Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15 1937 - February 13 2002) was a respected and influential American country music singer Jennings was born in Littlefield, Texas to Lorene Beatrice Shipley and William Alvin Jennings. He taught himself to play guitar at age eight, and formed his first band two years later. He worked as a DJ throughout his adolescence, dropping out of high school to pursue a career in music. During his time working as a DJ, he met and befriended Buddy Holly.

Billy Wayne “Bill” Clayton, was an American politician from West Texas who served as a state legislator for twenty years and was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983, a tenure twice as long as that of any other presiding officer of the house elected before him. Clayton, a conservative Democrat from a rural area of the Texas South Plains, attained the speakership by successfully forging a broad-based House coalition.

James E. "Pete" Laney (1943-) is a Democratic U.S. political figure from West Texas. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for thirty-four years from Hale Center (the seat of Hale County) near Plainview. Laney served as Speaker for ten years from 1993 to 2003, a record which tied his predecessor, fellow Democrat Gibson D. "Gib" Lewis of Fort Worth (the seat of Tarrant County), who served as speaker from 1983 to 1993.

Preston Earnest Smith was a Democratic governor of Texas from 1969-1973, and the lieutenant governor from 1963-1969. Smith was born into a tenant farming family of thirteen children in Williamson County near Austin. The family later moved to Lamesa in Dawson County on the Texas South Plains, where Smith graduated from high school. He thereafter graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and built a movie theater business by the middle 1940s.

Kent Ronald Hance (born November 14, 1942, in Dimmitt, Texas) is a lobbyist and lawyer who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from west Texas, having served from 1979 to 1985. After his congressional service, he switched to the Republican Party. As a conservative Democrat, Hance represented the 19th Congressional District, which then stretched from Midland and Odessa to Lubbock.

Dan Blocker aka Dan Davis Blocker (real name - B. Dan D. Blocker)(December 10 1928 - May 13 1972) was an American actor best remembered for his role as Eric 'Hoss' Cartwright in the TV western blockbuster "Bonanza". He was born in DeKalb in east Texas, the son of Ora Shack Blocker & Mary Davis Blocker. He is also related to David Blocker and Kristen Blocker as well. His family moved to O'Donnell, Texas near Lubbock soon after his birth.

Larry Ed Combest (born March 20 1945) is a Texas Republican U.S. politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985-2003. Combest was born in Memphis, the seat of Hall County in West Texas. In 1969, he earned his bachelor of business administration degree from West Texas State University in Canyon, the seat of Randall County south of Amarillo. His family operated a farm for four generations.

Joseph Paul "Joe" Heflin (born January 6, 1952) is the only Democrat to represent either West Texas or the Panhandle in the Texas House of Representatives. Heflin is a trial lawyer from Crosbyton, the seat of Crosby County near Lubbock. He defeated a vigorous Republican challenger in District 85, James Franklin "Jim" Landtroop, Jr. (born ca. 1968), of Plainview, the seat of Hale County, in the general election held on November 7, 2006, …

Felix Conkling Crawford (January 11, 1938 - January 23, 2007) was a general dentist in Plainview, Texas, who was an officer of both the Texas and national dental associations. He was president of the Texas Dental Association from 1988-1989 and received the "Distinguished Service Award" from the group. In 2001, he was elected the second vice president of the American Dental Association at the annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri.

Giles Connell McCrary, Sr. (born November 5, 1919), is a self-employed oil operator, investor, art collector, rancher, and the owner of the OS Ranch Museum in Post, the seat of Garza County, southeast of Lubbock on the Texas South Plains. A strong civic leader, McCrary was the mayor of Post from 1969-1991; in Texas, all mayors are elected on a nonpartisan ballot.

Norman Garrett Igo (October 31, 1921 - February 6, 2007) was a civil engineer from Lubbock, Texas, who supervised the construction of the Texas Tech University Medical School, Library, Museum, Architecture Building, and Law School through his position as "Director of Construction" from 1969-1979. He was a member and former president of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, a subsidiary of the National Association of Professional Engineers.

Bettye Jo Crisler Carr (September 29, 1926-July 7, 2007) was an English professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock when she proclaimed her call to pastoral ministry. She in turn became the first woman appointed superintendent in the Northwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. She served from 1989 to 1993 as superintendent of the Pampa district and in the administrative role of dean of the bishop's cabinet. Carr was a preacher, a teacher, an author, …