Avent - Person Sheet
Avent - Person Sheet
NameAVENT, Gladys Pearl , GGG Granddaughter
Birth Date29 Mar 1893
Birth PlaceJonesboro, Coryell County, Texas
Death Date16 Apr 1981 Age: 88
Death PlaceHereford, Deaf Smith County, Texas
FatherAVENT, George Washington (1844-1933)
MotherWILSON, Mary Rebecca (1853-1932)
Spouses
Birth Date27 Jul 1889
Birth PlaceAnna, Collin County, Texas
Death Date26 Dec 1965 Age: 76
Death PlaceCanyon City, Randall County, Texas
Misc. Notes
County Pioneer
Taken By Death Here Sunday

A member of one of Randall County’s most prominent pioneer families is dead.

A Randall County era ended Sunday with the death of Thomas Gould Lair, 76, who came to the county when he was two years old. He and members of his family played prominent roles in its development.

Mr. Lair was the son of Judge Lycurgus C. Lair who served three consecutive terms as county judge beginning in 1896.

Mr. Lair’s date of birth must have been prophetic of his destiny in Randall County. He was born July 27, 1889, the same day the first officers of Randall County were named.

Mr. Lair was born in Collins County. He was married in 1914 to Miss Gladys Avent, member of another pioneer Randall County Family.

One son, Avent, was the first Randall County criminal district attorney. He was appointed to that office by Gov. Price Daniel and then was elected in his own right.

Another son, Tommy, presently is Randall County clerk, an office he has held since the mid-1940s.

Mr. Lair was a veteran of World War I. He was a member of the school board and served as president of the Old Randall County Dairyman’s Association.

Mr. Lair was an outstanding athlete during his schoolboy years. He was a basketball player on the Canyon team which suffered only one defeat from 1908 to 1912. Throughout his life, Mr. Lair retained a love of sports, especially basketball.

He lived to see two grandsons, Mark and Tom Lair, become standouts on the Eagle basketball team. He was an avid Buff fan and held a lifetime pass to Buffalo basketball games.

The farmer-stockman pioneer died late Sunday afternoon in Neblett Hospital. He had been ill only a short time.

Surviving were his wife, five sons, one daughter, three brothers, a sister, and seventeen grandchildren.
Marr Date8 Jan 1914
Marr PlaceRandall County, Texas
 Thomas Howard (1917-1985)
 Avent Wilson (1921-1994)
 Mary Margaret (1928-2017)
 Robert Stanley (1932-1967)
Last Modified 9 Mar 2019Created 1 Mar 2024 by Robert Avent