R. E. "Peppy" Blount

R. E. Peppy Blount

October 19, 1924- June 22, 2010
Big Spring High School Class of 1943

Memorial services for Ralph Eugene Peppy Blount, 85, will be 2 p.m., Friday, June 25, 2010, at the First Christian Church, 720 Sixth St., Longview, TX 75601 with Dr. Richard Emerson, the Rev. David Farmer and Dr. Jim Lewis officiating under direction of Rader Funeral Home. Family graveside services in Grace Hill Cemetery will precede the memorial service. He died Tuesday morning, June 22, 2010, at his home.
Born October 19, 1924, in Ferris, Texas, to Alma Shipp and Ralph Eugene Blount, he was a direct descendant of William Blount, one of the signers of the United States Constitution.
His family moved to Big Spring, Texas, when he was four. Following graduation from Big Spring High School he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. At 19, he was the youngest pilot of a B-25 bomber strafer in the South Pacific during World War II, and during his military career earned more than 15 military decorations including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three clusters, two Presidential Unit Citations and six major Battle Stars.
Peppy entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1946 as a freshman where he was elected to the Cowboys; named a Good Fellow and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega. That same year, he was elected as the youngest member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 91st District while simultaneously playing football for the Texas Longhorns on championship Cotton, Sugar and Orange Bowl teams. He also lettered in basketball and baseball.
He extended his interest in sports by becoming a football official in the Southwest Conference and the old American Football League for 20 years.
While serving three terms as a member of the Texas Legislature Peppy sponsored the legislation creating the Colorado River Municipal Water District in Howard County.
Following his years in Austin, and three years in Tyler, Texas, as a landman for a major oil company, Peppy began his law practice in Longview in 1956. Fifty years later he was honored by the State Bar of Texas for his years as a practicing attorney. He was a member of the Gregg County Bar Association.
In the General Election of 1962, he was elected Gregg County Judge on a write-in ballot, the highest elective office ever achieved in the State of Texas by a write-in ballot on voting machines.
Peppy was the co-emcee for the East Texas segment of the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for 33 years, helping to raise over $7 million for MDA research and patient care.
He is the author of four books published by Eakin Press of Austin.
He served his community well as the first elected Potentate of Sharon Shrine Temple, two terms as President of the East Texas Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and served as a trustee on the Boards of Longview ISD, Jarvis Christian College and LeTourneau University. He also served on the Boards of the Salvation Army, Longview Symphony, American Heart Association, Longview Museum of Art, Beacon Hospice and Juliette Fowler Homes in Dallas. He was a Past Master of James F. Taylor Masonic Lodge #169, a Knight Templar of York Rite Bodies and Past Commander of the Council of Kadosh. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
He had been honored by being named a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason, awarded the Silver Beaver Award, Order of the Arrow; chosen Man of the Year by the Federated Women's Club; awarded the Daughters of the American Revolution's Medal of Honor; elected to the Commemorative Air Force's Combat Airmen's Hall of Fame in Midland, Texas; and the Southwest Football Official's Hall of Fame.
Peppy was a former Chairman of the Official Board of First Christian Church and the KFRO voice of the Loyal Men's Bible Class for many years. He was named an Elder Emeritus of his church.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Helon Kaldenberg.
Left to cherish his memory is his wife of 63 years, Eva Jean Finch Blount, and his three sons and their families: Ralph Blount of Austin; John "Jeb" Blount and wife, Lyn of Longview; Stephen Blount and wife, Linda of San Antonio; his eight beloved Blount grandchildren: Robert Mathis, Kathryn Dell, Allison Finch, John Reid, Robert Rowland, Charlotte McHenry, Macon Howard and Jane Anne; also a niece, Kim Kaldenberg of New York City.
The family will greet friends following the memorial service at First Christian Church.
Memorials may be sent to the building fund of First Christian Church, 720 Sixth St., Longview, TX 75601 or to a charity of your choice.
A memorial guestbook may be signed at www.raderfh.com.

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Peppy's career has surely earned this additional piece included below, written by a personal friend of Peppy's, which appeared in the Longview News-Journal Sunday, June 27, 2010. It was provided for use by this website by John Currie, with this comment, "[John Currie] Truly an unique guy and great friend who will be greatly missed by all of us who knew Peppy."

Posted: Saturday, June 26, 2010 11:35 pm | Updated: 4:06 am, Sun Jun 27, 2010.
By Van Craddock

Some folks are born with a twinkle in their eye. Peppy Blount was one of them.

I picked up the phone one day this past month, and the fellow immediately identified himself. Of course, the booming voice gave him away.

"This is the honorable Peppy Blount, esquire. Have I the pleasure of speaking to the inimitable Mr. Craddock?"

At this point in our telephone conversation, we went into our long-established routine. I inquired about Peppy's "beautiful, long-suffering" wife, Eva Jean. Peppy responded by reminding me, "Remember, Van, like me, you married way over your head."

R.E. Peppy Blount, longtime Longview attorney and Professional Dispenser of Wisdom, died Tuesday at the age of 85.

Let's see, he was a football star for the Texas Longhorns. State legislator at age 22. World War II B-25 bomber pilot and inductee into the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame. College and pro football game official. A Gregg County judge ... elected on a write-in vote. Television telethon emcee for more than three decades, raising millions for "Jerry's kids."

Peppy crammed a lot of living into those 85 years.

Legal name

If anyone should be called "Peppy," it was R.E. Blount. However, as he told me years ago, the moniker had nothing to do with his Texas-sized personality. When he was a youngster, family members called him "Precious." His little sister tried to say "Precious," but it always came out "Peppy." The name stuck.

Once, when Peppy ran for re-election in the Texas Legislature, an opponent sued to keep him from using his nickname on the ballot. After all, most voters in his West Texas district probably wouldn't have recognized "Ralph E. Blount." So he had his name legally changed to R.E. Peppy Blount, and that's how it appeared on the ballot. He won the election.

I suppose my favorite Peppy tale still has to be the time he and his Longhorns were playing Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in 1947. Upset at an official's call, Sooner fans began tossing glass bottles from the stands. Peppy recalled there "was broken glass all over the place" from the shattered bottles.

Peppy had been elected to the Texas Legislature in 1946. The young man would perform his lawmaking duties at the state Capitol, then rush back to campus for football practice.

Anyway, when the Legislature got back in session, Peppy pushed through legislation outlawing "any beverage in its original (glass) container" at Texas sporting events.

Opposed sin

Then there was the time, on April 15, 1947, that Peppy introduced a resolution "condemning sin." The Texas House of Representatives voted it down, 73 to 20. The very next day, the Texas City ship explosion occurred, and 700 people died. Some Texans thought there was a connection between the disaster and the Legislature's vote.

Maybe Peppy was on to something.

In that final phone call from Peppy several weeks ago, I inquired how he was doing. "Oh, I'm just fine," he said, then changed the subject. He had read something recently that pleased him and wanted to share it with me.

Peppy was the eternal optimist. If you were feeling down, a Peppy "pep" talk would do the trick. And he was always willing to share his expertise with others. Take football.

The late, great Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry was a teammate of Blount's at Texas. Years ago, Peppy helped coach a Longview youth football team. From time to time, Peppy would send Landry a trick play he'd dreamed up for his East Texas youngsters. There's no record that the Cowboys ever used one of Peppy's plays. But as I said, he was an optimist.

"The guy was a born politician," Landry said in 1985. "If Peppy was ever down, I don't remember it. He always had a smile and a quick handshake for everyone he met."

Peppy Blount loved his faith, his family, friends ... and football. His legend lives far beyond Longview, and he has left us some "Precious" memories.

I'm going to miss those phone calls.

Van "Hook 'Em" Craddock's new book of News-Journal columns is titled "East Texas Tales." His e-mail is vancraddock@sbcglobal.net.

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