Barney e. “Buddy” Bernstein
1924-2015
Barney E. “Buddy” Bernstein, devoted son and brother to Mache, Moe and Josephine, husband to his beloved Dora Hill, loving and ever present father to Carol Jo, Buck and Bart and sage to seven grandchildren, left this earth on June 24, 2015. Born October 27, 1924 – although his birth date was later changed to August 27, 1924 to gain admittance to Texas Military Institute – he entered World War II most likely the youngest commissioned officer in the Army at the age of 17, standing 5’8” 140 pounds. He left the military as a Captain after serving in the Pacific Theater. Upon his return he enrolled at the University of Texas but after a car accident at the age of 22 he was not able to navigate the UT campus and returned to Wharton and graduated in the first graduating class of Wharton County Junior College with high honors. He served as the first President of the WCJC Ex-Students Association.
Having served primarily with African American troops during the war, he became a very outspoken supporter of civil rights for African Americans in Wharton well before the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. In fact, as early as 1954 he supported the desegregation of the Wharton County Junior College and in September of that year he was quoted in the Houston Post having appealed to the Board of Trustees: “Coming back home after WW II, I passed a lot of graveyards and the boys under many of the crosses were Negroes. If this is a free country, they should be free.” In 1964 he published several editorial letters in the Wharton newspapers in an attempt to garner support in the area for the passage of the Civil Rights Act, quoting the entirety of the speech to the nation given by President John F. Kennedy in June of 1963, prior to his assassination. Buddy prefaced the speech with an appeal to his fellow citizens to permit African Americans to enjoy the use of city facilities, including the swimming pool. He said; “The justice in question here is whether our city fathers can knowingly deny the use of a city-owned, tax supported, public facility to any tax-paying resident of our city simply because of his race. If this injustice can be knowingly practiced and can continue to be condoned by the people against their fellow Americans – then none of us are safe from injustice”. That same year Buddy corresponded with United States Senator Ralph Yarborough about his support for integration in Wharton. Senator Yarborough wrote Buddy that his letter was “…one of the finest letters I have ever received.” The Senator also quoted from it extensively in speeches he gave at the time, including to the Texas Council of Voters, as quoted in the Texas Observer: “You and I are not very brave and patriotic if we do not have the courage to stand up for our fellow Americans who cannot defend themselves.” Buddy was a candidate for the election to the Texas House of Representatives, District 30, in the Democratic Party Primary in May 1966. Although he was not elected, he was always proud that he carried the vote in Wharton County, his home county.
Buddy purchased the land for the Bernstein Farm and Ranch between Wharton and Bay City in the 1950s and he built a home, raised Braford Cattle, grew cotton, corn and maize and continued to live there with Dora Hill for 60 years – a humanitarian and a patriot until his passing. He was well known throughout Wharton County by his quick wit and humor, his distinctive gait, his twinkling blue eyes and his well loved cowboy hat and boots. Buddy’s family wishes to thank Liz Williams, Garrolyn Evans and Annette Irvin for the constant and compassionate care they have provided to Buddy and Dora for these many years.
A memorial service to celebrate Buddy’s life will be announced in this space in the coming weeks. He is survived by his wife, Dora Hill, daughter, Carol Jo and her husband Val Perkins and grandson James Perkins, his son Buck and wife Vicki and grandsons Brett and Beau, and son Bart and wife Nancy and grandchildren Chelsea, Kacy, Blaine and Brock.