Whitesell-Somers Family Web Project - Person Sheet
Whitesell-Somers Family Web Project - Person Sheet
BirthSep 18, 1901, Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas404, Edwin Orville Cartwright-18 September 1901 – 8 September 1997 • LHGG-622
BurialSparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park (Hillcrest Mausoleum & Memorial, Hillcrest Memorial), W NW Pkwy, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
FatherEugene Orville CARTWRIGHT (1871-1959)
MotherLula Belle BARNETT (1877-1936)
Spouses
BurialSparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park (Hillcrest Mausoleum & Memorial, Hillcrest Memorial), W NW Pkwy, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas470, Lucille Crunk Cartwright
ChildrenEdwin Orville (1923-2010)
Obituary Online notes for Edwin Orville CARTWRIGHT Sr.
Civic leader E.O. Cartwright dies at 95

Edwin Orville "E.O." Cartwright, the securities executive who helped found KERA-TV (Channel 13), died Monday of natural causes at his Dallas home.

During nearly 75 years as a Dallas resident, the self-educated Mr. Cartwright became head of the Merrill Lynch brokerage office, personally managing investment portfolios for many of the city's wealthiest residents.

Despite his connections, Mr. Cartwright remained a "man of the people," helping many of average means get started in business, friends said. He also headed a host of organizations, from the Dallas transit system to the Rotary Club.

"E.O. was in everything in the village," said developer John Stemmons. "He was a good citizen and a good statesman and a very, very wonderful guy. He did a lot of good for this town. " Services for Mr. Cartwright, 95, will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home. He will be buried in Hillcrest Mausoleum. He would have been 96 on Sept. 18.

"He was one of the people who made Dallas what it is," said former Dallas Community College District Chancellor Bill Priest.

"It's been built around strong personalities, and he was one of them. I have a strong feeling of gratitude and admiration for him. " In 1957, Mr. Cartwright helped found KERA-TV, making annual loans that launched and maintained the educational station. Many of the loans later became gifts. He served as the station's president until 1971.

Mr. Cartwright was born in Jonesboro, Ark., where he attended public schools. Like many of his era, he dropped out of high school to work - in his case, in the 10th grade. As he liked to put it, he received his higher education at "the university of experience. " Mr. Cartwright worked as a Western Union telegraph operator in Commerce, Texas, before coming to Dallas in 1921. He grew restless with his evening proofreading job at The Dallas Morning News and began working days operating a telegraph and posting prices for M.H. Thomas & Co., a cotton brokerage.

In 1929, he began managing a Dallas commodities firm that later merged with Merrill Lynch, the stock brokerage.

He was active in Dallas civic affairs. In 1948, he became a founding director of Children's Medical Center. He served as a trustee for many years.

He was president of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce in 1966 and 1967. The Press Club of Dallas named him headliner of the year in 1966.

Mr. Cartwright was president of the Dallas Council on World Affairs; president of the Dallas Public Transit board from 1964 to 1971; and chairman of the Salvation Army advisory board. He was a lifetime director of the Dallas County Heritage Society and helped the group relocate its first building to Old City Park. He also served on the Goals for Dallas advisory board.

He was a member of East Dallas Christian Church and a 33rd-degree inspector general honorary of the Scottish Rite Masons.

Mr. Cartwright is survived by his son, Edwin O. Cartwright Jr. of Dallas, as well as six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to Children's Medical Center of Dallas, 2777 Stemmons Freeway, Suite 1452, Dallas, Texas 75207.

Dallas Morning News, The (TX), September 9, 1997, page 24A
470, Edwin Orville Cartwright Sr.
Last Modified Jul 21, 2022Created May 25, 2025 using Reunion for Macintosh
Created May 25, 2025 by Terry M. Whitesell

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