Every time I pass through the tiny settlement of Kickapoo in Anderson County, I invariably am reminded of the colonel — not the one with the chicken — but a man who revolutionized law enforcement in Texas.

Col. Homer Garrison Jr. had one of the most recognized law-enforcement careers in the U.S., culminating with his leadership of the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Born in Kickapoo, Garrison graduated from Lufkin High School and went to work for his father, who then was district clerk of Angelina County.

He took his first job as a law officer at 19, when he was appointed a deputy sheriff.

His father admonished him for taking the job: “Son, you’ll never amount to anything in that deadend job.”

But in 1929, Garrison became a state license and weight inspector for the Texas Highway Department and joined the Texas Highway Patrol when it was organized in 1930.

When the Department of Public Safety was founded in 1935, Garrison became the first assistant director and was appointed director in 1938.

During World War II, he was offered an appointment by Gen. Douglas McArthur to reorganize the Japanese national police system, but declined in deference to his Texas job.

When FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was stricken with a serious illness, President Dwight Eisenhower considered Garrison as his replacement.

But Hoover recovered, and Garrison stayed in Texas.

When Garrison died in 1968, the Texas Rangers and the DPS were entrenched as one of the most efficient police organizations in America.

During his life, Garrison always remembered his Lufkin roots and visited there often.

A brother, Pitser H. Garrison, served as Lufkin’s mayor for 18 years.

Bowman of Lufkin is the author of 44 books about East Texas. He can be reached at bob-bowman. com.