Herbert Ray Roberts (March 28, 1913 – April 13, 1992) represented

Texas's 4th congressional district Texas's 4th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area of Northeast Texas, that includes some counties along the Red River northeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, as well as some outer eastern sub ...

from 1962 to 1981. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Early life and education

Roberts was born in rural

Collin County, Texas Collin County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and a small portion of the city of Dallas is in the county. At the 2020 United States census, the county's popula ...

in 1913. He grew up in the ranching town of

Westminster, Texas Westminster () is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northeastern Collin County, Texas, United States. The population was 861 as of the 2010 census, up from 390 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a city. West ...

, just outside McKinney. Roberts graduated from McKinney High School. He attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and North Texas State University (now the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

) before earning a bachelor's degree in

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

. Roberts earned his master's degree from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1942 to 1945. He was the final individual off the US Hornet when it sank at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October 1942. Later, he saw active duty in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

while as a member of the

U.S. Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

Early career

Roberts was on the staff of Speaker of the House

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

of Texas, working in Washington, D.C., between 1941 and 1942 before going on active duty in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, he worked as a farmer and entered into agribusiness. He was a member of the Texas State Senate from 1955 to 1961, serving as the president pro tempore of the body in 1961.

U.S. House of Representatives

Roberts was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

. He was re-elected to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving from January 30, 1962, to January 3, 1981. On November 22, 1963, Roberts was in the Dallas motorcade when President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

. He was riding in the same car as the Dallas Mayor

Earl Cabell Earle Cabell (October 27, 1906 – September 24, 1975) was a Texas politician who served as mayor of Dallas, Texas. Cabell was mayor at the time of the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy and was later a member of the U.S. H ...

, and the mayor's wife. Their car was four cars behind the limousine carrying JFK. The family of Ray Roberts can confirm that the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...

or any other of its investigation personnel never asked Roberts a single question about the shooting. When Mrs. Cabell testified to the Warren Commission, she stated that shortly after the shots ended Roberts first said, "That is a .30-06." (with Roberts meaning the shot(s) he could hear sounded like they were fired from a .30-06 type of rifle) and that Roberts had told her that he had also smelled the distinct odor of gun smoke (as did Mrs. Cabell and several other motorcade participants and witnesses who were all located down at street level, which was up-wind from the

Texas School Book Depository The Texas School Book Depository, now known as the Dallas County Administration Building, is a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. The building was Lee Harvey Oswald's vantage point during the assassination of United Sta ...

, and 61' to 82' below and varying distances away from its sixth floor)Elizabeth Cabell testimony to the Warren Commission, volume 7, starting at page 485 �
The Testimony of Mrs. Earle Cabell
Retrieved 09 August 2012. Roberts was chair of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs from 1975 through 1981. He did not run for re-election in 1980.

Other

Lake Ray Roberts Lake Ray Roberts (formally Ray Roberts Lake) is an artificial American reservoir located north of Denton, Texas, between the cities of Pilot Point, Texas and Sanger, Texas. It is filled by a tributary of the Trinity River. It was named after ...

is named after the Congressman. His official documents from his years in office both in the Texas State Senate as well as the U.S. House of Representatives can be found in the archives at Texas A&M-Commerce, which used to be known as East Texas State University. His only brother was Roy Geldon Roberts, Sr. of Plano.

References

External links

Retrieved on 2008-03-27 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Ray 1913 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American politicians Democratic Party Texas state senators Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy personnel of the Korean War Texas A&M University alumni People from Collin County, Texas Military personnel from Texas