Bill Sarpalius
| William Clarence "Bill" Sarpalius | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 13th district |
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In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Beau Boulter |
| Succeeded by | Mac Thornberry |
| Texas State Senator from District 31 | |
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In office 1981–1989 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Dale "Bob" Price |
| Succeeded by | Teel Bivins |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 10, 1948 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jenny Barnett Sarpalius |
| Children | David William Sarpalius |
| Alma mater |
Clarendon College Texas Tech University West Texas A&M University |
| Occupation | Businessman; Lobbyist |
William Clarence "Bill" Sarpalius (born January 10, 1948) is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, who from 1989 to 1995 represented Texas's 13th congressional district, a large tract of land which includes the Texas Panhandle eastward to Wichita Falls, Texas.
Sarpalius (pronounced SAR POL IS) was born in Los Angeles, California. As a young boy, he, his two younger brothers, and their mother were homeless in Houston, Texas. In 1961, when he was thirteen, he and his brothers were placed at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch near Amarillo. By the time he was nineteen, Sarpalius was the state president of the Future Farmers of America. He first attended Clarendon College in Clarendon in Donley County. He subsequently received a Bachelor of Science degree in agribusiness from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, from which he was later named a distinguished alumnus. In 1972, Sarpalius was hired by Cal Farley's Ranch as a vocational agriculture teacher at the school. In 1978, he left the ranch to return to school and received an M.B.A. from West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas. He then launched a career in agribusiness. He has a son, David William Sarpalius, from a former marriage. Sarpalius is Roman Catholic and affiliated with Lions International In 1980, Sarpalius successfully ran for a seat in the Texas State Senate, a body in which he served until 1989. He was elected in 1988 to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was a member of the Agricultural Committee. Sarpalius was one of a number of congressman involved in drafting the guidelines of the North American Free Trade Agreement. As a Lithuanian American, Sarpalius called for American aid to the newly independent country of Lithuania, which was severed from the former Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas by the President of Lithuania.
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