view raw text
Richard M. Kleberg, 67, Dies of Heart Attack Was Former Congressman, Board Chairman of King Ranch in Texas KINGSVTTJ.E, Tex., May 9.— Richard Misslin Kleberg, 67, cattleman, sportsman, former congressman and one of the owners of the fabled King Ranch of Texas, died today in his sleep from a heart attack in a Hot Springs, Ark., hotel room. His body was flown to Kingsville, headquarters city of the worlds largest ranch, covering more than 1,000,000 acres, and taken tonight to the ranch house. He had suffered for some time with a weak heart. Kleberg was stricken with a fataf seizure at 7 a. m. EDT, according to Garland County, Ark., coroner Dr. D. C. Lee at Hot Springs. He had flown to the Arkansas city last Friday for a visit. Kleberg at the time of his death was chairman of the board of the King Ranch Corp. His brother, Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., whose silks are carried by the King Ranch thoroughbreds, is president and general manager. They and their two sisters, Mrs. Thomas R. Armstrong and Mrs. Alice East, are children of Robert J. Kleberg and Alice Kleberg, who was the daughter of Capt. Richard King, founder of King Ranch. Richard Kleberg served in Congress for 13 years until he lost a bid for renomina-tion in the 1944 Texas Democtratic primary. While in Congress he was chairman of the agriculture committee. He was twice president, from 1927-29, of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and served two different times on the Texas Game and Fish Commission. Funeral services for Kleberg will be held at 11:00 a. m. CDT Tuesday at Santa Gertrudis, the King Ranch main house located three miles west of Kingsville. The Rev. Harold Nickels, Episcopal rector at Kingsville, will eonoduct services and not only family and friends but all employes of the vast ranch will pay their last respects. The family asked that no flowers be sent and that instead donations be made to the Richard M. Kleberg Research Foundation in Kingsville. Kleberg is survived by his widow, the former Mamie Searcy of Brenham. Tex., his brother and two sisters, four children and eight grandchildren. His children are Mrs. Green Sugden, whose Navy Commander husband is assistant naval attache at the American em- Continued on Page Severn Richard M. Kleberg, 67, Dies of Heart Attack Was Former Congressman, Board Chairman of King Ranch in Texas Continued from Page Three bassy in Rome; Mrs. James Yarborough, of Midland, Tex.; Mrs. Richard Reynolds of Austin, Tex., and Richard M. Kleberg, Jr., who is vice president of King Ranch. Kleberg was born on a ranch near Kingsville, Kleberg County, Tex., November 18, 1887. He attended Texas public schools and the University of Texas, from which he graduated in 1911. A law student, he was admitted to the bar in 1909.
