Obituary

Judge H. M. LaFont

Funeral services for Judge Harold M. LaFont, 96, who practiced law in Plainview for more than 70 years, will be at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in First United Methodist Church with Dr. Max Browning, pastor, officiating.

Burial will be in Plainview Cemetery by Bartley Funeral Home.

Judge LaFont died Sunday, Nov. 16, 2003, in Covenant Hospital Plainview.

He was born July 1, 1907, in Conran, Mo. graduated from the University of Missouri and received his law degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

In 1930, LaFont set up his law practice in Plainview. He represented this area as state representative in the Texas Legislature for four years and later was district judge for two terms. While serving with the Legislature, he authored many bills for the preservation of underground water, High Plains Experiment Station at Halfway and also served on a special legislative council to study the tax structure, state and local highway construction, uniform commercial code, and the Gilmer-Aiken school finance law.

He had the longest continuous law practice in Texas and was honored in the Texas Bar Journal.

While serving as district attorney, he tried the famous Hunt murder case three times. The case stayed in the national press for several years.

He was a member of the State Legislature from 1949 to 1953, served as District Judge 64th Judicial District from 1957 to 1964.

He was a member of Committee on Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure from 1960 to 1961.

He was a member of First United Methodist Church where he taught a Sunday school class for 50 years, a member of Kiwanis Club for more than 60 years, a 32nd Degree Mason and was an attorney for Central Plains Hospital and Plainview Cemetery Association.

He married Jane Powell on Nov. 11, 1933, in Plainview. She died Oct. 2, 1998.

Survivors include one son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Ellie LaFont of Plainview; a daughter and son-in-law, Jennie Gail and Bill Huie of Corpus Christi; seven grandchildren, Matthew LaFont of Plainview, Chris LaFont of Fort Worth, Nicole Smock of Princeton, Ill., Emily Maynard of Lubbock, William Huie of Austin, Chris Chapman of Dallas, and Claire Huie of Austin; and five great-grandchildren.

Two sisters, Clara Nusebaum and Mary Stahler, and a brother, Fayette LaFont, are deceased.

Plainview Daily Herald - Nov. 18, 2003