Funeral Services Set For Judge Connally McKay, Former Baylor Trustee
Judge Connally McKay
Funeral services for Judge Connally McKay, a Baylor Law School graduate and former Baylor trustee, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Green Acres Baptist Church, 1607 Troup Hwy 110 in Tyler, with the Rev. Paul Powell and the Rev. David Dykes officiating. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler.
Judge McKay died Thursday, Oct. 23, at the age of 89. He was born Sept. 22, 1914, in Eddy, Texas, to Daniel Sparks McKay and Lila Connally McKay. He was married to Glee McCrary McKay. He graduated from Baylor University Law School in 1937, served in World War II and was a founding member of Green Acres Baptist Church, where he served as deacon.
Following military service, Judge McKay served as district attorney for Smith, Wood and Upshur counties, bankruptcy judge, district judge for the 114th Judicial District, and associate justice of the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler until his retirement from the court in 1985. He served on the original State Judicial Qualifications Commission and was named Baylor University Lawyer of the Year in 1978.
Judge McKay received the T.B. Butler Award as Outstanding Citizen of Tyler in 1965. He was past president of the Tyler Rotary Club, Tyler Chamber of Commerce, Tyler Industrial Foundation, Medical Center Hospital Board of Governors, East Texas Fair Association, Baylor University Ex-Students Association, East Texas Hospital Foundation and the Texas Rose Festival Association.
He served as a director/trustee of the Baptist Foundation of Texas, Citizens First National Bank, East Texas Savings and Loan, Baylor College of Dentistry and Baylor University, and was a member of the Development Council of Baylor. He was licensed to practice law in the State of Texas for 66 years.
Judge McKay is survived by his daughter, Diane Gilliam, and son-in-law, Thomas W. Gilliam, of Charlottesville, Va; daughter, Elaine Harman, and son-in-law, Walker G. Harman, of Dallas; son, Robert C. McKay, and wife, Bonnie, of Victoria; and sister, Francis McKay Andrews, of Tyler.
He was preceded in death by his wife, parents, brother D. S. McKay, Jr., and sister Hannah McKay Crofts.
Pallbearers will be grandsons Thomas W. Gilliam III, Robert T. Gilliam, Walker G. Harman Jr., Brent E. Harman and R. Connally McKay Jr., and great-grandson Thomas W. Gilliam IV.
Memorials may be made to Baylor University, P.O. Box 97050, Waco, Texas, 75798; UT Southwestern Medical-Alzheimers Disease Research Center, P.O. Box 910888, Dallas, Texas, 75391; Green Acres Baptist Church; or donor's choice. Funeral arrangements: Burks-Walker-Tippit Funeral Home, 215 E. Front St., Tyler, Texas, 75702. Telephone: (903) 592-6553.