Edgar Franklin Foreman, 88

Edgar Franklin Foreman, 88.

Former U.S. congressman

Dallas, TX – Dec. 22, 1933 to Feb. 2, 2022

Ed’s mission in life was to encourage, persuade and inspire himself, his family, friend’s, associates and others to live a happy, healthy, abundant, successful life.  He lived every hour of every day to accomplish his goals and his vision. 

Encouraged by a loving and supportive mother and father, Edgar and Lillian Foreman of Portales, New Mexico, where he was born on Dec. 22, 1933 on a peanut and sweet potato farm.  After graduation from Portales High School, he attended two years of college at Eastern New Mexico University, and in 1955 graduated from New Mexico A&M, now known as New Mexico State University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Ed developed into the only person in this century to have been elected to the U.S. Congress from two different States, presidential appointee of two presidents, civil engineer, executive development training specialist, entrepreneur, outstanding public administrator, cross-country motorcyclist, dynamic salesman and spokesman for the American Free Enterprise System!

During his college days in the early 50’s, he worked as a section-hand for the Santa Fe Railroad, an oilfield roughneck in the West Texas oil fields, a field engineer in Alaska, an estimator and construction supervisor on highways, airports and dam projects for Peter Kiewit Construction Company.  In 1955-56 Ed was employed as a petroleum engineer with Phillips Petroleum Company.  After active duty in the U.S. Navy, as a construction and transportation engineer in the seabees, he developed several successful business enterprises in Texas and New Mexico in construction, transportation and petroleum.

From 1956 to 1962, Ed was in Odessa, Texas building a successful oilwell drilling fluids business and an oilfield trucking and well servicing company.  In 1961, he was named the Outstanding Young Man of Odessa, and in 1962 he was honored by the Jaycees as one of five outstanding young Texans.

Named one of the 10 outstanding young men in America by the U.S. Jaycees in 1964, Ed has been a leader in executive development programs since 1960 and regularly conducted management training  seminars and addressed conservation and corporate groups throughout the United States.  Ed was a “Salesman’s Salesman.” He sold saltwater in the Texas oilfields where people paid to get rid of this “BAD” water. He also sold sand, gravel and concrete.  He sold personal development training to farmers, ranchers, oilfield workers, bankers, investors and lawyers.  He sold himself as well, becoming a congressman representing two different states as a conservative Republican.  He sold his free enterprise philosophy to his district in West Texas that was heavily registered Democrat by a 10 to 1 margin. He was elected to the U.S. Congress from the Texas 16^th District in 1962. He also overcame similar odds to be elected to New Mexico’s 2^nd District in 1968.

Ed was assisted and accompanied by his wife Barbara Southard from Deming, New Mexico, whom he met and married while attending New Mexico State University in 1955.  They had two children, Kirk and Rebecca who both also graduated from NMSU.  Barbara and Ed’s children have always been very active in his remarkably active career!

After serving 2 years as a Texas congressman, Ed moved to New Mexico and from 1965 to 1968, Ed was active in civic and business affairs in the Las Cruces area as owner and president of Valley Transit Mix, Atlas Land Company, Foreman Oil, Inc., Foreman Farms Co., and related endeavors also serving as a member/officer of numerous professional, civic and social organizations.

In 1968 Ed won election to the 2^nd District Congressional seat in the expansive southern half of New Mexico.  After a very active two years of representing the citizens of New Mexico in Congress, Ed was appointed as the Southwest Regional Representative of the secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation and later in 1974 by appointment of the president of the United States, Ed was named chairman of the Southwest Federal Regional Council, a sub-Cabinet level organization of the major domestic federal agency programs for Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

During Ed’s campaign cycle in 1967-68 he asked his younger brother Harold “Chub” to join him in the operation of his construction supply businesses so that he could spend more time on his campaign.  Chub continued to operate the businesses with Ed’s support and guidance, while Ed represented the citizens of New Mexico in Washington D.C.!  For more than 50 years since, Ed has continued to express his visions through his world-wide motivational training company, Executive Development Systems.  Ed once commented that “Although in the early years we didn’t have a lot of material things, we were indeed rich!”  Over the past few years we’ve been able to accumulate a little money and have been pleased to contribute, in whatever way possible, to help our universities, friends, family and others obtain their Goals.

Ed expressed a desire to not be mourned in his death, but that later at an appropriate and convenient time, a happy reflective memorial service be conducted to celebrate the happy, healthy and terrific lives that we all have the opportunity to live daily!

Ed wanted all his many loving and dear family members, his many wonderful friends and supporters who befriended and tolerated him to know that he loved them all equally and to remain happy and terrific.