Sheriff Woody Blanton
from Ruth Walsh
More Woody Blanton Articles
Sherman Democrat, October 5, 1975
BLANTON 'BREAKS IN' NEWSMAN
by Jack Z. Smith -People throughout Grayson County were stunned last week to learn of the death of long-time Sheriff Woody Blanton. I was no exception. // I was pecking out a story on the typewriter Saturday morning when the city editor came over and told me ...Bland had died a few hours before. // It seemed hard to believe. I knew Blanton had been doing poorly in the hospital. I knew he had had heart trouble for years. But I just didn't believe it would whip him. Certainly not at 63. // It's hard to picture the sheriff's office without Woody. You walked through the doorway of the office, looked through the large glass window beyond, and, inevitable, there sat the sheriff -- talking with a deputy, bail bondsman, a new
reporter, his secretary, a judge or a citizen - or taking one of the 50 phone calls he seemed to get each day. ... I remember the first day I met him. I walked into the office feeling kind of nervous, having never covered a crime beat on a regular basis before. The secretary gave me one of those looks, the kind that says, "Oh, no; here comes another wet- behind-the-ears reporter." / I introduced myself to Blanton, who wasn't exactly awed by my presence. // Just as my boss had warned me, the sheriff's office was quite a testing ground for a young reporter. Blanton was sometimes in an over-whelming good mood. On other days, he might be out of sorts and easy to fly off the handle. // Because five to six news reporters ganged him daily, pressing their questions, and because he invariably was busy, the sheriff sometimes blew up when a reporter's pen couldn't keep pace with his recitation of facts on a case. // On such mornings, the conversation might go like this: "Sheriff, how much money did you say was taken in that grocery store robbery? I didn't quite get what you said." / "Son, I told you about $200. That's two-hundred. If you'd cut that hair over your ears, you might hear me the first time." // Later... // "Could you give me that description again, the one the clerk gave of the robber?" // "Pink polka-dotted underwear, silk shirt, a black bow tie, blue suede shoes, bifocals, and I believe the clerk said the guy rode off on a three-legged barnyard jackass after holding up the place. That give you a good enough story?" // The sheriff, like a lot of us mere mortals, sometimes used a selection of salty language. He was most prone to cuss when the pressures of his job got to him. Five minutes later, he had usually repented, and might even be heard singing a hymn. And he always had a Bible on his desk. // As in courthouses across the country, we reporters often wanted more details than the sheriff wanted to give out. // One day a fellow reporter, talking by phone, asked the sheriff one too many questions. Woody slammed down the receiver, leaving the reporters ear ringing for the next five minutes. // We reporters also had nicknames, bestowed upon us by the sheriff. // I was special. I had two. Computer- Mouth, " for when I asked too many questions, and "Applehead", when I asked questions he thought were stupid. // Although Sheriff Blanton generally enjoyed a favorable press throughout his lengthy tenure, he was nevertheless perpetually worried about reporters, "blowing stories out of proportion." Just two weeks before he died, I called him for information on a routine story concerning whether jury members had parking privileges around the courthouse. // There was nothing scandalous about the story, and I was seeking only routine information, but Blanton was perplexed by the fact that I asked a number of questions. // "Listen, Applehead," he told me, "Let's don't make no Watergate out of this." // It took me awhile to learn that when Blanton was gruff, he usually didn't mean anything personal by it. This tough demeanor was his way of testing a reporter. If you smiled when he scowled, you had a sudden rapport - he generally smiled back. // There were two things that impressed me most about Blanton - his devotion to his job and the fact that wherever you went, everybody seemed to know him, and he seemed to know him, and he seemed to know everybody. // There ere a number of mornings I came into the office and Blanton appeared bedraggled and tired, having worked past midnight on a case. I marveled that a man in his 60s could keep such a pace - especially with a bum ticker. // While some men get a kick out of their boat, their golf game, or watching the Cowboys play the Redskins, Woody's job was both is vocation and avocation. He wanted to be known as the best sheriff there was. // He was probably better known to Grayson County residents than anyone - and I'd even include golfer Miller Barber in that assessment. // The sheriff was a person who didn't forget once you had met him. // That was borne home rather dramatically when I stopped at a fruit stand in the Parker County town of Weatherford, west of Fort worth, while on vacation this past summer. "Where you from?", the vendor asked. "Sherman, I said. "Oh you are?", the grizzled man's face lit up. "Well, I used to be a constable, and I remember the sheriff up there, Woody Blanton. "Seems like everybody knows Woody."
Sherman Democrat, September 29, 1975, p. 1 col. 5-8
TOP STATE LAW OFFICERS TO ATTEND BLANTON RITES - Col. Wilson Speir,
director of the Texas Department of Public Safety was expected Monday afternoon to be
among a statewide contingent of law enforcement officers attending the funeral of Grayson
County Sheriff Wood Blanton. // Blanton died early Saturday at a Sherman hospital. He
was 63. // The sheriff's office said U.S. Marshall J. Keith Gary of Tyler, Texas Ranger
Capt. G.W. Burk and Dallas County Sheriff Clarence Jones also relayed message that
they would try to attend. Teletype messages from throughout the state were being
received Monday morning. // Funeral services originally scheduled at 4 p.m. for the
Johnson-Moore Funeral Chapel in Denison, were moved down the street to the First
Baptist Church after the indications that the chapel could not hold the expected crowds.
A spokesman at the funeral home Monday morning said approximately 650 guests had
visited the funeral home since Monday morning. We've ordered pages (to the register)
until it's unreal" she said. "People have come from everywhere." // The county
courthouse was closed at 3 p.m. so employees could attend the services. The Sherman
City Council cancelled its meeting Monday afternoon and rescheduled it for 4 p.m.
Tuesday. // Plans were being made Monday morning for police officers from Sherman and
Denison to attend the funeral with their police chiefs, Johnny Burleson and E.E. Eubank,
in groups other office from police agencies in the area were expected to attend. //
Military graveside rites were scheduled to follow the funeral service. Blanton was to be
buried in a family plot in Cedarlawn Memorial Park. // Blanton elected sheriff in 1958 and
chosen outstanding sheriff in the state six years later for counties the size of Grayson,
served for a quarter century until his death. // He had been hospitalized a week ago
Sunday for irregularities in his heart beat. // Pallbearers included Texas Ranger Louis
Rigler of Gainesville, Chief Deputy Sheriff Shelby Bowling, acting sheriff in Blanton's
place; Bill Dugger, Dick Bishop, Kirk May, and John Blystone, all of Sherman; and H.C.
Ross of Denison.
Sherman Democrat, September 30, 1975, p. 1, col. 1-4,
(large photo appeared above the story. Caption under photo read, "End of a
Distinguished Career - Pallbearers carry the flag-draped, bronzed casket for Grayson
County Sheriff Woody Blanton past an honor guard of sheriff's posse members to
Blanton's burial site at Cedarlawn Memorial Park. An estimated 3,000 persons at the
church, along the procession route and at the cemetery, paid their last respects to the man
who was sheriff 25 years (staff photo). "LEGENDARY LAWMAN BURIED - Denison - They sang Sheriff Woody Blanton's
songs for the last time Monday - the hymns he often sang to himself while fighting crime.
Scores of Texas lawmen watched stoically, almost reverently, as Blanton was buried at
Cedarlawn Memorial Park. The respect he commanded in life lost none of its force in
death. // More than 1,100 mourners overflowed the First Baptist Church here during the
funeral service. A long-time church member said it was the largest crowd ever gathered at
the church. // An estimated 1,500 more stood silently along the funeral procession route to
pay their last respects to the 63-year-old man who was Grayson County's top lawman for
25 years. // The funeral procession stretched the entire route from the church in
downtown Denison along Highway 75A to the cemetery off Highway 75 in North
Sherman. Sixty cars from various law enforcement agencies, their red lights flashing, led
the procession. / Blanton was a man of intense fervor" eulogized the Rev. R. H.
Peterson. He was a "Man of faith, of reality, who welcomed conflicts, endured trials and
rejoiced in victories, " the Rev. Peterson said. // The Rev. Peterson used words of
strength to describe Blanton: zeal, fervor, stern passion for work. Those words befitted a
man who dedicated his life to fighting crime. / But he also spoke of Blanton as a
"compassionate" man who "came to minister in his own unique way" and who left trails of blessing upon our lives." // His influence will continue to be strongly felt for years to
come", the Rev. Peterson said. Mourners sat silently in church pews, or stood where
there wasn't room to sit as a soloist, Jess Jackson, sang two of Blanton's favorite hymns,
"Blessed Assurance" and "How great Thou Art." Dr. Stacy Barham who like Rev.
Peterson, is an Assembly of God minister, read the 23rd Psalm and spoke briefly of
Blanton's "faith in the Lord". That Blanton, who could strike fear with one scowl or joy
with one smith, was beloved was evident on the faces of mourners who filed past the open
casket out of the church. The eyes of men and women brimmed with tears. / The man who
was almost a living legend became a true legend when he died Saturday. // Among the
mourners were Sheriffs Clarence Jones of Dallas, Jim Burton of McKinney, Raymond
Taylor of Bonham, Texas Ranger Capt. G.W. Burk of Dallas, Texas, Highway Patrol Maj.
Glen Warner of Dallas. The state's top law enforcement officer, Col. Wilson Speir of the
Department of Public Safety, sent a telegram that he was delayed and could not attend. //
Local, state and national law enforcement officers from throughout Texas also were
present. // Officers from the Grayson County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Posse formed
honor guards at the church and cemetery. / An American flag draped the coffin of the
decorated World War II veteran as military graveside rites were performed at the
cemetery. The flag was then presented to members of Blanton's family. (Researcher’s
note: George Woodrow “Woody” Blanton was the grandson of Thomas J. Blanton and
Eliza Jane Smith. His g-grandparents were Josiah Blanton and Lucy Westbrook.