Changes

[[United States Air Force]] service

[[United States Air Force]] service

| alma_mater=Gustine High School<br>

| alma_mater=Gustine High School<br>

[Howard Payne University<br>

Howard Payne University<br>

[[University of Texas at Austin]]<br>

[[University of Texas at Austin]]<br>

[[Northwestern University]]

[[Northwestern University]]

==Background==

==Background==

An only child, Reese was born to Arvil Lloyd Reese (1911-1980) and the former Mary Louise Pearce (1910-1990) in the defunct community of Hasse in Comanche County near [[Abilene, Texas|Abilene]], [[Texas]]. The Reese family moved repeatedly during Jim's childhood as Arvil searched for employment amid the [[Great Depression]]. Arvil worked for the Texas Department of Highways for a time, having been assigned to place finich concrete on bridges. He also held various jobs in the oil industry and was during the end of his working years a Butane dealer in Gustine in Comanche County. During his boyhood, Jim Reese attended eighteen different schools and resided in such locations asSidney in Comanche County, Bronte in Coke County, and Monahans, Brady, [[Corpus Christi]], and Odessa, Texas, as well as McAlester, [[Oklahoma]].<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Jim Reese of Odessa and the Republican Party in the Permian Basin", ''The West Texas Historical Association Year Book'', Vol. LXXXVII (October 2011), p. 127.</ref>

An only child, Reese was born to Arvil Lloyd Reese (1911-1980) and the former Mary Louise Pearce (1910-1990) in the defunct community of Hasse in Comanche County near [[Abilene, Texas|Abilene]], [[Texas]]. The Reese family moved repeatedly during Jim's childhood as Arvil searched for employment amid the [[Great Depression]]. Arvil worked for the Texas Department of Highways for a time, having been assigned to place finich concrete on bridges. He also held various jobs in the oil industry and was during the end of his working years a Butane dealer in Gustine in Comanche County. During his boyhood, Jim Reese attended eighteen different schools and resided in such locations as Sidney in Comanche County, Bronte in Coke County, and Monahans, Brady, [[Corpus Christi]], and Odessa, Texas, as well as McAlester, [[Oklahoma]].<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Jim Reese of Odessa and the Republican Party in the Permian Basin", ''The West Texas Historical Association Year Book'', Vol. LXXXVII (October 2011), p. 127.</ref>

Reese's first remembrance of Odessa dates to 1938, when he was eight years of age. Arvil Reese had hired a driver with a pick-up truck to bring the family of three to Odessa. Young Jim saw flares from the oil fields and smelled sour gas: "I had heard of hell but didn't expect to get there that soon," he quipped. He slept on hay in the back of the pickup that first night, thirty years before his election as mayor. Reese recalls that in the late 1930s there was no paving in Odessa past Grant and Eighth streets. For several weeks the family lived in a tourist cabin in Goldsmith in Ector County, where they survived a [[tornado]]. It was while the Reeses were residing in Brady further east in McCulloch County that Arvil was financially able to purchase the family's first vehicle, a [[Model T]]. The car had been used to haul chickens in the back seat, but "we were happy finally to have transportation," Reese recalled.<ref>Reese, p. 127.</ref>

Reese's first remembrance of Odessa dates to 1938, when he was eight years of age. Arvil Reese had hired a driver with a pick-up truck to bring the family of three to Odessa. Young Jim saw flares from the oil fields and smelled sour gas: "I had heard of hell but didn't expect to get there that soon," he quipped. He slept on hay in the back of the pickup that first night, thirty years before his election as mayor. Reese recalls that in the late 1930s there was no paving in Odessa past Grant and Eighth streets. For several weeks the family lived in a tourist cabin in Goldsmith in Ector County, where they survived a [[tornado]]. It was while the Reeses were residing in Brady further east in McCulloch County that Arvil was financially able to purchase the family's first vehicle, a [[Model T]]. The car had been used to haul chickens in the back seat, but "we were happy finally to have transportation," Reese recalled.<ref>Reese, p. 127.</ref>

Back in Comanche County, Reese graduated at sixteen from Gustine High School and enrolled at the [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, for two years before transferring to the [[University of Texas at Austin]], where in 1951 he obtained a [[Bachelor of Fine Arts]] degree. The next year, he procured the [[Master of Arts]] from [[Northwestern University]] in Evanston, [[Illinois]]. Both degrees were in the then new field of radio and television [[broadcasting]]. From 1953 to 1955, he served in the [[United States Air Force]] and was stationed mostly in [[San Antonio]], Texas, and [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], and at the former Reese Air Force Base in [[Lubbock]], Texas. He also made a brief military sojourn to [[Tripoli]], [[Libya]].<ref>Reese, p. 128.</ref>

Back in Comanche County, Reese graduated at sixteen from Gustine High School and enrolled at the [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, for two years before transferring to the [[University of Texas at Austin]], where in 1951 he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. The next year, he procured the [[Master of Arts]] from [[Northwestern University]] in Evanston, [[Illinois]]. Both degrees were in the then new field of radio and television [[broadcasting]]. From 1953 to 1955, he served in the [[United States Air Force]] and was stationed mostly in [[San Antonio]], Texas, and [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], and at the former Reese (coincidental name) Air Force Base in [[Lubbock]], Texas. He also made a brief military sojourn to [[Tripoli]], [[Libya]].<ref>Reese, p. 128.</ref>

Reese was married until her death to the former Jayne Damron (May 31, 1930 &ndash; March 21, 2016), the daughter of Joe Sam Damron and the former Colleen Tidwell. Born in [[Amarillo]] and reared in Muleshoe] in Bailey County, she graduated from Muleshoe High School and attended [[Baylor University]] in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], Texas, and the University of Texas at Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hubbard-kelly.tributes.com/dignitymemorial/obituary/Frances-Jayne-Reese-103416638|title=Jayne Damron Reese|publisher=Hubbard-Kelly.tributes.com|accessdate=October 26, 2018}}</ref>  

Reese was married until her death to the former Jayne Damron (May 31, 1930 &ndash; March 21, 2016), the daughter of Joe Sam Damron and the former Colleen Tidwell. Born in [[Amarillo]] and reared in Muleshoe] in Bailey County, she graduated from Muleshoe High School and attended [[Baylor University]] in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], Texas, and the University of Texas at Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hubbard-kelly.tributes.com/dignitymemorial/obituary/Frances-Jayne-Reese-103416638|title=Jayne Damron Reese|publisher=Hubbard-Kelly.tributes.com|accessdate=October 26, 2018}}</ref>  

Their daughter, Greta Jayne Reese Rigney (born 1954), resides in Midland. Her husband, William R. Rigney, Jr. (1945-2013), was a native of [[Oakland]], [[California]], who worked in both baseball management, which brought him to Midland, and then the oil business. He died at the age of sixty-eight of [[Alzheimer's disease]]. There are three Rigney sons, Jim Reese's grandsons.<ref>William "Bill" Rigney obituary, ''The Odessa American'', December 1, 2013.</ref> The Reeses' son, James Rockney "Rocky" Reese (born 1956) lives in [[Horseshoe Bay, Texas|Horseshoe Bay]] near Austin, Texas. A second daughter, Lori Jan Reese (1962-2011) resided until her death in Abilene at the Abilene State School for special-needs persons.<ref>Reese, pp. 130, 148.</ref>

Their daughter, Greta Jayne Reese Rigney (born 1954), resides in Midland. Her husband, William R. Rigney, Jr. (1945-2013), was a native of [[Oakland]], [[California]], who worked in both baseball management, which brought him to Midland, and then the oil business. He died at the age of sixty-eight of [[Alzheimer's disease]]. There are three Rigney sons, Jim Reese's grandsons.<ref>William "Bill" Rigney obituary, ''The Odessa American'', December 1, 2013.</ref> The Reeses' son, James Rockney "Rocky" Reese (born 1956) lives in Horseshoe Bay near Austin, Texas. A second daughter, Lori Jan Reese (1962-2011) resided until her death in Abilene at the Abilene State School for special-needs persons.<ref>Reese, pp. 130, 148.</ref>

==Broadcasting career==

==Broadcasting career==