Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes Namesakes
Jerry Durant Driving Parker
County Forward Award he got from the library, Navy Blue & Gold, about three
midshipmen at the Naval Academy, and decided that one
day he’d be a cadet there. He worked incredibly hard to
realize his dream, and realize it he did.
Young Earl didn’t have an easy childhood. He left
home at the age of 12. His father was injured at the age
of two and was never able to talk, couldn’t drive and he
supported his family by training work horses. It was a
tough life. All nine children left home by the age of 12
and worked from one farm to another. “They were all
good Christian families,” King recalls.
It was during that time that King developed a great
love of Bible study.
One family, in particular, helped him immensely. He
did well in school, went on to the Naval Academy and
then on to law school. He has never forgotten the family
that helped him as a child, probably why he works so
hard to help others and has always strived to be a positive
force in his community.
“I’d most like to be remembered as someone who
helps people,” he told PCT. He is an enthusiastic member
of the Rotary Club.
When King first moved to Parker County in the ‘70s,
he discovered that a number of convenience stores were
selling pornography so he founded an anti-pornography
league. “That’s why I ran for city council and got an anti-
pornography ordinance passed, limiting where pornogra-
phy could be sold,” King said.
He went on to establish the Citizens for Good Govern-
ment. “We would ask good people to run for office. The
purpose was to get the best people elected to office.”
He was instrumental in recruiting a smart police
administrator who was, at the time, retiring from his post
as deputy chief with the Fort Worth Police Department to
“Go West.” His name? Jerry Blaisdell.
These days King is mentoring bright young lawyers.
Earl King Legal Genius Award
Jim Duncan Regal Realtor
Award
At 23, Jerry
Durant took his
savings and bought
a shuttered Chevy
dealership in
Weatherford. He
then worked from
sunrise to after
sunset to make
Jerry’s Chevrolet
synonymous with
customer care and
“Paying It Forward.”
He gave 80 acres of
prime real estate to
build a high school
that generations of
young people would
be proud to call their school.
Then Durant stepped up to the plate again, donating
funds to build a Health Science Center for Weatherford
College in honor of his friend Don Allen. He recently
donated another 30 acres for a senior center so that older
folks would have some place wonderful to go and that
they would enjoy. He made countless other generous
contributions so that this place would be better and its
residents happier and prouder.
For this reason, the Jerry Durant Philanthropy Award is
given each year to honor those who go to extraordinary
lengths to make this county a better place to live, work
and raise children.
Jim Duncan’s
name is well known
to Parker County
residents who have
seen it on real
estate signs in front
of commercial and
residential proper-
ties throughout the
county. His illustri-
ous career began
in 1968 when he
joined forces with
his father C.T.
Duncan.
When Earl King
was just a little
boy, he decided to
become a lawyer
while watching
Perry Mason on
television.
“I was impressed
with the law profes-
sion,” he said. “All
my youth I wanted
to become a
lawyer. I thought it
was a great way to
help people.”
He fell in love
with the US military
after reading a book
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