Former U.S. Rep. Kay Granger’s death was personal to all who knew her, including U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey.
“In this world of partisanship that you see, Kay ran this congressional seat the way she ran the city, in a very bipartisan way,” Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat, told the Fort Worth Report.
Granger carved out her legacy as a staunch ally of Fort Worth’s defense programs including fighter jets, helicopters and the conversion of Carswell Air Force Base into the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.
Tributes poured in Monday, a day after the announcement that Granger — who served Fort Worth for years on the city council, as its mayor and in Congress — died over the weekend at age 83.
“Our city lost one of our shining leaders; Kay was clearly a giant in North Texas and for Fort Worth, our city,” said Veasey, who was elected to Congress in 2012 and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
He recalled working with Granger, the first Republican woman chair of the powerful U.S. House Appropriations Committee, to find federal funding for three healthcare centers in Tarrant County and constant support for Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth-built F-35 fighter jet.
Granger’s friends credited her for working across the aisle to benefit Fort Worth in sustained ways.
“If there is a Mount Rushmore of Fort Worth, Kay Granger is on it,” said Eric Fox, former Lockheed Martin Aeronautics senior director of government relations.
Before she retired, Granger helped U.S. Rep. Jake Ellzey, an ex-fighter and commercial pilot whose district includes parts of Tarrant and Dallas counties, win membership on Appropriations and the defense subcommittee, Fox said.
That “was absolutely key to cementing her legacy for generations in Fort Worth who may not remember who Kay Granger is, but they’re going to remember having a job” in North Texas aviation, military or defense, Fox said.
U.S. Rep. Craig Goldman succeeded Granger in representing the Fort Worth-centric 12th Congressional District. He said Granger’s ability to build relationships earned her the respect that it took to become Appropriations chair.
“Now that I know how the system works, I cannot tell you how difficult it was (for Granger) to become chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee,” Goldman told the Report. “That is probably the toughest position (to obtain). You have to have tremendous respect to get there.”
When Goldman joined Congress in 2025, Granger generously opened her expansive Rolodex to him.
The first question he’s asked when he makes introductions is whose seat he filled, he said.
“Every time I say Kay Granger, (they say) huge shoes to fill,” Goldman said. “Everybody says that. Republicans and Democrats.”
Granger had a career of firsts: the city’s first woman mayor, the first Republican woman from Texas elected to the U.S. House, and the first GOP woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee that allocates federal funds.
She was known as a fierce champion of her beloved Fort Worth until her retirement in 2025 after 28 years in Congress. But her success rested on her ability to get things done in Washington — for Fort Worth, the region, the state and causes she cared about.
Granger secured funding for her pet project — the multibillion dollar Panther Island economic development and flood control project creating a waterfront north of downtown Fort Worth — as well as directing billions of dollars for defense in North Texas, including the F-35 fighter.
She was successful in getting a new Navy combat ship named for Fort Worth, a point of pride for her — she was even the U.S.S. Fort Worth’s sponsor — and saved it from Navy cost-cutters in 2021 and 2022. But that effort ultimately failed after she left Congress and the ship was decommissioned July 29 in San Diego.
Washington saluted her after her passing Sunday, with many heartfelt tributes from her congressional colleagues.
It was no less than the highest-ranking member of the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who announced her passing Sunday on social media.
“Kay Granger devoted her life to serving her Fort Worth, Texas community — as a teacher and businesswoman, on the Fort Worth Zoning Commission and City Council, as mayor, and in Congress for nearly three decades,” Johnson said. “Throughout her career, she broke barriers for women in public service.”
Granger graduated from Eastern Hills High School in 1961 and Texas Wesleyan University in 1965. She was a school teacher and insurance agency owner whose first taste of public service came on the Fort Worth Zoning Commission from 1981 through 1989. She served on the Fort Worth City Council from 1989 to 1991, and as mayor from 1991 to 1995.
Granger was elected to the House and joined the chamber in 1997, replacing Pete Geren, who opted to not seek reelection.
In 2024, she decided not to run again.
Becky Haskin, a Granger contemporary when the two were regular members of the East Fort Worth Business Association, remembers the moment when Granger confided she was going to run for city council. Haskin joined the campaign as its manager and became Granger’s council assistant.
Later, after Granger successfully ran for mayor, Haskin became her mayoral assistant. Haskin subsequently was elected to the council.
Then came the day Haskin took a phone call from Geren. The then congressman was trying to find Granger, who was on a plane returning to Fort Worth. Geren asked Haskin to track Granger down at the airport — before reporters found her — and contact him.
His message: He was not running again, and he needed Granger to run for the seat, Haskin said.
“She said, ‘What am I going to do?’” Haskin recalled. “I said, ‘What do you mean? You’re going to Washington.’”
In 1989, Granger and Haskin co-founded the nonprofit Christmas Wish Project of Tarrant County to buy gifts for a handful of foster children.
“It started as a random act of kindness,” Haskin said.
The nonprofit last Christmas purchased gifts for 1,200 children, Haskin said.
Haskin called Granger the best mentor.
“Best person you could learn from. She knew what it was going to take as a woman to earn things,” Haskin said.
Haskin also said Granger was “one of the last true Republicans that can’t be compromised.”
“Her integrity was above reproach,” Haskin said.
Granger was known for discreetly dispensing professional fashion advice and for accidentally slipping into Haskin’s pumps — they both wore size 8 narrows — in the office and walking off in them, Haskin said.
Even as Granger’s health was declining, Haskin said she and her friend kept up their tradition of Thursday lunches until two months ago.
“She didn’t recognize me any more these last few years, but she did, because she would put her hands on my face and say … I love you,” Haskin said. “Her memory was fading, yet she knew.”
Texas’ GOP U.S. senators also expressed their sorrow at Granger’s passing. Sen. John Cornyn posted a photo on X of him, his wife, Sandy, and Granger.
“Sandy and I are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our friend, former Congresswoman Kay Granger,” Cornyn wrote. “She was a trailblazer who devoted her life to serving the people of Texas.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Granger lived a life of firsts.
“For nearly three decades, she championed North Texas, our Armed Forces, and a strong national defense,” Cruz wrote.
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Willow Park, spoke warmly of Granger in a statement on social media.
“Kay was a patriot who understood the meaning of public service,” Williams said. “Her word was her bond and she led with strength, integrity and an unwavering commitment to the people she served. I was proud to call her a friend and she will be greatly missed.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, who succeeded Granger as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, remembered her as a “dear friend and magnificent former colleague.”
“Some simply hold the gavel — Kay demonstrated what it meant to wield it,” Cole said. “Her life and career were defined by a remarkable legacy of firsts. … Yet, Kay never rested in the remarkableness of each milestone — she was always ready for the next responsibility, the next challenge, and the next opportunity to serve.”
Scott Nishimura is senior editor for local government accountability and a Fort Worth City Hall reporter at the Report. Reach him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org.
Maria Recio is a freelance reporter based in Washington, D.C.
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