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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Giles Connell McCrary, Sr. | birth_date=November 5, 1919 | birth_place=Fort Worth, Texas | death_date=October 30, 2011 (aged 91) | death_..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Giles Connell McCrary, Sr.
| birth_date=November 5, 1919
| birth_place=[[Fort Worth]], [[Texas]]
| death_date=October 30, 2011 (aged 91)
| death_place=[[Lubbock]], Texas
| resting place=Terrace Cemetery in Post, Texas
| occupation=Rancher, [[Business]]man; [[Philanthropist]]
| office=[[Mayor]] of Post, Garza County, Texas
|term_start=1969
|term_end=1991
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|spouse=Helen Louise McCrary (married 1940–2011, his death)
|children=Mary L. McCrary<br>
Giles McCrary, Jr.<br>
Pamela McCrary (1945–1979)<br>
Four grandchildren<br>
Five great-grandchildren<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Isaac Newton and Nell Dixie Connell McCrary
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
|notes=(1) Former Mayor Giles McCrary played a major part in the revival of [[tourism]] in his town of Post, south of [[Lubbock]]]<br>.
(2) In 2002, McCrary was instrumental in bringing the Vatican Museum Collection to [[Texas Tech University]].<br>
(3) McCrary was one of the founders of the highly-acclaimed National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech.
|branch=[[United States Army]]<br>
(63rd Infantry Division)
|battles=[[Rhine River]] and [[Germany]] in [[World War II]]
}}
'''Giles Connell McCrary, Sr.''' (November 5, 1919 – October 30, 2011),<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/obituaries/2011-11-01/giles-connell-mccrary?v=1320111110|title=Giles Connell McCrary|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=November 1, 2011|accessdate=November 1, 2011}}</ref> was a self-employed [[petroleum]] operator, investor, art collector, rancher, and the founder of the [[OS Museum]] in Post, the seat of Garza County, southeast of [[Lubbock]] on the [[Texas]] [[South Plains]].
McCrary was the [[mayor]] of Post from 1969 to 1991; in Texas, all mayors are elected on a nonpartisan ballot. McCrary, however, was a [[Republican Party |Republican]], having contributed to many [[Republican Party|GOP]] candidates as well as the [[Republican National Committee]] and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
==Background==
McCrary was born to Isaac Newton McCrary (1886-1949) and the former Nell Dixie Connell (1887-1980) in [[Fort Worth]], the seat of Tarrant County]], in north Texas. In 1940, while still twenty, he married the former Helen Louise Luton (born 1920). Their children are Mary L. McCrary of Lubbock and Giles C. McCrary, Jr. (born 1952), of Fort Worth, and four grandchildren. A second daughter, Pamela McCrary, died in 1979 at the age of thirty-four.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189314473/giles-connell-mccrary|title Giles Connell "Big Ol" McCrary|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref>
In 1942, McCrary graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, [[Virginia]],<ref name=obit/> an institution headed by [[General]] [[Robert E. Lee]] from 1865 until Lee's death in 1870. McCrary then entered the [[United States Army]]'s 63rd Infantry Division. He was in the first unit to cross the [[Rhine River]] and to penetrate [[Germany]] prior to the surrender to the Allied forces. McCrary assisted in the liberation of one [[concentration camp]]. During his military service, he often went to concerts and museums and hence acquired his interest in art.
==Museum collection==
The OS Ranch Museum is one of three museums in Post, a small town established by the cereal magnate Charles William "C. W." Post (1854-1914). It is known for its hospitality and its encouragement of tourism. McCrary features works by many Southwestern artists that depict Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His museum includes works which he has collected over many years from trips throughout the world, including [[Vatican City]] in [[Rome]], [[Italy]]. In addition to its western works, the museum hosts cases of Faberge eggs, [[textiles]], and [[ivory]] carvings from the [[Far East]]. Although it is now illegal to bring ivory into the United States, McCrary acquired his samples when importation was permitted. In 2002, McCrary helped to bring the Vatican Museums Collection to [[Texas Tech University]] in Lubbock. The collection of medieval frescoes and paintings attracted some 133,000 visitors to the Museum of Texas Tech.
In addition to being treasurer for the Vatican Museums Collection, McCrary financed the education of more than two hundred Texas Tech students in recent years. According to Wanda White Mitchell (1937-2014), Post's former Commerce and Tourism Bureau president,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/lubbockonline/name/wanda-mitchell-obituary?id=19336290|title=Wanda Mitchell|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=June 18, 2014|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> McCrary paid the tuition of about twenty students each year but preferred not to speak of his philanthrophy.
==Civic leadership==
In 2005, McCrary was one of five individuals, including [[Jim Humphreys]], former manager of the [[Pitchfork Ranch]] east of Lubbock, who received the Founders Award from the National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech, which offers a highly acclaimed free outdoor museum on the Tech campus. The award is given to people who have made the ranching center, along with its inside museum, a priority in their lives. McCraryalso supported Texas Tech through the Ershel A. Franklin Charitable Trust, named for McCrary's partner in the oil business. Upon Franklin's death in 1980, McCrary became sole trustee for the trust.
McCrary's grandfather sold part of his ranch to C. W. Post in the early 20th century. McCrary still owns part of the original ranch that his grandfather purchased from Clarence Scharbauer of [[Midland, Texas|Midland]]. McCrary returned to Post in the late 1940s to run the family ranching operation. He left the community only for vacations and business and art-collecting trips. He has visited more than one hundred countries on all continents, including [[Antarctica]], which he has toured three times with ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' magazine. Despite such extensive travels, McCrary said that he would not live in a large city because he preferred the camaraderie of life in a small west Texas town.
McCrary once said that he believed his town of Post would have become the size of Lubbock had C. W. Post lived to fulfill his dream of creating a self-sustaining community. Post, who was in poor health for much of his life, died just before his sixtieth birthday and was in Texas for only seven years of his life.
In addition to the OS Museum, Post promoted tourism through its restored Garza Theater, [[Garza County Historical Museum]], and its Hotel Garza, an 11-room downtown bed and breakfast. There is also the 400-seat Ragtime Gospel Theater, designed to resemble a street in old [[Jerusalem]] and known for its southern [[gospel music]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postcitytexas.com/|title=Post, Texas: A Few of Our Many Attractions|publisher=postcitytexas.com|accessdate=April 21, 2011}}</ref>
The revitalized downtown Post was once featured on a segment of Bob Phillips' ''Texas Country Reporter'' syndicated [[television]] series. McCrary was a member of Rotary International and the Masonic lodge. He was a [[Presbyterian]]. McCrary died in Lubbock a week before his ninety-second birthday. He was a recipient of the Doctorate of Humane Letters honorary degree from the Texas Tech University Health Science Center.<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrary, Giles}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Museums]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:World War II]]
| name=Giles Connell McCrary, Sr.
| birth_date=November 5, 1919
| birth_place=[[Fort Worth]], [[Texas]]
| death_date=October 30, 2011 (aged 91)
| death_place=[[Lubbock]], Texas
| resting place=Terrace Cemetery in Post, Texas
| occupation=Rancher, [[Business]]man; [[Philanthropist]]
| office=[[Mayor]] of Post, Garza County, Texas
|term_start=1969
|term_end=1991
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|spouse=Helen Louise McCrary (married 1940–2011, his death)
|children=Mary L. McCrary<br>
Giles McCrary, Jr.<br>
Pamela McCrary (1945–1979)<br>
Four grandchildren<br>
Five great-grandchildren<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Isaac Newton and Nell Dixie Connell McCrary
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
|notes=(1) Former Mayor Giles McCrary played a major part in the revival of [[tourism]] in his town of Post, south of [[Lubbock]]]<br>.
(2) In 2002, McCrary was instrumental in bringing the Vatican Museum Collection to [[Texas Tech University]].<br>
(3) McCrary was one of the founders of the highly-acclaimed National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech.
|branch=[[United States Army]]<br>
(63rd Infantry Division)
|battles=[[Rhine River]] and [[Germany]] in [[World War II]]
}}
'''Giles Connell McCrary, Sr.''' (November 5, 1919 – October 30, 2011),<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/obituaries/2011-11-01/giles-connell-mccrary?v=1320111110|title=Giles Connell McCrary|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=November 1, 2011|accessdate=November 1, 2011}}</ref> was a self-employed [[petroleum]] operator, investor, art collector, rancher, and the founder of the [[OS Museum]] in Post, the seat of Garza County, southeast of [[Lubbock]] on the [[Texas]] [[South Plains]].
McCrary was the [[mayor]] of Post from 1969 to 1991; in Texas, all mayors are elected on a nonpartisan ballot. McCrary, however, was a [[Republican Party |Republican]], having contributed to many [[Republican Party|GOP]] candidates as well as the [[Republican National Committee]] and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
==Background==
McCrary was born to Isaac Newton McCrary (1886-1949) and the former Nell Dixie Connell (1887-1980) in [[Fort Worth]], the seat of Tarrant County]], in north Texas. In 1940, while still twenty, he married the former Helen Louise Luton (born 1920). Their children are Mary L. McCrary of Lubbock and Giles C. McCrary, Jr. (born 1952), of Fort Worth, and four grandchildren. A second daughter, Pamela McCrary, died in 1979 at the age of thirty-four.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189314473/giles-connell-mccrary|title Giles Connell "Big Ol" McCrary|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref>
In 1942, McCrary graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, [[Virginia]],<ref name=obit/> an institution headed by [[General]] [[Robert E. Lee]] from 1865 until Lee's death in 1870. McCrary then entered the [[United States Army]]'s 63rd Infantry Division. He was in the first unit to cross the [[Rhine River]] and to penetrate [[Germany]] prior to the surrender to the Allied forces. McCrary assisted in the liberation of one [[concentration camp]]. During his military service, he often went to concerts and museums and hence acquired his interest in art.
==Museum collection==
The OS Ranch Museum is one of three museums in Post, a small town established by the cereal magnate Charles William "C. W." Post (1854-1914). It is known for its hospitality and its encouragement of tourism. McCrary features works by many Southwestern artists that depict Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His museum includes works which he has collected over many years from trips throughout the world, including [[Vatican City]] in [[Rome]], [[Italy]]. In addition to its western works, the museum hosts cases of Faberge eggs, [[textiles]], and [[ivory]] carvings from the [[Far East]]. Although it is now illegal to bring ivory into the United States, McCrary acquired his samples when importation was permitted. In 2002, McCrary helped to bring the Vatican Museums Collection to [[Texas Tech University]] in Lubbock. The collection of medieval frescoes and paintings attracted some 133,000 visitors to the Museum of Texas Tech.
In addition to being treasurer for the Vatican Museums Collection, McCrary financed the education of more than two hundred Texas Tech students in recent years. According to Wanda White Mitchell (1937-2014), Post's former Commerce and Tourism Bureau president,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/lubbockonline/name/wanda-mitchell-obituary?id=19336290|title=Wanda Mitchell|publisher=''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=June 18, 2014|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> McCrary paid the tuition of about twenty students each year but preferred not to speak of his philanthrophy.
==Civic leadership==
In 2005, McCrary was one of five individuals, including [[Jim Humphreys]], former manager of the [[Pitchfork Ranch]] east of Lubbock, who received the Founders Award from the National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech, which offers a highly acclaimed free outdoor museum on the Tech campus. The award is given to people who have made the ranching center, along with its inside museum, a priority in their lives. McCraryalso supported Texas Tech through the Ershel A. Franklin Charitable Trust, named for McCrary's partner in the oil business. Upon Franklin's death in 1980, McCrary became sole trustee for the trust.
McCrary's grandfather sold part of his ranch to C. W. Post in the early 20th century. McCrary still owns part of the original ranch that his grandfather purchased from Clarence Scharbauer of [[Midland, Texas|Midland]]. McCrary returned to Post in the late 1940s to run the family ranching operation. He left the community only for vacations and business and art-collecting trips. He has visited more than one hundred countries on all continents, including [[Antarctica]], which he has toured three times with ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' magazine. Despite such extensive travels, McCrary said that he would not live in a large city because he preferred the camaraderie of life in a small west Texas town.
McCrary once said that he believed his town of Post would have become the size of Lubbock had C. W. Post lived to fulfill his dream of creating a self-sustaining community. Post, who was in poor health for much of his life, died just before his sixtieth birthday and was in Texas for only seven years of his life.
In addition to the OS Museum, Post promoted tourism through its restored Garza Theater, [[Garza County Historical Museum]], and its Hotel Garza, an 11-room downtown bed and breakfast. There is also the 400-seat Ragtime Gospel Theater, designed to resemble a street in old [[Jerusalem]] and known for its southern [[gospel music]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postcitytexas.com/|title=Post, Texas: A Few of Our Many Attractions|publisher=postcitytexas.com|accessdate=April 21, 2011}}</ref>
The revitalized downtown Post was once featured on a segment of Bob Phillips' ''Texas Country Reporter'' syndicated [[television]] series. McCrary was a member of Rotary International and the Masonic lodge. He was a [[Presbyterian]]. McCrary died in Lubbock a week before his ninety-second birthday. He was a recipient of the Doctorate of Humane Letters honorary degree from the Texas Tech University Health Science Center.<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrary, Giles}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Museums]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:World War II]]