Orba Ollie McCurdy (1895-1964)

Portrait from the "Calyx", Washington and Lee Yearbook, 1917.

  Vernon, Texas attorney Orba Ollie McCurdy was a veteran of World War I who would become active in Wilbarger County politics following his return from service, winning election as county prosecuting attorney and county judge. The son of L.E. and Minta Virginia (McDonald) McCurdy, Orba Ollie "O.O." McCurdy was born on November 29, 1895, in Harrold, Texas. Early in his life, his family relocated to Vernon, Texas, where he would attend public schools. Deciding upon a career in law, McCurdy studied at both Valparaiso University in Indiana and Washington and Lee University in Virginia, earning his degree from the latter in 1917. 

  Following American entry into World War I McCurdy enlisted in the Marines, and he would subsequently be stationed at a barracks in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic beginning in 1918. He would hold the rank of sergeant at the time of his discharge and after returning stateside married in 1921 to Josephine Wardlaw (1899-1985), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple is believed to have been childless.

   In 1924 McCurdy won election as County Attorney for Wilbarger County and served two terms in that post (1925-1929). In the early 1940s McCurdy held the presidency of the Vernon Bar Association and in 1945 was elected as its secretary-treasurer. In 1942 he had won election to the first of three terms as Judge of Wilbarger County, and after serving six years on the bench stepped down in early 1949 and returned to practicing law, opening his office at the Herring Bank Building in Vernon. 

  Active in the American Legion, Rotary Club, Lions Club and the Masons, McCurdy continued to reside in Vernon until his death at home on June 4, 1964, at age 69. He was survived by his wife Josephine, and a burial location for both he and his wife remains unknown at this time.