Robert "Bob" Folsom (February 15, 1927 – January 24, 2017) was

mayor of Dallas The Mayor of the City of Dallas is the head of the Dallas City Council. The current mayor is Eric Johnson (Texas politician), Eric Johnson, who has served one term since 2019 Dallas mayoral election, 2019 and is the 62nd mayor to serve the posit ...

from 1976 until 1981. His power base was in Dallas' business establishment.

Early life and education

Robert Folsom grew up in the

Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1901. It has since retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older established neighborhoods. Oak Cl ...

district of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. He attended Sunset High School where he was a standout athlete and student. After high school, Folsom attended

The United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

West Point, NY West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Amer ...

where he played football and basketball for the Cadets. During his time at the Academy, Folsom played in two " Games of the Century" 1945 vs. Navy and 1946 vs. Notre Dame. President Truman attended the game against Navy. Playing against

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in Yankee Stadium in 1945, Folsom caught a touchdown pass. During his time at Army, Folsom was a part of two national championship teams. After two years at West Point, Folsom transferred back to his hometown University, Southern Methodist University. He would go on to be the only four sport letter winner in the history of the school (Football, Basketball, Track and Baseball). He is also one of the only college football players to have played alongside three Heisman Trophy Winners ( Glenn Davis,

Doc Blanchard Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (December 11, 1924 – April 19, 2009) was an American football player and serviceman who became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award, and was the first football player to win the James E. Su ...

, and

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professi ...

), as well against two others, (Johnny Lujack and Leon Hart)

Business career

Folsom is a "legendary investor and developer....who built a fortune as a master of real estate He chairs the board of directors of real estate development firm Folsom Properties, Inc. Since the early 1980s he has served on the boards of directors of BeautiControl Cosmetics, Inc. and Alcatel USA, Inc. (formerly DSC Communications Corporation); he also serves on the board of the

Cox School of Business The Edwin L. Cox School of Business is an American business school, part of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. The SMU Cox School of Business is headquartered in four buildings on SMU's 210-acre main campus five miles north ...

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

. He was also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dallas Independent School District and Chairman of the Board of Methodist Hospital of Dallas. He received the Hugh Prather Award for his real estate leadership and the Oak Cliff Lions Club Humanitarian Award for Service to his community. Folsom is a Member of the Sunset High School Hall of Fame.

Dallas Chaparrals

Folsom started and owned the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

, the Dallas ABA team, with a group of other Dallas businessman. From 1967-1971, the team played in Dallas as one of the original 11 ABA teams. In 1971, Folsom leased the team to

Red McCombs Billy Joe "Red" McCombs (born October 19, 1927) is an American businessman. He is the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group in San Antonio, Texas, a co-founder of Clear Channel Communications, former chairman of Constellis Group, a forme ...

for a dollar for the season and then sold the team the following year to McCombs for $725,000. McCombs would turn the team into the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

Tenure as mayor

Folsom was elected

in April 1976, in a special election held to replace Wes Wise, who had resigned in order to run for Congress. He served as mayor until 1981. During his time, he headed up several successful projects including: the tollway, Reunion Arena, and the Dallas Arts District

Death

Folsom died on January 24, 2017, at his home in Dallas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folsom, Robert 1927 births 2017 deaths People from Oak Cliff, Texas Players of American football from Texas Sunset High School (Texas) alumni Army Black Knights football players SMU Mustangs football players Basketball players from Texas Army Black Knights men's basketball players SMU Mustangs men's basketball players Baseball players from Texas Army Black Knights baseball players SMU Mustangs baseball players Track and field athletes from Texas Army Black Knights men's track and field athletes SMU Mustangs men's track and field athletes Southern Methodist University alumni Businesspeople from Texas Mayors of Dallas Dallas City Council members School board members in Texas Military personnel from Texas Real estate and property developers 20th-century American businesspeople