Former Fort Worth Mayor Hugh Parmer, also state senator and representative, dies at 80
Hugh Parmer, a former Fort Worth mayor and state senator and later a presidential appointee leading worldwide humanitarian efforts, died Wednesday night. He was 80.
A longtime Democrat, Parmer represented Fort Worth at City Hall and in both chambers in the Texas Legislature before devoting much of his life to humanitarian needs — and to teaching about them as well.
Through the years, he won and lost pivotal political races.
“You know how it goes,” Parmer said in 1996 after losing a race for the U.S. House of Representatives to Republican Kay Granger. “Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.”
Parmer grew up in Fort Worth, graduating from Polytechnic High School in 1957, and going on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.
“Hugh Parmer was an incredible public servant and philanthropist, who always led with compassion and put Fort Worth first,” Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said. “Hugh’s dedication to international humanitarian and refugee efforts inspired many and his legacy will leave a positive footprint in our community for generations to come.
“I know Hugh’s spirit of giving back to our community will live on through his family and friends.”
Parmer is survived by his wife, Evelyn Parmer, son Travis Parmer, daughter Elizabeth Parmer, son-in-law James Hinkle, granddaughter Claire Hinkle “and many adopted family members,” his family said.
A service to honor Parmer will be held at a later date, his daughter said.
Longtime leader
Parmer, a lawyer and political consultant, served at a variety of organizations, including the Peace Corps and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
He was described as “the shrewdest, most cunning politician the city has known in decades” in a 1979 D Magazine article.
“He was a brilliant political strategist,” said former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr, who has known Parmer since they both attended Polytechnic. “His record of involvement in the community is very strong. He served this community well in a number of different capacities.”
Parmer was elected to the Texas House of Representatives at age 23, becoming the youngest member elected to that chamber at the time. And he was later was elected to the Fort Worth City Council in 1975, where he served until he was elected Fort Worth’s 36th mayor in 1977.
He served one term until losing a heated re-election bid to Woodie Woods.
During his time as mayor, Parmer named Maryellen Hicks as the city’s first black municipal judge and later the first black chief municipal judge.
“I have the utmost admiration for him,” said Deborah Peoples, sister of Hicks and head of the Tarrant County Democratic Party. “I am so sad. We’ve lost a good guy and we don’t have enough of those in this world.”
Decades after leaving office, Parmer said he counted the city’s first ethics code for officeholders among his greatest contributions. The code, he said, was “a definite departure from the days when city government and the business community were viewed as interchangeable.”
He went on to represent Fort Worth in the Texas Senate from 1983 to 1991. During his tenure, he became the first Majority Leader and served one term as president pro tem.
In 1990, while state senator, Parmer unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican Phil Gramm for the U.S. Senate. He was credited for coining the term “Grammstanding,” referring to what he said was Gramm voting against some proposals and then taking credit for them when they passed.
Parmer made two unsuccessful bids for the U.S. House of Representatives — once in 1984 in the Democratic primary to former state Rep. Dan Kubiak of Rockdale and once in 1996 in the general election against Granger, who has represented the 12th district ever since.
When he lost to Granger, Parmer said he knew he was up against the downtown establishment and the “millionaires and billionaires and corporations.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve taken a good, old-fashion country lickin’, “ Parmer said. “I don’t think I ran out of time. . . . She just whipped us. That’s all.”
Former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Dallas, said he might never have been elected to Congress without Parmer’s help.
“Throughout my entire time in public office, he was a trusted, reliable, valued friend and advisor,” Frost said.
That’s why he said he recruited Parmer to run for Congress in 1996 “in a long-shot race that he made closer and more competitive than it ever could have been otherwise.”
“Hugh Parmer was a true public servant and a real humanitarian,” Frost said. “We are all better because of Hugh Parmer’s life and dedication to public service.”
Humanitarian work
Parmer devoted much of his life to humanitarian efforts since his time in the Texas Senate, where he sponsored the Texas Omnibus Hunger Relief Act of 1985.
“Sen. Parmer left a legacy of service for all who would follow in his footsteps,” said state Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Fort Worth. “He will be remembered for his forward-thinking approach and commitment to bettering all of humanity.”
In 1998, then-President Bill Clinton appointed him assistant administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Response, where he served until 2001. There, he led major humanitarian relief operations during the war in Kosovo, Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and Nicaragua and famine in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
He went on to serve as president of the American Refugee Committee, an international humanitarian relief organization, and teach humanitarian studies.
“Humanitarian crises are everyday news,” Parmer said when he began teaching a class at Tarleton University in 2017. “With understanding comes the desire to help.
“There’s a latent interest in most of us to make the world a better place, to save a life, to do good.”
In his classes, he talked about issues ranging from getting medical supplies to Albanians forced from their homes in Kosovo to determining how best to help East Africans in the middle of drought and war.
“Prof. Parmer is a very globally experienced professor,” one student wrote on ratemyprofessors.com about his teaching at TCU. “He generously shares his real life experience in humanitarian field and passionately talks about international issues. For those of you who (want) to make your college learning worth it, ... I highly recommend you taking Prof. Parmer’s class.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 8:17 PM.
