Graham B. Purcell, Jr.

Graham Boynton Purcell, Jr. (born May 5, 1919) was a U.S. Representative from Texas.

Born in Archer City, Texas, Purcell attended the public schools., and received his
B.S. from Texas A&M College in 1946, and his LL.B. from Baylor University Law School, Waco, Texas in 1949.Purcell was in the United States Army from 1941 to 1946 and served in the United States Army Reserve.He served as judge of the Eighty-ninth Judicial District Court of Texas in 1955-1962, and was a delegate, Democratic National Conventions, 1960 and 1964.

Purcell was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Representative Frank Ikard, and reelected to the five succeeding Congresses (January 27, 1962-January 3, 1973).

Although Texas gained a seat as a result of the 1970 Census, Purcell's 13th District was dismantled, and his home in Wichita Falls was merged with the Panhandle-based 18th District of Republican Bob Price for the 1972 elections. The new district was numerically Purcell's district--the 13th--but was geographically more Price's district. Forced to run in territory that he didn't know and that didn't know him, Purcell was defeated.

He is a resident of Wichita Falls, Texas.

On February 19th, 2008 his grandson Graham B. Purcell was elected student body president at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS.

In 1993, House bill HR 2292 was passed designating the Federal building in Wichita Falls, Texas as the Graham B. Purcell, Jr., Post Office and Federal Building. [ [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/103/bills/h_r_2294/ The US Congress Votes Database] ]

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