| Intro | American politician |
| Was |
Politician Judge Lawyer |
| From | United States of America |
| Type |
Law Politics |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 29 March 1900, Sabinal |
| Death |
12 October 1968, Washington, D.C. (aged 68 years) |
Paul Joseph Kilday (March 29, 1900 – October 12, 1968) was a U.S. Representative from Texas.
Early life and education
Born in Sabinal, Kilday was the sixth child of Patrick Kilday, an immigrant from Ireland who was established as a merchant, and his Texas-born wife, Mary Tallant Kilday. Kilday moved with his parents and siblings to San Antonio in 1904. He attended public and parochial schools there, graduating in 1918, and then went on to St. Mary’s College in the same city.
While attending law school, Kilday was employed as a clerk for the United States Air Force in Washington, D.C. from 1918 to 1921 and as a law clerk for United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, in 1921 and 1922. He graduated with an LL.B. degree from the law department of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., in 1922. He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in San Antonio, Texas. At one point, he went into practice with Harry Howard, who later became a judge and president of the San Antonio Bar Association.
Kilday himself served as first assistant district attorney of Bexar County, Texas from 1935 to 1938. He was elected by the Twentieth District of Texas as a Democrat to the Seventy-sixth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1939, until his resignation September 24, 1961, having been appointed a judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals by President John F. Kennedy. Kilday served in this capacity until his death, in Washington, D.C.. Kilday was followed in Congress by Henry Barbosa Gonzalez. He had been preceded by Maury Maverick.
He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Fort Myer, Virginia. Long-time family political ally Lyndon Johnson, president at the time, attended the interment. Kilday’s biographical page at a site commemorating veterans buried in Arlington notes:
He had married Cecile Newton on August 9, 1932. She survived him, as did two daughters, Mary Catherine Kilday and Betty Ann Drogula, and two granddaughters, Cynthia L. Drogula and Jennifer M. Drogula. Two additional grandchildren followed his death, Fred K. Drogula and Elizabeth A. Drogula.