The Decatur City Council will soon discuss renaming Airport Road to Trump Way after an Alvord resident and the chair of the Wise County Republican Party suggested the change.
Naming a road after a national figure would seem to be a departure from the city’s previous stance on renaming streets. I don’t believe I’ve driven down any streets named Lincoln Avenue, Reagan Road or Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard while popping around town.
So, while they’re taking suggestions, here are some additional candidates who I think may be worthy of consideration, too.
Woodruff Road
Decatur lost a legend and pillar of the community after Martin Woodruff passed following a long battle with cancer in 2024.
Woodruff was a relentless advocate for Decatur and Wise County. He served on the council as long as he was statutorily allowed. When he reached his limit, he continued to serve on various boards, even as his illness progressed. In the weeks before his death, Woodruff was still participating in United Way Wise County meetings.
United Way of Wise County was a passion project as he identified a growing need for support services and a lack of resources to help nonprofits help others.
Throughout his lifetime of service to his community, he challenged those around him to step up and lead alongside him, creating a ripple effect that made his home a better place to live and work.
Wood Way
The James Wood Way was established in Decatur long before the consideration of Trump Way.
James Wood passed away in 2021. Wood was a pioneer in the auto dealer industry. He owned General Motors dealerships in Decatur and Denton, James Wood Hyundai in Decatur and Neighborhood Autos used car dealerships in several cities.
The motto, the James Wood Way, was bestowed upon him as he set an example for taking care of people and bolstering his community. That standard was seen in his business and his work within Wise County. In public and in private, Wood gave back, especially to local youth programs, including the Wise County Youth Fair. Wood and other area business leaders formed the Champions and Blue Ribbon Club, which raised money for the youth fair auction. At the time of Wood’s passing, the group raised $1.4 million that went to area childrens’ ag projects.
His impact on Decatur can’t be overstated.
Cude Court
Melton Cude earned the title of Honorable Judge Cude in his career in Wise County.
He was one of Wise County’s longest serving county officials, serving his ninth consecutive term in County Court-at-Law No. 1 before his death in 2020.
Cude’s legacy was not just defined by his outstanding career in law. He is remembered for how great he treated people. Whether it was powerful attorneys or defendants, he was kind.
Labrada Lane
Fabio Labrada drives down Airport Road daily to operate the Decatur Municipal Airport. Beyond his business, the Decatur Jet Center, Labrada founded Raquel’s Wings for Life, a charity that transports cancer patients to M.D. Anderson in Houston at no cost to the patients. Pilots with Raquel’s Wings for Life fly patients, many of whom are children, dozens of times a year.
Many have said those flights played a role in saving their life, given the break from the grueling experience of driving for hours in the midst of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Like Cude, Labrada is also unceasingly kind and cheery. You can support his organization Sept. 14 by participating in the Raquel’s Wings for Life charity bike race in Decatur.
Foster Street/Ingram Avenue
Decatur’s history of flight is certainly interesting. And maybe that should be reflected in a name change to the road that leads to the city’s airport.
In 1914, on a trip to Dallas, the man who opened Decatur’s first car dealership, Jay Ingram, met Charles A. Foster, a strange man who was one of a select number of Americans who had experienced air travel. Foster held one of the first licenses in the Aero Club of America which included flight pioneers like the Wright brothers, according to the City of Decatur.
After hearing Foster’s stories, Ingram asked him to come to Decatur and build a “flying machine,” according to report from the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Foster built the plane basically from memory on the second floor above the car dealership. The strange plane with a rear-mounted propeller took the first flight in Decatur in 1915.
Imagine if Foster and Ingram could only see the planes coming in and out of Decatur Municipal Airport now, especially with a road named after them.
JACKSON
Austin Jackson is the editor of the Wise County Messenger.
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