Marshall Formby

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An attorney, politician, newspaper publisher, and radio executive, Marshall Formby was born in 1911 in Como, Hopkins County, Texas. He received a B.A. from Texas Technological College (1932); an M.A. from the University of Texas (1937); and a J.D. from Baylor University (1951). Formby served as county judge of Dickens County, Texas (1937-1940); Texas State Senator, Lubbock District (1941-1945); and on the Board of Regents of Texas Tech University (1967-1971), and was a member of the Texas Highway Commission and the Texas Turnpike Authority. He was also a newspaper publisher and owned or co-owned numerous radio stations in Texas including KPAN in Hereford; KFLD in Floydada; KTVE in Tulia; KSML in Seminole; KACT in Andrews and KLVT in Levelland. Formby died in 1984 in Plainview, Texas. Sharleen Wells Formby Rhoads was the wife of Marshall Formby. Born in Barberton, Ohio, in September 30, 1918, she married Marshall in Seale, Alabama, on September 8, 1946. She graduated from Breward Junior College as an English major in 1940 and taught at the Army War College in Washington, D. C. Sharleen also attended the University of Texas graduate school where she took courses in radio communication. In August 1947, the Formby Family moved to Plainview, Texas.