Joe Madison Kilgore (1918-1999)

    Joe Madison Kilgore, member of both the Texas and United States Houses of Representatives, and advisor to state and national political leaders was born December 10, 1918 in Brown County, near Brownwood, Texas, the son of William Henry and Myrtle Armstrong Kilgore. In 1929 the family moved to Mission, Texas. He received an education from Westmoreland College in San Antonio, Texas (now Trinity University), the University of Texas and the University of Texas Law School. While attending UT in the late 1930's, Kilgore worked in the campaigns of then U.S. Representative Lyndon B. Johnson. Kilgore enlisted in the United States Air Corps in July of 1941 and served in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations during WWII. As a combat pilot, he flew dozens of missions in B-24 bombers and was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, and the Distinguished Flying Cross among other decorations. He was a lieutenant colonel at the end of WWII and rose to major general in the Air Force Reserve (Retired). Kilgore married Ms. Jane Redman, daughter of Lt. Mark Henry Redman and Lois Wilkins Redman, of San Antonio on July 28, 1945, at Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas.  In 1946 he was admitted to the Texas State Bar and practiced law in Edinburg, Texas until his election to the United States Congress.

    In November of 1946 he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives where he served on the Judiciary Committee. Kilgore was reelected in 1948, 1950, and 1952. In 1954 he was elected to serve in the United States House of Representatives, Eighty-fourth Congress, where he succeeded his boyhood friend, Lloyd Bentsen, who later became a U.S. Senator. Joe Kilgore was reelected to the 85th through 88th Congresses. He represented the Rio Grande Valley's 15th Congressional District. In 1965, at the end of the 88th Congress, Kilgore retired from Congress and reentered private practice in the law firm of McGinnis, Lochridge and Kilgore, L.L.P. in Austin, Texas. In November of 1964 Governor John Connally appointed Kilgore to serve as Chairman of the Consulting Advisory Panel for the Water Planning Program of Texas. In 1967, Governor Connally named Joe Kilgore as a Regent of the University of Texas System, where he served until January of 1973. President Lyndon B. Johnson named Kilgore a member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States in August, 1968. He served in that position for three years. Governor Clements named Kilgore to serve on the Governor's Task Force on State Trust and Asset Management in 1981. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Texas in 1982. Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore had four children and six grandchildren. Joe Kilgore died February 10, 1999 and is buried at the Texas State Cemetery. Source

Monument Hill
Texas State Cemetery
Austin

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