WHERE IS IT?

IS

This week’s Where Is It? Mystery game is more of a tribute. It is a recognition for a community leader.

It is, of course, easy to tell who is being commemorated — the late George Fite of Hughes Springs.

But one may not know the story and may not have seen this striking memorial bench in Spring Park.

Read on for a partial answer to the question Where and Who Is This?

ANSWER

George Fite came to Hughes Springs with his family when he was five years old and lived here his entire life.

He had a 33-year tenure with the City of Hughes Springs as city manager. During this time he wrote grants that enabled Hughes Springs to receive more than $18 million in funds.

He led the community in building new city parks, an outdoor amphitheater, replacing dilapidated homes for residents in need and improving waste-water facilities and city streets as well as sidewalks and lighting in the downtown area.

One of his most impressive achievements was the building of the Legacy Event Center, a facility that attracts visitors from all over.

He was twice named Citizen of the Year, received the Masonic Lodge Community Builder Award and the SWEPCO Outstanding Economic Development Award.

He was president of the Association of Rural Communities for 10 years and was chairman of the local Wildflower Trails Festival for 30 years.

He was a talented decorator and artist who won awards for his watercolors and more. He also was known for his vegetable and flower gardening.

“He was devoted to all things Hughes Springs and this endeared him to so many of us for so many years,” said an acquaintance. “He had lost his dad at age 10, and his mother raised a man to be the stand-in father for others who may have had something similar happen to them.”

George Kerres Fite, Jr., had been born in Tyler April 15, 1956. He died at 63, June 24, 2019.