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[[Holding Institute]] (Laredo)}}

[[Holding Institute]] (Laredo)}}

'''Josef Bartlett Finley, Jr.''', known as '''Joe B. Finley''' (August 6, 1924 &ndash; September 10, 2011),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Josef+Bartlett&gsln=Finley%2C+Jr.&msydy=1924&msypn__ftp=Laredo%2C+Webb%2C+Texas%2C+USA&msypn=78634&msypn_PInfo=8-%7C0%7C1652393%7C0%7C2%7C3249%7C46%7C0%7C3106%7C78634%7C0%7C&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=000&cp=0|title=Josef Bartlett Finley, Jr.|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=January 30, 2015}}</ref> was a rancher and a [[business]]man in [[Laredo]], [[Texas]], who in 1961 was the driving force behind the establishment of the United Independent School District, which serves a large section of Webb County. In 1964, UISD received nationwide attention as the first school district in Texas to offer bilingual programs.<ref name=rodriguez/>

'''Josef Bartlett Finley Jr.''', known as '''Joe B. Finley''' (August 6, 1924 &ndash; September 10, 2011),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Josef+Bartlett&gsln=Finley%2C+Jr.&msydy=1924&msypn__ftp=Laredo%2C+Webb%2C+Texas%2C+USA&msypn=78634&msypn_PInfo=8-%7C0%7C1652393%7C0%7C2%7C3249%7C46%7C0%7C3106%7C78634%7C0%7C&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=000&cp=0|title=Josef Bartlett Finley, Jr.|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=January 30, 2015}}</ref> was a rancher and a [[business]]man in [[Laredo]], [[Texas]], who in 1961 was the driving force behind the establishment of the United Independent School District, which serves a large section of Webb County. In 1964, UISD received nationwide attention as the first school district in Texas to offer bilingual programs.<ref name=rodriguez/>

== Background ==

== Background ==

The only child of Joe B. Finley, Sr. (1899–1979), and Florence Finley (1897–1973), Finley was educated at the [[Methodist]]-affiliated [[Holding Institute]] in Laredo, since closed. He rode a train for twenty cents per day from the Callaghan Ranch, wherehe was reared, to Laredo in order to attend Holding.<ref name=georgiou/> Finley served for four years in the [[United States Army]] in the Pacific Theatre during [[World War II]],<ref name=obit>Joe Bartlett Finley,Jr., ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 13, 2011, p. 8A.</ref> a member of the Texas Army National Guard's 112th Cavalry Regiment, which saw 434 days of combat. Finley was alongside the battleship ''U.S.S. Missouri'' when the Empire of [[Japan]] signed the instrument of surrender on September 2, 1945, which effectively ended the war in the Pacific.<ref name=finley/> He was an admirer of [[General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]], the liberator of the [[Philippines]] in 1944 and later the first [[United Nations]] commander in the [[Korean War]]. Finley possessed a great knowledge of military history.<ref name=georgiou>Nick Georgiou, "Finley loved family, friends: Wife: UISD founder respected by all", ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 12, 2011, pp. 1, 12A.</ref>

The only child of Joe B. Finley Sr. (1899–1979), and Florence Finley (1897–1973), Finley was educated at the [[Methodist]]-affiliated [[Holding Institute]] in Laredo, since closed. He rode a train for twenty cents per day from the Callaghan Ranch, wherehe was reared, to Laredo in order to attend Holding.<ref name=georgiou/> Finley served for four years in the [[United States Army]] in the Pacific Theatre during [[World War II]],<ref name=obit>Joe Bartlett Finley,Jr., ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 13, 2011, p. 8A.</ref> a member of the Texas Army National Guard's 112th Cavalry Regiment, which saw 434 days of combat. Finley was alongside the battleship ''U.S.S. Missouri'' when the Empire of [[Japan]] signed the instrument of surrender on September 2, 1945, which effectively ended the war in the Pacific.<ref name=finley/> He was an admirer of [[General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]], the liberator of the [[Philippines]] in 1944 and later the first [[United Nations]] commander in the [[Korean War]]. Finley possessed a great knowledge of military history.<ref name=georgiou>Nick Georgiou, "Finley loved family, friends: Wife: UISD founder respected by all", ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 12, 2011, pp. 1, 12A.</ref>

== School board service ==

== School board service ==

== Family and death ==

== Family and death ==

Finley was married for fifty-two years to the former Edith Mary Grinnan, who survives him. His five daughters, in addition to Alicia Richter, the widow of Edward Richter, Jr., are Ana Maria Finley, Amanda Finley Lasater and husband, Lee, Mary Joe Finley Crannyand her husband, Jim, and Amy Finley Fischer, and her husband, Jeff, the latter the parents of Finley's three grandchildren.<ref name=georgiou/> Finley died at the age of eighty-seven at a hospital in [[Corpus Christi]]. Services wereheld on September 14 at Blessed Sacrament [[Roman Catholic]] Church in Laredo. Interment was in the Masonic section of the Laredo City Cemetery.<ref>"Joe Bartlett Finley, Jr., ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 14, 2011, p. 13A.</ref>

Finley was married for fifty-two years to the former Edith Mary Grinnan, who survives him. His five daughters, in addition to Alicia Richter, the widow of Edward Richter Jr., are Ana Maria Finley, Amanda Finley Lasater and husband, Lee, Mary Joe Finley Crannyand her husband, Jim, and Amy Finley Fischer, and her husband, Jeff, the latter the parents of Finley's three grandchildren.<ref name=georgiou/> Finley died at the age of eighty-seven at a hospital in [[Corpus Christi]]. Services wereheld on September 14 at Blessed Sacrament [[Roman Catholic]] Church in Laredo. Interment was in the Masonic section of the Laredo City Cemetery.<ref>"Joe Bartlett Finley, Jr., ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 14, 2011, p. 13A.</ref>

Finley was so highly regarded in his community that the ''Laredo Morning Times'' covered his funeral on the front page. C. J. Tillinghast, a pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cotulla, Texas, said that Finley was "one of thosepeople who made a difference in everyone's life. He will be missed by all of us."<ref name=finley>Nick Georgiou, "Mass, funeral for UISD founder, ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 15, 2011, pp. 1, 12A.</ref> Finley's daughter, Ana Marie, called her father "the epitome of service beyond self ... His service to the Texas Association of School Boards just proved that the path to personal fulfillment isn't always necessarily paved with personal gain."<ref name=finley/>

Finley was so highly regarded in his community that the ''Laredo Morning Times'' covered his funeral on the front page. C. J. Tillinghast, a pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cotulla, Texas, said that Finley was "one of thosepeople who made a difference in everyone's life. He will be missed by all of us."<ref name=finley>Nick Georgiou, "Mass, funeral for UISD founder, ''Laredo Morning Times'', September 15, 2011, pp. 1, 12A.</ref> Finley's daughter, Ana Marie, called her father "the epitome of service beyond self ... His service to the Texas Association of School Boards just proved that the path to personal fulfillment isn't always necessarily paved with personal gain."<ref name=finley/>