwest Texas State College. He then served as publisher of the Stockdale Star for one year, and later became Executive Director of the Gonzales Warm Springs Foundation, 1955-1961.

Richter served as state senator from Gonzales, 1963-1965, before being appointed by Governor John Bowden Connally as Director of the Texas Office of Economic Opportunity. He had served in this position for one year when President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him Director of the Southwest Region Office of Economic Opportunity, spreading his domain beyond Texas to include New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana as well.

Richter taught at the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin and simultaneously served on the Community Council of Austin and Travis County, 1969-1970. Governor Preston Smith then appointed Richter Director of a newly-created program, the Texas Program on Drug Abuse (1971-1972) and during this time Richter also served as Vice Chairman of the United States Association of State Drug Abuse Program Directors. Next, Richter worked as a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., (1972-1982) and was also appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve on the U.S. Transportation and Architectural Barriers Compliance Board. Richter went on to become a Chairman for the Travis County Democratic Party (1982-1984) and First Deputy of the Texas Department of Agriculture (1983). He also served as Chairman for the Travis County Democratic Party on an emergency basis from 1990 to 1991.