Odell McBrayer

Who was Odell McBrayer?

Odell Lavon McBrayer was a Fort Worth attorney, Christian layman, and a Republican candidate for governor of Texas in the 1974 party primary election.

McBrayer was born in Lakeview, a town in Hall County in the Texas Panhandle, to Odell Luke McBrayer and the former Ola Gregory. He grew up in Clarendon, the seat of nearby Donley County and graduated from Clarendon High School. McBrayer was a veteran of the United States Air Force, having been trained in Florida and stationed for his entire service at the former Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock. He was a member of the American Legion. McBrayer initially attended Clarendon College, a community college, and subsequently received his Bachelor of Arts and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

A lawyer for thirty-three years, he served for a time as an assistant district attorney in the Fort Worth area. He ran unsuccessfully for a state district judgeship. He was a member of the American and Texas bar associations. In 2002, he became affiliated with the First Baptist Church in Idabel, Oklahoma, upon his retirement from his law practice when he and his wife, the former Mary McCurtamn, moved there to be near their son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Debbie McBrayer. He was a chaplain of the Bible-distribution group, the Gideons International in McCurtain County in southeastern Oklahoma.