Thomas Wesley Herbst, 87, of Jasper, died Friday, January 8th, 2021. He was born on November 3, 1933, in Caldwell, Texas to Mildred Lawson Herbst and Edgar Frank Herbst.
Tom was a 1956 graduate of the University of Texas where he majored in Chemical Engineering and played saxophone in the Longhorn marching band. He worked for the Ethyl Corporation in Houston before returning to Jasper in 1959 to work for the First State Bank. He returned to school during summers and became an honor graduate of SMUâs Southwest Graduate School of Banking in 1964. Tom took over as President and CEO of the First State Bank of Jasper in 1970 where he remained until his retirement in 1998. When the bank was sold to First Bank & Trust, Tom stayed on as an Advisory Director from 1999-2003.
A Jasper City Councilman has spoken out in favor of continuing the recently implemented tradition of lighting the Courthouse for Christmas. District 1 Councilman Anderson Land, Jr. released a statement on Friday in which he said âDuring this time of year when spirits need lifting, I feel the Courthouse lighting would be just the thing to lift the spirits of the citizens of the City and County of Jasper.â
It was learned just after Thanksgiving that local businesswoman Tressy Morgan, who has organized the lighting project for the last few years, would not be able to do the project this year because she says the Jasper County Commissioners Court will not give her $5,000.00 that is needed to pay for the equipment rental and also to pay workers to cover the exterior of the more than 28,000 square feet of the Courthouse and the old County Jail combined.