Lewisville Mayor Gene Carey was shy child

by Minnie Payne

LEWISVILLE — You would never know it now, but 64-year-old Lewisville Mayor Gene Carey was a shy child.

“If I had been faced with speaking to a group of people 20 years ago, I couldn’t have done it,” said Carey. “I took a speech course at Brookhaven which helped tremendously.”

Carey said that he ran unopposed in 2000 when former Lewisville Mayor Bobbie Mitchell resigned to accept a county commissioner position.

“Mayor Mitchell only had one year left on her term,” he said. “I ran in 2001 against 18-year-old Patrick Booth and again in 2003 against the then 21-year-old Booth, defeating him both times. In 2006, my opponent was 18-year-old Lewisville High School senior Branden Cooper.”

According to Carey, he grew up in Pawhuska, Okla., Osage County, the biggest county in Oklahoma, which is mostly populated with Osage Indians. He graduated from Pawhuska High School in 1961.

“From 1961 to 1964, I worked at different jobs and in 1965, I went to work for Aero Commander in Bethany, Okla. and worked until 1966,” he said. “I married and moved to Arlington in 1966, and worked for Bell Helicopter in Hurst until 1968.

“We moved back to Oklahoma for about a year and then moved back to Arlington in 1969. We moved to Lewisville in 1972, and have lived here ever since.”

Carey said that the way he became involved with politics is that he served on the Parks Board from 1989 through 1993.

“Along about the latter part of 1992, I started thinking about running for city council,” he said. “None of the members of my family have ever been involved in politics.

“I decided that I would run for city council and drew attorney Erlene Murphy from Chicago as an opponent.”

He said that 1993 was a Robin Hood election with the schools and Lewisville had a big turnout.

“I got about 2000 votes and attorney Murphy got about 800 votes,” he said.

According to Carey, he graduated from Brookhaven College in 1984, by going to night school, with an Associates Degree in Mid Management. He has served as an inventory analyst for Halliburton Energy Services for 25 years.

“If a ceremonial event arises that doesn’t require that I attend, I get a council member or mayor pro-tem to fill in,” he said. “I take care of a lot of mayoral duties at night.”

Presently, the City of Lewisville sponsors a TV show on the city cable channel called the “Mayor’s Corner,” wherein he interviews city employees and community leaders, Carey said.

“Another big city project going on is that we bought an old church across from city hall, tore it down, and are building an activity center which will house a small theater, a small place where the Lewisville Symphony can play, and various arts classes,” he said. “It will be completed in late 2008.”

Carey said that since he has been mayor he and the council have hired a municipal judge, city attorney, and city secretary, all of whom work directly with him and the council. City Manager Claude King has hired a police chief, fire chief and finance director.

“I count Gene as a personal and professional friend,” said City Manager Claude King. “Not many know this, but we share an affinity for the old Andy Griffith show which has its share of homespun wisdom about people and communities.

“Much like Sherriff Taylor, Gene has always been about working with people to make a community the best place possible. His ability to see things through the eyes of others and enjoy a laugh or two helps him be the statesman that a mayor should be, thus making local government work better.”

Carey has been married to his wife, Irene, for 40 years. They have two sons, Tim and Chris, and four grandchildren.

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