Joe B. Finley

Josef Bartlett Finley, Jr., known as Joe B. Finley (August 6, 1924 - September 10, 2011), was a rancher and businessman in Laredo, Texas, who in 1961 was the driving force behind the establishment of the United Independent School District, which services a large section of Webb County. In 1964, UISD received nationwide attention as the first school district in Texas to offer bilingual programs. a member of the Texas Army National Guard's 112th Cavalry Regiment, which saw 434 days of combat. Finley was alongside the battleship when the Empire of Japan signed the instrument of surrender on September 2, 1945, which effectively ended the war in the Pacific.
School board service
Finley was an original UISD board member, having served from the founding of the district in 1961 until 1993. The district was created by the merging of three small districts, Cactus, Johnson, and Nye, within the still existing Webb Consolidated Independent School District, based in Bruni, Texas. At the time, the City of Laredo was served only by the Laredo Independent School District. In time, the northern half of Laredo came under the UISD. Along with Amparo Gutierrez and John W. Arndt, Finley is considered part of the "Big Three" of UISD, with a school named for each.
UISD began with 340 pupils in grades one through nine; by the time of Finley's death, the district had 41,000 students. The district adopted the bilingual program at a time when Texas state law forbade the use of Spanish in public schools. According to his daughter, Alicia Finley Richter, Finley "felt very strongly that children should speak both languages." which is located twenty-seven miles north of Laredo off Interstate 35 in Webb County but carries an address in Encinal in southern La Salle County.
Finley was a large contributor to the Republican Party, particularly to the Republican National Committee.
Family and death
Finley was married for fifty-two years to the former Edith Mary Grinnan, who survives him. His five daughters, in addition to Alicia Richter, the widow of Edward Richter, Jr., are Ana Maria Finley, Amanda Finley Lasater and husband, Lee, Mary Joe Finley Cranny and her husband, Jim, and Amy Finley Fishcer, and her husband, Jeff, the latter the parents of Finley's three grandchildren.
Finley was so highly regarded in his community that the Laredo Morning Times covered his funeral on the front page. C. J. Tillinghast, a pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cotulla, Texas, said that Finley was "one of those people who made a difference in everyone's life. He will be missed by all of us." Finley's daughter, Ana Marie, said that her father was "the epitome of service beyond self ... His service to the Texas Association of School Boards just proved that the path to personal fulfillment isn't always necessarily paved with personal gain."<ref namefinley/>

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