Ric Williamson

Richard F. "Ric" Williamson^[1] (January 25, 1952 – December 30, 2007) was the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission and a former Democrat-turned-Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives. As a resident of Weatherford, he represented from 1985-1999 District 61 (Parker and Wise counties), located west of Fort Worth.

Life and career

Williamson was elected to the state House as a Democrat in 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1992. In the latter contest, he defeated Republican challenger David Kubosh, 28,709 (63.8 percent) to 16,269 (36.2 percent). In 1994, Williamson ran for the first time as a Republican and defeated Democrat Robert R. Hopkins, 22,898 (65.1 percent) to 12,281 (34.9 percent). He was unopposed as a Republican in 1996 but did not seek reelection in 1998.^[2] He was succeeded by the Republican Phillip Stephen King of Weatherford, a leading figure in the conservative faction in the legislature.

Williamson served on the Texas House/Senate Budget Conference Committee, Appropriations Committee (vice chairman), and the Ways And Means (tax-writing) Committee. He was cited in 1989 and 1991 by Texas Monthly magazine as among the "Ten Best Legislators" in the state. In 1997, the Dallas Morning News named him the "Best of the 75th Legislative Session". The Texas Chamber of Commerce gave Williamson its "Leadership Award" in 1992. He served on several boards, including the Southern Regional Education Board, Legislative Budget Board, Department of Information Resources Board, Uniform Statewide Accounting System Committee, the Southern Legislative Conference, and the Weatherford Little League Association.^[3]

In 2001, Governor Rick Perry, Williamson's former legislative colleague and roommate, appointed Williamson to the Transportation Commission; three years later on January 29, 2004, he was named chairman of the five-member panel which regulates transportation policies. Members of the commission are nominated by the governor for regular six-year appointments and confirmed with a two-thirds vote of the 31-member Texas State Senate. On the commission, Williamson was a strong proponent of toll roads to expand the state transportation network. He supported efforts to bring about Perry's favorite project, the Trans-Texas Corridor toll road.^[4]

Williamson was born in Abilene, the seat of Taylor County in west Texas. He graduated in 1974 from the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to Weatherford and co-founded RAW Energy. Later, he started his own natural gas production company, MKS Consulting, which continues to operate.^[3]

A heavy smoker, Williamson died of his third heart attack. Perry eulogized his friend by quoting from the Irish satirist Jonathan Swift. Perry said that Williamson was the most persuasive individual that he had ever encountered. Williamson had urged Perry to seek the lieutenant governorship in 1998, a position which led to Perry's rise to the governorship two years later in December 2000.

Williamson with his wife Mary Ann had three daughters, Melissa Meyer and husband Randy of Weatherford, Katherine Strange and husband Matthew of Houston, and Sara Williamson, also of Houston. He was also survived by two grandchildren and his mother, Jane Gray and her husband, Gordon Gray, of Abilene. Williamson was cremated. Memorial services were held on January 3, 2008, in the Jerry Durant Auditorium of Weatherford High School.^[3] Perry said that Williamson's "passion to serve his beloved State of Texas was unmatched, and his determination to help our state meet it future challenges was unparalleled. He will be missed beyond words."^[4]

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