Kilgore, Joe M., 1918-1999

Born in Brown County, Texas, Joe Madison Kilgore (1918-1999) grew up in Rising Star and Mission, Texas, with his parents William Henry and Myrtle Armstrong Kilgore. In the 1930s, he attended Westmoreland College, now Trinity University, in San Antonio, Texas, before entering the University of Texas (UT) Law School. In 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps to serve in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations during World War II. He rose to the rank of major general and earned several commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1945, Kilgore returned to the UT Law School and married Jane Redman (b. 1923), with whom he had four children. The next year he began practicing law in Edinburg, Tex. He served as a Democrat in the Texas State House of Representatives (1947-1954) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1955-1965). He then resumed his law practice at McGinnis, Lochridge, and Kilgore in Austin, Texas.

Governor John Connally appointed Kilgore to the UT Board of Regents (1967-1973), and he worked on several committees and for the University, including the University of Texas Centennial Commission (1980-1983) and Executive Committee of Chancellor’s Council of the University of Texas. Kilgore continued his involvement in politics, working in various appointments, including President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1968-1971) and Governor Bill Clements’ Task Force on State Trust and Asset Management (1981). He also served on numerous organizations, such as member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Superconducting Super Collider Authority, director of Texas State Bank in McAllen and of First Republic Bank Corporation, chairman of the Board of Directors of Texas State Bank, later Republic Bank Austin, member of Board of Visitors of the University Cancer Foundation at M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute.

...