Teamwork
Broadus Autry Spivey
Broadus Autry Spivey died at home Saturday, May 8, 2021, in the early morning (his favorite time of day) – his beloved Texas Hill Country in view.
He is survived by his wife and sweetheart of 64 years, Ruth Ann (King) Spivey; son Danny Spivey and wife Tonya; daughter Marci Spivey; and #1 grandson John Aden Higgs and gal Alma Raymer – all of Austin.
He is also survived by brother David Spivey and wife Della, of Duncanville; sister Becky Lane and husband Gerald, of Clarendon; brother Johnny Spivey, of Ralls; sister-in-law Rebecca (King) Chudacoff, of Oberlin, Ohio; and many beloved aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Broadus was born near Lakeview, in the Texas Panhandle, to Eadith and Claude Spivey on October 7, 1936. He worked on his family’s farm as a boy and through high school, picking cotton and tending animals. He attended Good-night Public School, Clarendon High School, and graduated from Clarendon College. Broadus married Ruth Ann on August 1, 1956, and they moved to Austin where he attended the University of Texas. Broadus graduated with a B.A. in Government in 1960, then a J.D. from the U.T. School of Law in 1962. He had begun law school hoping to become an FBI investigator, yet was strongly influenced by his father-in-law, Rufus Young King, who served as Donley County Attorney and later, as county judge. The law school dean, Page Keeton, also helped Broadus see the value in working to right the wrongs done to individuals instead of the country as a whole, and his new goal was to become a trial lawyer.
His first job was assistant county attorney, in Lubbock, where he spent two years prosecuting, proud to earn the $475 monthly salary. Next, he practiced general civil trial law with Fred West and Quinn Brackett, then took the job that changed his life – as a “pup” with Huff and Bowers, the premier plaintiff’s trial firm in the Texas Panhandle. Broadus considered Forrest Bowers to be one of the best trial lawyers he ever knew and was grateful for his early mentorship and their lifelong friendship. He set up his own practice five years later – his first client was the husband of a juror who’d decided against him but admired the way he’d tried his client’s case.
In 1971, the Spivey family moved back to Austin, and Broadus established a law firm with a fellow Texas Panhandle great, Bob Gibbins, down the street from the Travis County Courthouse, at 11th and Nueces. Over the years, he partnered with J. Patrick Hazel, Terry Scarborough, Dicky Grigg, Pat Kelly, Paul Knisely, and Price Ainsworth. Broadus and Dicky eventually set up law offices together and worked along-side one another for the remainder of Broadus’s career, until his retirement in October 2019.
His professional accomplishments and accolades are many – here are some: Board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law (State Bar of Texas) and in Civil Trial Advocacy (by the National Bd. of Trial Advocacy). State Bar of Texas President, 2001-2002 – and member of its Foundation since 1983 (Life Fellow), Board of Directors, 1983-1986, Texas Supreme Court Advisory Commit-tee, 1984-1991, and State Bar College, 1991. Texas Trial Lawyers Association President, 1981-1982 – and lifelong member. Capital Area Trial Lawyers Association President, 1977-1979. International Academy of Trial Lawyers President, 2002-2003 – Fellow since 1982 and Board of Directors member since 1993. Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Board of Governors, 1982-1985. Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Director (1982-1983) and Treasurer (1989-1990). He was an Advocate on the American Board of Trial Advocates since 1979, a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1986, named in Best Lawyers in America since 1983, and a member of The Tonahill Society since 1998. He was a member of the Austin Bar Association, the Philosophical Society of Texas, American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association, and Delta Theta Phi Legal Fraternity (including state and national recognition).
He authored and delivered more than 300 speeches, and he was honored by many community organizations and professional institutions – here are some of these awards: Texas Legal Legend, State Bar of Texas (2014); West Texas Legal Legend, Texas Tech School of Law (2014); War Horse Award, Southern Trial Lawyers Association (2010); Lifetime Achievement Award, Texas Trial Lawyers Association (2005); Champion of Justice, Texas Watch Foundation (2005); Distinguished Lawyer Award, Travis County Bar Association (2003); Texas Trial Lawyer of the Year, American Board of Trial Advocates (2003); Pursuit of Justice Award, American Bar Association (2003); President’s Award, State Bar of Texas (1999); and many others.
Broadus never had career ambitions and never rode for glory; he did what he always wanted to do – work as a trial lawyer, representing clients in courts all over Texas and across the nation. He tried all kinds of cases, including wrongful death and serious personal injury, legal mal-practice, contract disputes, business litigation, aviation, products liability, civil rights, and real estate disputes. In his law practice, he always put his clients first and his law clerks second – though his legal assistants, to him, were beyond any ranking.
During his 57 years of practice, he tried more than 500 cases to a jury and 146 appellate cases. He mentored more law clerks than seems possible – around 200! – instructing each one, on their first day of work, that he had only two absolute rules: attend class and make at least one mistake each day. Broadus knew that experience is a great teacher, and he let his law clerks get hands-on with case investigation, briefing, preparing evidence for trial, and working with clients. He also taught them, as he modeled, to respect opposing attorneys (especially in front of a jury!). Unsurprisingly, Broadus is loved, admired, and respected by many people, among all walks of life and across the world.
He never counted his wins, but the number of clients who were heard. He believed in – and counseled law clerks and students to adopt – four principles: honesty, humility, humor, and humanity.
Broadus Spivey was a firm believer in the 6th and 7th Amendments, enshrining people’s access to our criminal and civil courts and right to trial by jury. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to worthy organizations that advocate for justice: Texas Access to Jus-tice Foundation (https://www.teajf. org) or Texas Civil Rights Project (https://txcivilrights.org); and next time you are summoned to jury duty, know that Broadus will be delighted if you answer the call.
His family supported him and were nurtured by him. He relied on his wife, Ruth Ann, in many ways – especially for her people skills and perceptiveness in the voir dire process. (She also made sure his articles and speeches were gender-inclusive!)
The Spivey family is planning a celebration of his life on Friday, May 21, 2021 at Pecan Springs Ranch, 10601 B Derecho, Austin, Texas 78737 at 11:00 a.m. – outdoors, weather permitting, followed by a reception indoors. The family will observe masking and social distancing precautions, even if fully vaccinated. (Masks will be avail-able if you arrive without one.) For those unable to attend, we plan to livestream the event at https://www. zodiacstudios.net/live-broadcast-2/.
Broadus was not a big church-goer but knew he was not the Highest Power in anyone’s life, including his own. In 2007, U.T. Law School Prof. Tracy Walters McCormack inter-viewed Broadus for their Advocacy Program’s Atticus Profile series: She asked him, “If a superior being exists, what would you like to hear Her say to you when you arrive at the pearly gates?” Broadus grinned and said, “Come in!” We imagine he did.
HHS names top students for 2021
The top students for Hedley High School’s Class of 2021 are Zachary Wells and Cara Lambert, according to school officials.
Zachary Wells is this year’s valedictorian with a grade average of 98.403. He is the son of Christina and David Wells and younger brother of Kelsey and Megan Wells.
Throughout high school, Zachary has actively participated in UIL for three years, NHS for three years, FFA for two years, and One Act Play for three years. He worked part-time and donated blood every time he could.
Zachary has also been able to accumulate more than 40 hours of Dual Credit classes.
Zachary plans on attending West Texas A&M in Pre-Physical Therapy to get the prerequisites for a Chiropracting program.
Cara Lambert is this year’s salutatorian with a grade average of 97.859. She is the daughter of daughter of Ronnie and Cindy Lambert and the sister of Kenlee, Jayden, and Emma.
Throughout her high school career, Cara has been actively involved in cross country for four years, basketball for four years, track and field for four years, tennis for two years, cheerleading for two years, National Honor Society for three years, UIL for three years, and FFA for four years.
Cara has been a dual credit student for three years. She has advanced to regionals for three years in track and field in the 4×100 meter relay, 4×200 meter relay, 300-meter hurdles, and the 3200-meter run.
Lambert has also advanced to regionals in cross country for two years and UIL competition for three years.
Cara is currently the National Honor Society chapter Vice President and the Class of 2021 Treasurer. She plans to attend Clarendon College and then go to a university to pursue a career in Special Education.
Hedley school officials also reported this week that Taylee Ehlert and Javier Valles are the top eighth grade students this year.
Clarendon names top students for ’21
Clarendon High School has named Malerie Simpson and Shylee Morrow as its top students for the Class of 2021.
This year’s Valedictorian is Malerie Simpson with a weighted GPA of 5.469 and a 3.720 four-point average. Malerie is the daughter of Chad and Lora Simpson.
Malerie excelled in both academics and extracurricular activities while attending CHS. She was the president of the Clarendon High School Student Council, a member of the Bronco Band and One Act Play. She also served as manager for the Bronco baseball team.
Malerie was also a member of the Clarendon chapter of the National Honor Society and served as vice president of her senior class.
She was involved in helping others through community service and other service projects. She helped with red ribbon week, which concentrated on the dangers of drugs and alcohol, participated in the Angel Tree project, took part in the CHS recycling program, made gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week, helped with the Shattered Dreams project that brought attention to drunk driving, and aided with welcoming freshmen to high school during fish camp.
Malerie plans on attending Texas Tech University to get a degree in biology and then attend Texas A&M College of Dentistry and become an orthodontist.
This year’s Salutatorian is Shylee Morrow, daughter of Jason and Kathryn Morrow. Shylee has a weighted GPA of 5.468 and a four-point average of 3.630.
Shylee has taken part in extracurricular activities as a member of the One Act Play Cast. She has participated in Academic UIL and was a regional qualifier in Spelling and has served as a tutor to high school students.
Shylee was voted class president of her senior class and is a member of the National Honor Society. Shylee has also volunteered for highway cleanup.
Shylee plans on attending Montana State in Bozeman, Montana. She plans to major in horticulture.
City turns focus to street improvements
With the new aquatic center set to open and the USDA-funded water system improvements largely completed, the Clarendon City Council turned its attention to street improvements during its regular meeting last Thursday, May 13.
City engineer Che Shadle with OJD Engineering met with the board and discussed long-term plans as well as immediate priorities for the city’s thoroughfares.
City Administrator David Dockery said Shadle had evaluated the streets and presented the council with a map showing the types of surfaces and condition of each street. Dockery said resurfacing all of the streets would cost an estimated $13-15 million, and discussions about financing and phasing were held.
“Che recommended we act immediately to preserve our current paved streets,” Dockery said. “The proposal is to spend $300,000 to $325,000 to immediately resurface the paved streets we have.”
Shadle told the Enterprise that the streets that were paved in 2004 are in still in great shape, thanks in part to maintenance the city did to protect them several years ago. However, he said the city needs to act soon to continue to preserve those streets.
“They are starting to get cracks in them, and that will start water getting in them,” Shadle said. “They need to be chip sealed this summer. We’re going to bid that work soon along with some other jobs we have to hopefully get a good price.”
Shadle said streets of this type typically need to be sealed every three to four years to protect them. This work would cover about 90,000 square yards of surface.
As that work gets underway, OJD will be working on a more extensive plan to bring before city council that will address streets in a comprehensive way, focusing first on critical drainage issues.
In other city business last week, issued two proclamations – one recognizing May 9-15 as National Peace Officers Week and another recognizing May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day.
Votes from the May 1 election were canvassed, confirming the re-election of Mayor Sandy Skelton and Aldermen Jacob Fangman and Terri Floyd. Donley County Judge John Howard administered the oath of office to Skelton and Municipal Judge Tommy Waldrop, and Skelton then administered the oath to Fangman and Floyd. The council later appointed Fangman to continue to serve as mayor pro-tem.
Aldermen voted in favor of setting Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. as senior swim time at the aquatic center.
The city’s contract to sell groundwater to Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority was discussed and renewed with an increase of five cents per 1,000 gallons.
In his administrator’s report, Dockery said USDA has approved using the surplus of about $250,000 left over in the water system infrastructure project to replace water lines under Gorst Street from First to Fourth Streets. New employees for the city were reported to the council, including Jason Bingham and Jacob Hunsaker in the water department and Miranda Zanardi as a part-time utility clerk.
CHS inducts new NHS members
City offers passes for new pool
The grand opening of the Clarendon Aquatic Center is just over two weeks away, and City Hall says annual passes will go on sale to the public next week.
Annual passes will allow frequent users of the facility to save money over the course of the summer. Day passes will cost $5 for everyone over the age of 17, $4 for ages 4-17, and free for ages three and under. Annual passes are $100 per individual and $250 for a family of up to four members and $50 for each additional household family member.
City Administrator David Dockery also encourages anyone wishing to plan a birthday party or other event after regular hours to please call City Hall right away at 806-874-3438 to get on the calendar so that lifeguards can be scheduled appropriately. Parties can be scheduled at the aquatic center after hours at a rate of $125 per hour.
The center will be open regularly from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and will be closed on Mondays. Private parties can be planned after hours, and the city is working with the Donley County Senior Citizens on the potential for senior events during the morning hours, and other morning-only activities are being discussed as well.
A public grand opening is being planned for Friday, May 28, and regular hours will begin Saturday, May 29, in time for the Memorial Day weekend. (Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the grand opening would be an invitation-only event.)
Dockery said Trinity Cavanaugh will serve the manager for the aquatic center and 12 people have now successfully completed training to serve as lifeguards at the facility.
This week, work is underway to curb and pave the center’s parking lot, and the city is also planning to resurface the paving on Kearney Street along the aquatic center from Fourth Street to Sixth Street.
Broncos win bi-district title
The Clarendon Broncos are moving on to New Deal in the Area Round on May 14 at Tascosa after their big win in Borger over Sunray last week. The Broncos fought back and dug themselves out of a hole in the first game after Sunray took the early lead. Clarendon won that game 8-6.
After scoring four runs in the first inning, the Bobcats went cold and the Broncos took advantage by evening out the game at four all in the second. Both teams posted a run in the third and went scoreless in the fourth. With the game tied at five, Jared Musick hit a critical single that scored one run and the Broncos would score another before that inning was done. The Broncos added one more in the sixth to get to a comfortable spot to secure the win.
Aiden Caudle has been strong all year on the mound and this game was no exception as he allowed only two hits and six runs in six and a third innings while posting 11 Sunray strikeouts. Harrison Howard came on to finish the game and earn the save for the Broncos.
The Broncos had 14 hits in the game with Howard, Brock Hatley, Jordan Herndon, and Koyt Tucek slamming multiple hits. Hatley and Howard each collected three hits in the game. Herndon, who has been speedy around the bases, led the way with two stolen bases of the nine that the Broncos recorded.
The Broncos took on Sunray in the second game on Saturday and earned a big 18-7 win. The Broncos posted nine hits in the game with only three errors. Sunray struggled at the plate to put runs on the bard and committed 18 errors in the field. The Broncos were able to capitalize on those errors to get the win.
A huge fourth inning proved to be golden for the Broncos as they scored nine runs to seal the win and earn the Bi-District title. The Bobcats tried to come back that same inning, but the Broncos handled the pressure and went the distance.
Hatley was on the mound for five innings for the Broncos and earned the win. Hatley only allowed four hits and struck out eight hitters. Levi Gates came in for one inning to relieve Hatley.
Big hitters for the Broncos were Easton Frausto, Calder Havens, Herndon, Lyric Smith, Caudle, Howard, and Hatley who all had several hits. The Broncos collected 20 stolen bases on the day with Smith claiming five of them.
The Broncos will play New Deal at Tascosa on May 14 at 5:00 p.m. There will be only one game.
County turns down District Nine request
Donley County Commissioners this week made a final determination on a repeated request by the District Nine Volunteer Fire Department to be recognized and dispatched for fires in the northwestern part of the county.
County Judge John Howard said District Nine volunteers first approached commissioners in August of 2019 about having a designated service area and to be dispatched by 911 to respond to incidents in that area. County officials, however, had questions about the department’s equipment and their ability to respond.
Howard said the county did eventually designate a service area for District Nine, north of Howardwick, so that the department could apply for a grant, which he says they did not get.
“That area is already covered by the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department as well as by mutual aid agreements with Groom and McLean,” Howard said. “The City of Howardwick Volunteer Fire Department covers that municipal area and a little bit outside of it as well, and Clarendon is dispatched to assist them.”
District Nine again approached the county last month requesting to be dispatched to its service area, but the commissioners’ court tabled the issue.
This week, Howard said District Nine’s representative did not satisfactorily answer questions about the department in terms of water supply, power, funding, and insurance. That led commissioners to unanimously vote not to dispatch fire calls to the District Nine department and to not reconsider the request, the judge said.
“We are very appreciative of volunteer firefighters, people who stand in the breech to protect the lives and property of others,” Howard told the Enterprise. “But we also have to think of the county’s potential liability in this case.”
In other county business, commissioners tabled a request from the Smiley Johnson Municipal Airport Board for financial support, approved travel for training requests from the County Attorney and Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace, and approved tax deeds for the City of Howardwick.
Commissioners discussed a proposal to replace aging hot water heaters in the Courthouse but took no action pending further proposals.
The court also discussed soliciting bids to repair paint, plaster, and woodwork damaged by a water leak earlier this year.
Judge Howard said a dehumidifier has been reinstalled in the vault of his office and has pulled out about 70 gallons of water in the last week. Restoration will likely not proceed until more moisture is pulled from the 1890 building. The county will then seek a general contractor to oversee repairs to the building.
Representatives of the NRCS addressed the commisioners’ court Monday regarding Lakeview Site 1 – Sandy Camp and a conservation dam built in 1974 that is leaking and is under the care of the county. Howard said the federal government will be undertaking repairs on that dam that will cost an estimated $1 million.
Clarendon Cub Scouts advance
Clarendon Cub Scout Pack 437 held its annual Blue & Gold Celebration on Tuesday, April 27, to recognize achievements and rank advancements for several scouts.
Jaxon Robertson earned Cub Scouting’s highest honor, the Arrow of Light award, and bridged over to Scouts BSA Troop 433. Jaxon was welcomed by several members of the troop and received a troop neckerchief from Eagle Scout Phineas Eugea.
On the path to earning his Arrow of Light this year, Jaxon received the following adventure pins: Duty to God in Action, Building a Better World, Scouting Adventure, and Outdoor Adventurer. He was also one of three scouts to earn the Texas Heritage Award.
Kase Zongker, Wade Fowler, Rylan Taylor, and Jaquadon Ballard all earned their Bear Rank and received the following adventure loops along the way this year: Baloo the Builder; Bear Claws; Bear Necessities; Fellowship & Duty God; Fur, Feathers, & Ferns; and Paws for Action.
Cameron Taylor earned his Wolf Rank after receiving the following adventure loops: Council Fire, Howling at the Moon, Duty to God Footsteps, Paws on the Path, and Running with the Pack.
Zachary Taylor became Pack 437’s first scout to earn the Lion Rank for kindergarten students after earning the following adventure loops: Animal Kingdom, King of the Jungle, Lion’s Honor, Mountain Lion, and Fun on the Run.
Earlier last month, members of Pack 437 spent two nights at Camp Tommie Saye at Greenbelt Lake with members of Scouts BSA Troops 433 and 4433 where they enjoyed fishing, cooking, and other activities.
Cub Scouts provides educational and character-building programs for boys and girls ages Kindergarten through fifth grade. To learn more, go to Facebook.com/ClarendonCubScouts. Enrollment for the 2021-2022 year will begin in September.
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