Culture, education and a broader world view
By Wayne Bachus
I was asked to tell my story about being a Central Texan, and I’m glad, but it’s a long story. And by “long story,” I mean my roots here go back more than a century.
My paternal grandparents came from Chambers County, Alabama, in the late 19th century to raise their seven sons; the youngest was my dad, Ernest. William Henry Bachus died in 1909, leaving my grandmother, Anna French Bachus, to complete the task. When he married, he brought his bride, my mother (Ila Harris), to live in the Bachus family home with my grandparents, and it was there that I was born. I lived for the first 12 years of my life in the home with a grandmother who had been born when Abraham Lincoln was president. No wonder I get accused a lot of being old-fashioned!
My maternal kin includes the Harrises, the Browns, the Callahans and the Coffeys, all of whom were in Texas much earlier than my father’s family. They lived mostly around Eddy, and many of them attended the renowned Bedichek Academy there.
I remember starting at the old Reagan Elementary School, walking up to eat at the Chuck Wagon or Judge Doyle Lamberth’s store, and walking to take piano lessons from Mrs. Darr on South First Street. Marvin Fenn, our principal, would always tell us all about his summers fly fishing at his camp near Yellowstone at his place called Fennhaven. Students got to go to Travis Jr. High in the sixth grade if they played in the band, which I did. I’ll never forget our teacher, Miss Cecil Pike, telling us all the stories of her world travels and Mr. Marturano taking the Travis Science Club every place from the State Fair of Texas, to San Antonio, the Alamo and museums, Longhorn Cavern, and even spelunking in Cobb Caverns out between Florence and Georgetown.
I went on to Temple High School where teachers did more than just teach the subject matter — they opened our eyes and minds to a much broader education. We attended operas, musicals, plays, more museums, and we even got to learn and perform music and theater, as well as do community service. I can still remember going on band trips to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the International Lions Convention in Miami, and performing at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on national TV. What a time!
Temple Junior College came next for me, then undergrad work for my bachelor’s degree in government and history, with all the extra hours I could cram in of music, at the University of Texas at Austin, playing in the Longhorn Band, and finally earning my jurisprudence doctoral degree at Baylor College of Law.
In my experience living and working in Central Texas, I was exposed to fine arts and international culture by some incredibly talented, educated, and worldly people from this area. I am reminded of having mentors like Joe Abston, Mary Alice Marshal, Nora Lee Wendland, Ann Chamlee and Raye Allen in music and the arts, advice and mentoring from Jim Bowmer Jack Prescott and Frank Mayborn in law and politics. And could there ever be a better example of just caring for your neighbors than Ralph and Jean Wilson. To quote Ira Gershwin, “Who could ask for anything more”?
Nowadays, I get to travel quite a bit, belonging to the Most Venerable Order of St. John, a British Knighthood based in London and the Savoy Orders based in Geneva, getting to be a Freeman of the City of London and a Friendly Brother of St. Patrick in Dublin, having friends in Vienna, Toronto, Dublin, Edinburgh and all over the USA including sitting on the board of Livanta, a medical information company based in Baltimore. All of these adventures and accolades are experiences I would not have had but for those early inspirations and education gained right here in the heart of Texas.
Temple is not as large as our greater metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities here in Texas, but it had — and continues to have — lots of learning opportunities for those who seek them out. Our Cultural Activities Center was the inspiration for many such arts organizations across the state. Who would think that a city our size would have the magnificent Symphony we have. And the museums — the Czech Museum, the Railroad and Pioneer Museum, the Bell County Museum and a children’s museum, WOW! Then when you think what magnificent medical care we have literally at our doorstep. We live the definition of quality of life — after all we’re closer to Austin than Dallas is and closer to Dallas than Austin is — you get the point.
Central Texas residents, then and now are giving and sharing people which make Bell County and the surrounding region a great place to call home. It is why, after all these years, travels, and exciting experiences, I still do. In so many, many ways, you can get there from here.
Following his swearing in on Nov. 11, 1977, Wayne Bachus set up practice, sharing an office with Jim Greenfield. When Jim moved to San Antonio, Wayne associated with Robert Fisher across from the Temple Post Office. Wayne was elected judge of Bell County Court of Law No.2 taking office Aug. 1, 1982, and was reelected in 1985. During his tenure on the bench, he served as president of the State Court at Law Judges Association for 3 years and as president-elect of the Judicial Section of the State Bar. Upon retirement in 1989, Wayne reopened the office and through the years has employed nine attorneys, a couple of whom now occupy the bench in courts in Bell County.
