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Returning to McAdoo specifically to run for office, he became at twenty-five the youngest county judge in Texas.<ref name=plaque/> He worked to reduce [[property tax]]es and brought Dickens County on a cash basis for the first time in some fifteen years. During his last year as county judge, Formby was president of the West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association.<ref name=plaque/>"He loved people and politics. He was for the little guy," said nephew and business partner [[Clint Formby]].​

Returning to McAdoo specifically to run for office, he became at twenty-five the youngest county judge in Texas.<ref name=plaque/> He worked to reduce [[property tax]]es and brought Dickens County on a cash basis for the first time in some fifteen years. During his last year as county judge, Formby was president of the West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association.<ref name=plaque/>"He loved people and politics. He was for the little guy," said nephew and business partner [[Clint Formby]].​

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In 1937, Judge Formby received a [[Master of Arts]] in journalism  from the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. While at UT, he was a correspondent covering the [[Texas State Legislature]] for the ''Amarillo Times'' in [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.depts.ttu.edu/masscom/alumni/halloffame/mformby.php|title=Texas Tech University:College of Mass Communications|publisher=depts..ttu.edu|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref>​

In 1937, Judge Formby received a [[Master of Arts]] in journalism  from the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. While at UT, he was a correspondent covering the [[Texas State Legislature]] for the ''Amarillo Times'' in [[Amarillo]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.depts.ttu.edu/masscom/alumni/halloffame/mformby.php|title=Texas Tech University:College of Mass Communications|publisher=depts..ttu.edu|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref>​

 

Soon a state senator, his legislative service was interrupted by [[World War II]], in which he served in [[Europe]] in the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]. He was discharged as a [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]]. Formby married the former Sharleen Wells (born September 30, 1918), later Sharleen Rhoads of [[Midland]] after Formby's death. The couple, who met in [[Austin]], had two children, Frances Formby Seales of Lubbock (born 1955) and David W. Formby (born 1957) of Plainview, and two grandchildren. A native of Barberton, [[Ohio]], Sharleen graduated as an [[English]] major from a junior college. She married Formby on September 8, 1946, in Seale, [[Alabama]]. (Coincidentally, their daughter married a man named "Seales.". Sharleen taught at the United States Army War College in [[Washington, D.C.]], and later attended graduate school at the [[University of Texas]], at which she studied radio communication. In August 1947, the Formbys moved to Plainview.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txdicken/swcoll.htm|title=Southwest Collection at Texas Tech for Dickens County|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref>​

Soon a state senator, his legislative service was interrupted by [[World War II]], in which he served in [[Europe]] in the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]. He was discharged as a captain. Formby married the former Sharleen Wells (born September 30, 1918), later Sharleen Rhoads of [[Midland]] after Formby's death. The couple, who met in [[Austin]], had two children, Frances Formby Seales of Lubbock (born 1955) and David W. Formby (born 1957) of Plainview, and two grandchildren. A native of Barberton, [[Ohio]], Sharleen graduated as an [[English]] major from a junior college. She married Formby on September 8, 1946, in Seale, [[Alabama]]. (Coincidentally, their daughter married a man named "Seales.". Sharleen taught at the United States Army War College in [[Washington, D.C.]], and later attended graduate school at the [[University of Texas]], at which she studied radio communication. In August 1947, the Formbys moved to Plainview.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txdicken/swcoll.htm|title=Southwest Collection at Texas Tech for Dickens County|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref>​

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For a time Formby operated the weekly ''Aspermont Star'' in rural Aspermont in Stonewall County in West Texas and later  ''The Plainview Tribune.'.<ref name=plainview/> In the late 1940s,Formby pursued his [[Juris Doctor]]ate degree, which he received in 1951 from [[Baylor University]] Law School in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], Texas.<ref name=formby>{{cite web|url= http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00098/tsw-00098.html|title=Marshall Formby: An Inventory of His Papers, 1883-1989 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library|publisher=lib.utexas.edu|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref>​

For a time Formby operated the weekly ''Aspermont Star'' in rural Aspermont in Stonewall County in West Texas and later  ''The Plainview Tribune.'.<ref name=plainview/> In the late 1940s,Formby pursued his [[Juris Doctor]]ate degree, which he received in 1951 from [[Baylor University]] Law School in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], Texas.<ref name=formby>{{cite web|url= http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00098/tsw-00098.html|title=Marshall Formby: An Inventory of His Papers, 1883-1989 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library|publisher=lib.utexas.edu|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref>​

The historical plaque at Formby's grave in McAdoo says that he "exemplifies the hard working, never say quit character of West Texans whom he so vividly portrayed in . . . ''These Are My People'' (1962). . . in politics, in business, and in community affairs. Formby represented the small town, rural character of [[Great Depression|Depression]]-era Texas west of the 100th meridian, a place where it seldom rained, the wind always seemed to blow, and settlers met obstacles head on with a gritty spirit and a will to succeed."<ref name=plaque/>​

The historical plaque at Formby's grave in McAdoo says that he "exemplifies the hard working, never say quit character of West Texans whom he so vividly portrayed in . . . ''These Are My People'' (1962). . . in politics, in business, and in community affairs. Formby represented the small town, rural character of [[Great Depression|Depression]]-era Texas west of the 100th meridian, a place where it seldom rained, the wind always seemed to blow, and settlers met obstacles head on with a gritty spirit and a will to succeed."<ref name=plaque/>​

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==References==

==References==

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