O. C. Fisher

Ovie Clark "O.C." Fisher
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 21st district
In office January 3, 1943 – December 31, 1974
Preceded by	Charles L. South
Succeeded by	Bob Krueger
District attorney Texas 51st Judicial District
In office 1937–1943
Member Texas House of Representatives 53rd District
In office 1935–1937
County Attorney Tom Green County
In office 1931–1935
Personal details
Born	November 22, 1903 Junction, Texas
Died	December 9, 1994 (aged 91) Junction, Texas
Resting place	Junction Cemetery Junction, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Marian E. De Walsh
Children	Rhoda
Residence	San Angelo, Texas
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin Baylor Law School
Profession	Attorney

Ovie Clark Fisher (November 22, 1903 – December 9, 1994) was an attorney and author who served for thirty-two years as United States Representative for Texas's 21st congressional district.

Biography

Fisher was born in Junction in Kimble County, Texas to^[1] Jobe Bazilee and Rhoda Catherine Clark Fisher. He married Marian E. De Walsh on September 11, 1927. A daughter named Rhoda was the couple's only child.

Fisher attended University of Texas at Austin, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Baylor University at Waco, from which^[2] where he received his LL.B. He was admitted to the bar in 1929. Fisher practiced law in San Angelo in West Texas for two years.^[3] In 1931, he was elected county attorney for Tom Green County.

Fisher represented the 53rd District of Texas in the Texas House of Representatives^[4] 1935–1937. 1937–1943, Fisher was District Attorney for the^[5] 51st Judicial District of Texas.

In 1942, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives^[6] as a Democrat and served in the 78th United States Congress^[7] through the 93rd United States Congress. In 1972, the Republican Doug Harlan held Fisher to 57 percent of the general election vote. Paul Burka of Texas Monthly said Harlan's race was "one of the first indications that the dominance of the rural conservative Democrats in Texas politics could not be sustained."^[8]

After heart surgery^[9] in 1973, Fisher announced that he would not be stand for re-election^[10] in 1974. His party nominated Robert Krueger as his successor; Krueger then defeated Doug Harlan, who made his second and last race for Congress.

O.C. Fisher died^[11] December 9, 1994.

Baylor University is the repository for^[12] the O.C. Fisher Papers.

Fraternal memberships

O.C. Fisher had membership^[13] in the following organizations:

• Freemasons
• Order of the Eastern Star
• Knights of Pythias
• Rotary International
• Acacia Fraternity

O.C. Fisher Reservoir

In 1975, San Angelo Lake, a reservoir managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, was renamed O.C. Fisher Reservoir^[14] in his honor. San Angelo State Park^[15] is on the shores of the reservoir.

O.C. Fisher bibliography

• Fisher, O.C. (1937). It Occurred in Kimble The Story of a Texas County. Anson Jones Press. ASIN: B001KCW7DU.
• Members of the Potomac Corral of the Westerners, (O.C. Fisher) (1960). Great Western Indian Fights. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-585-32514-6.
• Fisher, O.C. (1963). The Texas Heritage of the Fishers and the Clarks. Anson Jones Press. ASIN: B0007E8BS2.
• Fisher, O.C.; Dykes, J.C. (1967). King Fisher: His Life and Times. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-0711-1.
• Fisher, O.C. (1978). Cactus Jack : A Biography of John Nance Garner. Texian Press. ISBN 978-0-87244-066-1.
• Fisher, O.C. (1980). From New Deal to Watergate. Texian Press. ASIN: B0006XMO1O.
• Fisher, O.C. (1980). Political Miscellany. Texian Press. ASIN: B0006E26IO.
• Fisher, O.C.; Pope, Jack; Anderson, Gertrude; Gillman, Geneva (1988). John Berry and His Children. Jack Pope. ISBN 978-0-9621053-0-2.
• O.C., Fisher (1985). The Speaker of Nubbin Ridge: The Story of the Modern Angora Goat. Talley Press. ASIN: B000712VUO.

References

1. Leatherwood, Art: Ovie Clark Fisher from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved June 19, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
2. "About O. C. Fisher". Baylor University Waco, Texas. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
3. "Fisher, Ovie Clark". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
4. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Texas: State House of Representatives, 1930s". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
5. "Fisher Biographical Chronology". Baylor University Waco. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
6. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Texas: U.S. Representatives, 1940s". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
7. "Committees Served-O.C. Fisher". Baylor University Waco. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
8. Paul Burka (November 11, 2008). "Douglas Harlan, RIP". Retrieved February 20, 2015.
9. "What the Politicians Say". Texas Monthly. 1973 September: 55.
10. Brigance, Jim (April 25, 1974). "Contest Looms for U.S. House Seats". The Victoria Advocate.
11. "Ex-Rep O.C. Fisher of Texas, Who Served 32 Years in Congress, Dies at 91". The Dallas Morning News. December 11, 1994.
12. "O. C. Fisher Papers". Baylor University Waco. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
13. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Kimble Co-The Political Graveyard". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
14. "O.C. Fisher Reservoir". Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
15. "San Angelo State Park". Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved June 19, 2010.

Sources

• United States Congress. "O. C. Fisher (id: F000152)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.