Graham remembers Fields, a dedicated city leader

Over three decades of service to the city of Graham only makes up a portion of the dedication Larry Fields provided to the community during his lifetime.

Fields died Wednesday, April 1 after previously serving as city manager and interim city manager for over 30 years in Graham. 

Fields was born Jan. 19, 1948 in Sweetwater and later moved to Kress, where he met his future wife Judy Harris.

He graduated from Kress High School in 1966 and attended West Texas State University on a basketball scholarship.

Despite aspirations to work as a Texas Farm Bureau agent, another calling came to him when the city of Panhandle was searching for a city manager. That role would be the starting point of an over 30-year journey as a city leader.

Following four years as city manager in Panhandle, he moved to Abernathy where he served that community as city manager for five years before reaching his final home – Graham.

Fields and his family moved to Graham in July 1979 where he served first as an assistant city manager before being named city manager in 1981. At the time of his retirement, Fields was recognized as the longest continually-serving city manager in Texas.

While in his role as city manager, he served alongside mayors N.D. Stovall Jr., Edwin S. Graham III, Ed Hinson, Geraldine Milam, Doug Stroud, George Rogers, Wayne Christian, Barry White, Jack Graham and Neal Blanton.

Several mayors that served with Fields looked back on the impact he had on the community and themselves.

Former mayor Barry White said that when he moved to Graham in 1988, the first home he purchased was next to the Fields on Calaveras. White lived there from 1988 to 1994 and shared many memories along with Fields.

“We were so close that we ended up cutting the fence together between our backyards and putting a gate in because we spent so much time at each other’s house. My young child at the time would just run back and forth and go play with Larry’s kids,” White said. “He was just a good guy.”

It was not just his servant heart that made Fields special to White.

“He was a great city manager, he was a great manager of people and, most importantly, he was my friend and I miss him dearly,” White said.

Christian, who also served as a former mayor with Fields, said he will miss him both as a leader and a friend.

“He handled people so well. He made it a pleasure to do the job as mayor because he really took care of his business and knew the city and everybody in it very well,” Christian said. “He served a great purpose.”

Former Graham Economic Development Director and mayor, Neal Blanton, said that Fields’ brought something to the position of city manager that is not seen anywhere else.

“Larry was one of a kind. He could talk to the biggest CEOs and then have a conversation with someone on fishing or hunting,” Blanton said. “To me the most impressive thing about Larry was that as bad as things would get, you never saw him blink.”

The last mayor to serve with Fields was Jack Graham, who said his contributions to the city were numerous.

“I grew up in a town led by Larry Fields and had the privilege of working with him at the end of his career. He was a huge advocate for the city of Graham and a good friend,” Graham said. “Most people don’t realize the sacrifice he made coming out of retirement to help lead the city during city manager searches. He will be sorely missed.”

Fields was honored in January 2014 with the Graham Chamber of Commerce Grahammy award for Citizen of the Year and later received a city council proclamation in March 2014 naming March 18 as Larry Fields Day in Graham. 

He was also honored with the Graham Salt Works award at the 2023 Grahammys, showing he displayed salt of the Earth characteristics. 

Fields announced in January 2014 that he would retire from the position in April 2014 and was succeeded by Public Works Director David Casteel for the position, who was hired in March 2014.

“Larry hired me as public works director and he was extremely knowledgeable. When he decided to retire, I took over as city manager for a little while and he had everything set up so the city ran smoothly because he had a system built and he had good people in good places. I think as a leader he would be someone that you would admire to be,” Casteel said.

Despite retiring in 2014, Fields returned to the role as interim city manager two times, with the last time in June 2022 after the departure of Brandon Anderson from that position. 

Fields stayed in that interim position until the appointment of Eric Garretty in August 2022, who he helped transition into the role.

“Larry was always ready to serve this city and he once again stepped into the demanding role of city manager when called upon,” Garretty said. “It would be difficult, if not impossible, to identify another leader in our community who so deliberately and selflessly dedicated himself to sustaining, improving and championing the city he loved so dearly.”

Along with his dedicated service to Graham and its residents, he served the state and its municipalities as a member and president of Texas City Managers Association and a board member of the Texas Health Benefits Pool.

Hunting, fishing, playing guitar, dancing, roping and drinking coffee were among some of the things loved by Fields.

“His favorite places to be in this world was laughing and playing with his family at the two-story yellow brick house on Calaveras Street, pickin’ and grinnin’ with his bluegrass band, Possum Creek, leading karaoke with his friends, ropin’ with his cowboy buddies, cookin’ ribs on his cooker, and anywhere outside with big trees, a body of water, and his dogs,” his obituary states.

On top of watching over the community of Graham for over 30 years, Fields enjoyed 56 years with his wife Judy and supported his three daughters and his son-in-law. 

“It is important to note that Larry passed on April Fool’s Day, because he loved a good joke. His audacity knew no bounds when trying to make people laugh. He was the best at being fun: the fun dad, the fun uncle, the fun friend, the fun Sle, the fun Pop, just plain ol’ good fun. You always knew if Larry was around, you were in for a good belly laugh,” his obituary states.

A celebration of the life of Fields will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 7 at the First Presbyterian Church at 1400 Randy Drive in Graham. The family of Fields are asking for memorials to be made to the Graham Senior Citizens Center and Meals on Wheels of Graham.