a TIME subscriber. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. When the time came to choose between the world of men and an insignificant woman, the choice was easy. Police officials said the body of the 74yearold Duke of Duval was slumped over the steering wheel of his car. Wow, a faisait longtemps que je n'avais pas eu autant de plaisir avec un whisky qui n'est pas une licorne. George passed away. Garza, Torres, and Vela loitered on the west-side steps. In 1950, Parr had become a thorn in the side of Governor Allan Shivers and Attorney General John Ben Shepperd. Survivors: Wife of 49 years, Betty Evans Parr; sons, Jeffrey Parr of Dallas, Jack Parr and wife, Lisa, and their children, Nathan, Reid and Sheridan of Frisco, and Jonathan Parr and wife, Kamela, and their children, Hunt and Hayden of Amelia Island, Fla.; as well as his beloved dog . George, a convicted felon, couldnt hold office but he continued to direct public affairs from behind the scenes in the fiefdom created by his father. Small for his age, he walks with a confident swagger and has a few tattoos, crosses mostly, on his arms and legs. Department of Public Safety highway patrolmen had apprehended Chew after a motorcycle chase; later, when officers returned to the scene, they found a packet of the drug. Texas Rangers, deputy sheriffs and United States marshals in a helicopter found the body of the man, whose political power helped send Lyndon B. Johnson to the United States Senate in 1948. The state investigated Archie Parr in 1914 over misuse of county funds. Less well loved but far more critical to the survival of San Diegoans was Robertos uncle Frank, who was a county judge and the president of the school board and therefore controls virtually all of the jobs in town. For five days after the election, Stevenson believed he had won the closest senatorial election in U.S. history. He walked up to her and asked for a light; Linda reached into her pocket and produced a handful of lighters for him to choose from. Lots of them wore tattoos Frankie had given them. But what looked like another victory for the Anglos was actually the beginning of the end. ", In 1948 Coke R. Stevenson, Lyndon B. Johnson and others ran in Democratic primary election for U.S. Senate. Now, in the town of the Parrs corrupted, a savage gang rape has resurrected the old ghosts of lawlessness, fear, and betrayal. Frankies mother came out of the house and tried to calm him; instead, he demanded she bring him his gun. George Parr, the son, went home from the University of Texas in 1926. Average Age & Life Expectancy Few, if any, were foolish enough to assume the sheriff was on their side; Parr controlled not just law enforcement but the law as well. Any land held by the old Mexican families was too much for the restless Anglos who coveted it. Perhaps the hostile glare of the outside world had finally forced San Diego to see its own in a new light. Her parents split up after they moved to a ranch near San Diego; her father runs a bar in Benavides. Finally, according to the officials account of the rape, Perez dumped her near the railroad tracks around four in the morning. After college, he served as an officer in the United States Army. Mr. Parr's nephew, Archer Parr, 48, was convicted in Federal Court last year of lying to the grand jury that indicted his uncle. It was brought out that he could be deported if released on bond; it was brought out that he had had a previous wife who had been a heroin addict. Sometimes, when he had money, Frankie took his wife to Jerrys Diner for a night on the town. A .45caliber pistol and an M14 military rifle lay on the seat. Some 650 indictments were brought forth against machine members, 300 of them at the state level. I ask them if they would like to get back into my car. The Box 13 notoriety followed by the Jake Floyd Jr. assassination brought a lot of attention to Parrs machine. In 1958, Parr was found guilty of mail fraud by a federal jury and given a 10-year sentence. Over the years he has shifted his focus from politics to criminal lawAlaniz has represented some of the gang-rape defendants before on drug-related charges and now represents five of the accusedbut he remains a powerful reminder of the old ways. Archie made sure there were no opponents on the ballot. Now Garza made sexual advances; when the woman refused, they argued. His funeral. Archie Parr b. Dec. 25, 1860 d. Oct. 18, 1942. A leading English mezzotint engraver, he was the first to make use of etched lines to strengthen the work. shines & jecker labs logo GEORGE PARR OBITUARY. He was a Mexican: Archer Parr had spoken a mangled and halting Spanish; George, who took over from his. Comfort the family with flowers or a sympathy gift. It was she who fought with Frankies mother over the distribution of the welfare check in San Diego; it is she who now fixes those rummaging through her neighborhood dumpster with a fierce, competitive stare. That the money came from the country treasury (and that Parr regularly helped himself to it) was of little importancefamilies could keep their land, their way of life, their identity. In 1954 Governor Allen Shivers declared war on the Parr Faction and sent down a team of Texas Rangers and state investigators. I'll get you. The Garcia faction has even been embroiled in political scandals, proof that the old days are far from gone in San Diego. marshals, and Texas Rangers was closing in on its man. County moneys, school district moneys, water district moneys, were transferred to private accounts as Parr and allies were paid with public funds for uncertain purposes. Finale : D'une belle longueur, sale et fume. He did not impose his morality on anyone, because he had no morality, one former San Diego resident told me. Though women whispered their disgust, few men would admit that gang rape is the result of a world that lets boys be boys to a grotesque extreme. Criminal prosecutions of Parr and allies were blocked by control of the prosecutorial and grand jury process. Roel Torres was placed on probation when, as a juvenile, he had cut a boy on his left arm and wrist with a knife at school. March 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? The Casa Blanca Bar does not allow unescorted womenthey cause trouble, I was toldyet a man is entitled to his infidelities as proof of his manhood. Linda turns and looks at Frankie hard, an unmistakable challenge in her eyes. The cameras whirred, and the news that a nineteen-year-old mother of two had been raped by upward of twenty neighbors at an illegal cockfight in San Diego, Texas went out not just all over the country but all over the world. Parrs Chrysler, the bloodstains cleaned away, sits in the garage with hundreds of deer mounts, triumphs from his hunting trips. In spite of the efforts of family and newfound friends, the place is overwhelmingly grim. PARR, GEORGE F., of Birmingham, former Executive Ice-President of VJ Elmore's Inc., died April 7, 2007 in Tuscaloosa, AL at age 96. Parr filed bankruptcy. At least two men were shot to death by deputy sheriffs loyal to Mr. Parr. On the way back home, the Gaitan are silent. She is, actually, afraid to go outside at all. Over and over again townspeople insisted to visiting reporters that these were good boys from good families. Parr filed bankruptcy. Loyal to their friends, afraid of reprisals (it is somehow revealing that the person most vocal in his support of the Gaitans was Richard Yaegar, a semiretired soldier of fortune with little family left in town), the citizens of San Diego turned inward. His mother misses him, and he misses his friends, who thought of him as kookya sweet guy.. Browse Arvada local obituaries on Legacy.com. In a slow, insidious shift, the couple became outsiders in the place they had called home. Actually, a few weeks in San Diego will turn a nagging question into an anxious aria: one comes to wonder whether Linda Gaitan will receive justice in any form. I suggest to Frankie that we leave, and he agrees, reminding us that Torres was once in a knife fight with a kid at school. By then the town had wearied of the gang rape. When she struggles to understand the budget consciousness that he counselors at the crisis center are trying to instill in her, she is desperately afraid they will abandon her. Then please fill out our Contact Form, wed love to hear all about it. George Christopher Parr , age 85 of Hoover, Alabama passed away on December 20, 2022. Shortly thereafter, the boy says, he became the subject of threats. She is simply a sturdy, pigeon-toed girl who wears that air of stolid resignation common to poor women who, raised to expect nothing, get even less. Suddenly he freezes. People here are epicures of talk, but the stories they embroider and embellish have the haunting beauty of a mournful corrido. He had their support thereafter, and in return gave Duval County LatinAmerican officials. Frankie drinks a beer, studies the water, and then squints down the sidewalk. He enjoyed traveling to Europe and ocean cruising. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ridoutsvalleychapel.com for the Parr family. A local fund established for Gaitan came up with only $70; a fund administered by Corpus Christi Crisis Services and fueled by the Chorpus Christi Caller-Times stories raised almost $10,000. Finally, because she was scratching him, Garza told Briones to hold her down. On his way to work Frankie sometimes winds up at a stop sign across from Roel Torres, who lives in Corpus Christi. Once inside the house, Frankie saw that his wifes eyes were wild. George Berham Parr (March 1, 1901 - April 1, 1975) was an American politician, who controlled a Democratic political machine that dominated Duval County, Texas and, to a lesser extent, Jim Wells County. At one point, some 400 indictments were issued against Parr and his henchmen. A doctor prescribed medication for his heart. Mr. Parr was considered a fugitive after he failed to appear for a hearing yesterday on revocation of his $25,000 appeal bond. Parr learned Spanish and was trusted by the vaqueros who worked for him on the ranch. He had proved- if anyone needed convincing- that opposition would not be tolerated. Many who saw Linda after the gang rape noted that she would shrink from contact, as if slapped. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. She was afraid. Built by shines & jecker labs, A new East End bar opened this week. The shame of San Diegoans felt at their decades of submission would be forgotten. View local obituaries in maryland. He was convicted of tax evasion in 1932, and eventually served nine months in Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno after violating his parole. With the end of the Johnson administration in 1968, Parr lost his primary political protector. English is spoken only intermittently in San Diego. John Parr Birth January 1839 - Ratcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire, England Death October 1901 - Sculcoates, Yorkshire East Riding Mother Hannah Richmond Father George Parr Quick access Family tree New search John Parr family tree Family tree Explore more family trees Parents George Parr 1807 - 1884 Hannah Richmond 1810 - 1855 Spouse (s) Frankie found work intermittently on construction crews; they supplemented their income by selling homemade tamales or scavenging aluminum cans. In late June pretrial hearings were held for the accused. Long ago she made peace with the conceit that the man of the house was also just another child to be pampered and soothed. In San Diego he belonged. Sometimes he made money by doing tattoos, like the penguins he applied to the chest of a wrestler known as the Ice Man. But there was a darker side to Parrs power that increased as his grip tightened on the town. The tally sheet Stevenson saw had the last 202 names in alphabetical order and written in the same color ink and by the same hand. When Box 13 was opened in court, the tally sheet Stevenson had seen was missing. Beneath the surface runs the age-old assumption that men are weak-willed and women corrupt. Payo Briones had been convicted for possession of heroin; Felipe Chew had been indicted for possession of cocaine. Roberto Perez faced a charge of sexual assault and two charges of aggravated kidnapping. It got out of hand was the most frequently offered assessment of the crime. [2][6][7], For a time, Parr and his friends were enthusiastic and accomplished polo players, albeit on cow ponies with western saddles. She was sixteen, he was twenty. Frankie was a spindly guyeven his moustache refused to grow in fullybut he knew how to tell a story and would do so at the slightest request and for as long as he could hold a crowd. He was an opponent of Catholic emancipation . It was possible to see in the courtroom seating arrangements portents of divisions to come: Briones sat alone, apart from his friends, worrying a weather-beaten hat between his splayed legs. As the summer wore on, townspeople wished the trial would be movedalmost impossible, unless the defense were to request a change of venue, and unlikely, since the odds for the defendants were so much better in Duval County. Archie Parr retired from politics in 1934 and moved to Corpus Christi, where he lived on Saxet Drive. the fugitive's 1969 Chrysler Imperial at the edge of a quiet pasture, He graduated from Shades Valley High School and earned a degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University. Linda was a pretty enough girlpale with shiny black hair, an inviting smile, and a nice light in her eyesbut because she wasnt from San Diego, she wasnt much of a talker. Under advice from Johnson and other prominent figures, he relinquished control of his machine to his nephew Archer III, by the early 1970s. George passed away in 1593, at age 44 at death place. Share on Facebook; Tweet on Twitter; This archive page is a cache that aims to check the legality of the content of the hyperlink and could have changed in the meantime. George and Mayre attended Trinity Methodist Church together in Homewood, Alabama. The accused were finely woven into the fabric of the town; news accounts frequently noted that nine out of ten of the suspects were related through either blood or marriage. Sometime around eleven oclock, a maroon car pulled up with four men and a young woman inside. Few of the men who had been at the cockfight would even admit to being there, much less offer themselves up as witnesses to or participants in a gang rape. He was born in Montgomery, Alabama on September 15, 1937. These were men he had grown up with, gone to school with, gone drinking with, gotten into trouble with. The truth will come out at the trial, I was told with great assurance by defense lawyers and other champions of the accused, a curious sentiment for a town that has always viewed the law with a jaundiced eye. Other men moved in. The commander at Laredo Army Air Force Base argued to the Governor that half his men suffered from venereal disease and that a district attorney connected to the local political machine meant lax enforcement of laws against prostitution, which would adversely affect his force. In Corpus Christi he is just another Mexican, an anonymous stockboy made all the more anonymous because his coworkers do not know why he is there. Then it spied Born in 1512, Katherine Parr was Henry VIII's sixth and final wife, who is often remembered for being the 'lucky' one to have survived the monarch who famously beheaded two of his wives. They certainly werent expert bird handlerssomeone had to go back into town to find a person who knew how to put metal gaffs on the roosters legs. They would acquiesce to their own: When toughs took over the club at the towns only hotel, the respectable customers simply moved on. Find service information, send flowers, and leave memories and thoughts in the Guestbook for your loved one. San Diegoans didn't consider George Parr an American, an Anglo, or even a Texan. Frankie and Roel went home. The death of George B. Parr wrote the final chapter in the story of the Parr political dynasty, which established a record of fraud, bribery, corruption and self-dealing unmatched in the long history of South Texas politics. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. The boy had been spending the night at a friends house, when on the way to buy a Coke, they saw his friends relative Alex Bear, who from a crowded car invited the boys to the cockfight. He grew rich in oil and cattle, built a walled mansion with a swimming pool and a private race track in San Diego and over the years turned Southeast Texas into one of the nation's most rigidly controlled political machines. The gang rape was the final, most primitive extension of that bond; to refuse to participate made one less of a man, and also less of a brother. A young man who picked up the extra money by mowing the lawns of his parents friends, he was, in the words of many, the shyest, sweetest boy youd ever want to meet. His mother, who worked at the First State Bank, was a deeply loved member of the community. He married Elizabeth Allen in 1891 and in time they had six children. Then he drove the few blocks home to his place on Tovar Street, just a few short steps from the rickety King Street shack of the woman he had spent the night assaulting. GEORGE PARR OBITUARY. He thought he heard someone laughing. He was also a partner and silent partner of dozens of businesses in South Texas. In his statement, Frankie told law-enforcement officials that Ruben Vela bragged to him and Roel that he had had sex with a woman at the Gallegos ranch. Frankie plots vengeance as quickly as he dismisses the notionhe knows all too well the odds are stacked against him. For five days after the runoff, Stevenson appeared to hold a 112-vote lead. Let others know about your loved one's death. Frankie wasnt too suspicious when he spied a few of Lindas friends collected on Corando Perezs porchit was, after all, a Saturday night. That another round of publicity would begin on the gang rape made San Diegoans edgy; they wanted to forget while the outside world seemed to remember. This is what happened next, according to law-enforcement officials, whose accounts are based on eyewitness statements. You may also light a candle in honor of George C. Parr or send a beautiful flower arrangement to the funeral service. Linda did well in school in Irving but was more distracted in South Texas (Boys, she says sourly. Later, Frankie went back to Corando Perezs house; he heard sounds inside but got no answer when he banged on the door. One in particular, on the far west side, is a winding, desolate stretch that eventually turns to caliche before veering east to intersect State Highway 281. For years after Texas won its independence from Mexico, the region remained disputed territory, and even when the issue of sovereignty was settled, the issue of which race and culture would rule was not. The two had known each other for some time, but tonights was not a friendly outing. Sometimes she blacks out while she is talking to Frankie: The gang rape comes into her mind, her mouth tightens, and she seems to leave the room. Cocks and dogs have the run of their blocks, where ancient adobe houses graciously permit frame bungalows and trailers on adjoining lots. Your whole damn day.. [citation needed], The alliance between the Parr-controlled commission and the Hispanic populace made the county a bastion of Democratic strength. In the meantime, another man had strolled back to the car. Bill Mason started his journalism career as a newspaper reporter. Stevenson showed up at a bank in Alice which had the precinct boxes. A student of history knows the secrets the insiders do not give up willinglythat this is a place where terrible things have happened, a place where justice has been as fleeting and capricious as the dust devils that swirl up and disappear along the back roads out of town. Eventually the boys mother took him out of school, and he was put into a home-tutoring program. A jury found him guilty on all eight counts. In 1912 racial tensions could no longer be contained when three Anglo ranchers murdered a Mexican deputy sheriff in broad daylight. Once San Diego was home to Texas most ruthless dynasty. He went on trial in 1974 in federal. In this town of five thousand, everyone belongs. A series of metal-roofed sheds is visible out back; the yard is enclosed by a wire fence supported by thick posts. Those who tried to oppose Parr by joining what was called the Freedom party would soon find themselves out of a job, with no prospects and only a sorry, embarrassed shake of the head in answer to further inquiries. Only two rapes have been reported in San Diego in the last two years, which might indicate the crimes rarity or, more likely, the rarity with which it is reported. As news accounts of the crime increased in number and intensity, hate mail poured into San Diego, like the letter addressed to Whomever might possibly care in the Police Department of San Diego, Texas. A group of Banditos threatened to come to town and eliminate the rapists forever. He didnt mind that, after he announced he would go on to another party with his cousin Roel Soliz, Linda said she wanted to go home to check on Frank Junior, sixteen months old, and Sara, who was just four months old. Indolence clings to San Diego like sheets to the skin in summer. The accused were powerfully bound together, not just through blood, marriage, and time but also by their pride in their role as tough guys. A warrant for Garzas arrest was issued in July 1984. He had bad dreams: once he had a nightmare that the men were at the window. The town remained one of the poorest in Texas, so controlling the vote (and in turn the jobs) remained the consuming passion as power passed from the Carrillos to the Urestis to the Garcias. 4,750), seat of Duval The mesquite and prickly pear form a curtain along the roadside; it is barely possible, beyond a rise a few miles outside of town, to make out a small colonia of shacks and treeless lots off the main road to the left. He was sentenced to one year in jail, which was subsequently knocked down to one years probation and a fine of $400. Go to SOURCE above . Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Julie Parr to show support. Alanizs hair is blacker now that it was in photos in the fifties, but that small vanity cannot obscure the weariness in his face and voice. Archers son George absorbed his fathers lessons and improved upon them. Because winter was coming and most people at the time heated their homes with coal, President . Meanwhile a new evil has been introduced into the garden. The whole town knows it. Alaniz further reminded me that Gaitan had withdrawn an accusation against one of Frankies cousins, Adolfo Quintanilla (law-enforcement officials say that she had mistaken him for Roberto Perez, whom he resembles.) All rights reserved. Men like Alex Bear and Ruben Vela had served probationary terms for petty theft. Then as now, the two places to work were the county courthouse and the school district. They had 9 children: Henrie Parr, Wilmote Parr and 7 other children. A curtain was drawn against the outside world; few were tempted to look beyond it, and even fewer asked to be let inside. Faced with a weak case, the DAs office struck a deal: Chews charge was plea-bargained to possession of marijuana. He is survived by his wife Mayre; two children Jeanne Stadtlander (Christian) and Christopher Parr (Morgan); his grandchild Ethan and many friends. [11], Another likely motivation to oppose Stevenson was that in 1944, Parr and Judge Raymond of Webb County had asked Stevenson, then the Governor, to appoint E. James Kazen (a Raymond relative) Laredo district attorney. When she could, the woman screamed for help and begged to be taken home, but no one was in a mood to listen. Mr. Parr was born in Eutaw, Alabama and put himself through University of . When Parr's machine collapsed soon after his death, Duval County's small Anglo white (but large-landowning) minority attempted to retain control of the county politically but was unable to halt the take-over of the county Democratic party by the now overwhelmingly large Mexican-American population. From his Texas certificate of death Name: George Berham Parr Death Date: 01 Apr 1975 Death Place: Julian Windmill, 14 miles S.E. Linda pulls her daughter close and winces from the pain that has returned to one side of her head. In 1932, George was indicted by a federal grand jury for income tax evasion. Search historical records Family Tree. Parr attended a variety of post-secondary educational institutions, each briefly, and without completing a degree. Most days she minds the children and waits for Frankie to come home from his donated job at a department store so she can eat and sometimes go to the counseling crisis center. PORTLAND - George Douglas Parr, 71, of Portland, beloved husband of Kathleen and father of Zack and Jimmy Parr died unexpectedly in the early hours of Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022, in Naples,. Briones had heard her cryingGarza told him to get away. [citation needed], George's father Archie Parr founded the Dynasty of Duval County. He, after all, has been banished from home. The majority of these good boys from good families had had problems with the law. Hearing the news, Frankie walked out the door into the street, and yelling loud enough to wake anyone who dared to sleep, swore that he would get even. George's favorite time was spent with his family and friends. News of the gang rape did not appear in local newspapers, although almost everyone in town knew what had happened by late Sunday. After all, home was just around the corner. Garza caught her, however, threw her on the hood of a car, and began raping her again. George Russey Parr III, 81, of Amarillo, TX passed away on April 5, 2022. Other defendants had close ties to local government and law enforcement. Onto the old culture of refinementSpanish spinsters once gave croquet parties on the lawn of the towns only hotelwas grafted a culture of violence, where due process was dismissed in favor of shoot-outs and impromptu hangings. Number of people Faith soothes, fate rules: The Catholic church on the town square brims with people on Sunday mornings; on a weekday a young boy, pumped by a friend on the handlebars of his bike, crosses himself as he speeds past. According to the womans statement and those of witnesses, Roel Torres, a long-haired man with a fierce overbite, mounted the woman, as did Ruben Vela, a twinkly-eyed 22-year-old with a halo of black curls and a pregnant wife at home. From then on, his story matched those of Gaitan and Briones. Rape is a confusing crime in most places; in San Diego, where machismo still thrives, people are particularly ambivalent. San Diego is under pressure, the DAs investigator told me, and indeed it had been a difficult spring. At a critical stage in the investigation the Duval County Courthouse burned, and with it all the key records. Deftly, Alaniz told a tale highlighting that crucial element, reasonable doubt. Archer Parr III (19252000), n Archer Weller, Archie's grandson and adopted son, was the third Duke of the Duval County Dynasty.
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