JUDGE PAUL S. COLLEY, III

The following bio was taken from page 153 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

At the time of this writing, three generations of the Colley family have populated Rusk County.

Paul Sims Colley, Jr., born in 1898 in Palestine, Texas, was a lawyer who moved to Rusk County in 1939 with his wife, Doris M. Colley, and two daughters, Barbara Joan and Doris Jean. A third child, Richard Allen, was born in Henderson in November 1941, the first native-born Rusk Countian in the Colley family.

Paul Sims Colley, Jr. practiced law in Henderson until his death on May 27, 1951. He was primarily a "land" lawyer, specializing in oil and gas and real estate law. He also served as Henderson City Attorney from 1943 until his death.

Mr. Colley had two sons, Paul Sims Colley, III and John David Colley by a previous marriage to Kathleen Janice Turbyfill, (1906-1978), a daughter of H. R. Turbyfill and Alice Thompson of Palestine, Texas.

Paul Sims Colley, III, born in 1924 in Palestine, Texas attended public schools in Palestine and Crockett, Texas, 1931-1942. Paul was a senior high school student of seventeen on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese air and sea forces struck the United States installation at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. Upon graduation form Crockett High School in May 1942, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served in the Southwest Pacific Theatre in the U.S. Naval Amphibious Forces, in the Solomon’s, Marshall, Treasury, and Marianna Islands from February 1943 until October 1944. He received his discharge from the United States Navy on December 17, 1945, at Camp Dickinson, Texas.

Colley then enrolled in the University of Texas in March of 1946 and graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in May 1951. On August 18, 1951, Paul Sims Colley married Jean Dossey of Nacogdoches, Texas.

Following the untimely death of his father, Paul Sims Colley, III, returned to Henderson and occupied the former offices of his father in the old First National Bank Building on the square. Paul dropped the "III" from his name upon his father’s death.

Colley practiced as a "solo" practitioner until December 1, 1951, when he joined the law firm of Waldrop and Shaw, moving from the old bank building to the top floor of the old fire station, then to the new Henderson Federal Saving and Loan Building. He continued his association with these lawyers as a partner from 1954, with the firm name of Waldrop, Shaw and Colley, until December 31, 1962, when he withdrew from the partnership to be sworn in as the new Rusk County Judge on January 1, 1963, having been elected in the General Election of 1962 as a Democratic candidate. He did not seek a second term to the office of County Judge and resumed his private practice of law in partnership with Bob M. Lloyd on January 1, 1967.

In the May Democratic Primary of 1976, Colley was nominated as the Democratic candidate for District Judge of the Fourth Judicial District Court of Rusk County, Texas, and on October 1, 1976, was appointed by the Governor of the State of Texas to succeed the retiring incumbent, the Honorable J. C. Gladney. Colley thereafter was elected to this office in the General Election of 1976, being the unopposed Democratic candidate. He was elected again in the General Election of 1980 and is currently serving as Judge of the Fourth Judicial District of Rusk County, Texas.

Jean D. Colley, born in 1931, in Nacogdoches, Texas, daughter of W. W. Dossey and Dora S. Willingham, graduated from Nacogdoches High School in 1948 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and math from Stephen F. Austin State University (then Stephen F. Austin State College). Jean taught math and chemistry in the Henderson Public Schools during 1951-1952. Following the birth of the first Colley child born in Rusk County since 1941, Jean became a homemaker, caring for Susan Jean Colley, born September 30, 1952. Four other children were born to Paul and Jean: Paul Sims, Jr., July 29, 1955; Janice Ann, February 7, 1958; Nancy Ruth, June 4, 1959; and Wesley David, January 30, 1963.

During the year 1965, Jean resumed her teaching career with Henderson Independent School District as a math and science consultant, and following her reception of a Master’s degree in education from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1968, she became the Director of Special Education for Henderson Independent School District, in which position she currently serves.

All five Colley children graduated from Henderson High School.

Susan Jean Colley graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1974 and received her Master’s degree from Baylor University in Waco in 1975. Susan married Steven McMullen of Lufkin, Texas, in December 1978, and is presently teaching in the Hudson Independent School District in Angelina County. Her husband, Steven, is currently attending Angelina Junior College in Lufkin, Texas.

Paul Sims Colley, Jr. graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University with a B. A. degree in Political Science in 1978 and received his Juris Doctor degree from the School of Law of Baylor University in May 1981. In July 1978, Paul, Jr. married Carol Ann Logan. Paul, Jr. is presently associated with the Tyler law firm of Grainger & Patterson. Carol, his wife, is employed by the Tyler Independent School District as a speech therapist, having received her Master’s degree from Baylor University in 1980 in speech and audiology.

Janice Anne Colley attended Texas A & M University for two years, taking certain pre-med courses, and thereafter transferred to and graduated from the School of Nursing of the University of Texas in Houston. She married Stephen Cole of Gainesville, Texas, in June of 1980. Janice and her husband reside in Houston, Texas, where she is employed at Park Plaza Hospital as a graduate registered nurse and Stephen is a second year medical student at the University of Texas School of Medicine.

Nancy Ruth Colley graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1981 and married Steve Lunsford, a native of Hallsville, Texas, in December 1980. Nancy teaches second grade classes in the Raymondville Independent School District, and her husband is employed by that school district as a basketball and football coach.

Wesley David Colley is currently enrolled in Kilgore Junior College. Wes is the only third generation Colley still residing in Rusk County.

Submitted by Paul S. Colley, III