Brady P. Gentry

Brady P. Gentry, born on a farm near this site in Van Zandt County, was educated at Cumberland University in Tennessee and Tyler Commercial College and went on to serve as County Attorney and County Judge of Smith County. As chairman of the Texas Highway Commission from 1939 to 1945, he traveled almost every Texas highway to learn the state's road needs and supported reserving road-use revenue for road building to strengthen the highway program financially over the long term. An authority on highway policy, he served in 1943 as president of the American Association of State Highway Officials and in that role aided postwar expansion in motor vehicle use by implementing legislation that provided funds for farm-to-market roads and the first major expressways in the country. Interested in education, he helped establish Tyler Junior College. He later served as U.S. Congressman for Texas's Third Congressional District from 1953 to 1957, worked on committees for public works and roads, helped design legislation for the interstate highway system, and refused to vote merely along political lines.

Texas · United States