Alumni
| 1942 Conway Taliaferro Wharton Jr. 1946 Betty Covey Richards 1947 Ross Hester 1947 Mary Frances Robinson Shell 1947 Mary “Sparky” Johnson Waldrop 1948 Charlotte Galey Bulloch 1948 MaryLou Darter Lueb 1948 Letha Rae Haraughty Seymour 1949 Frances “Boody” Hare Fallon 1949 Stanley B. Ward 1950 John G. Phelan 1951 Jennifer Reid Kemp 1951 Nancy Ruth Rountree Mackey 1952 Patsy Ruth McClure Dittemore 1952 Jack Hicks 1952 Ann Biggerstaff Mason 1953 James S. Hardy 1953 Marilyn Slate McKnight 1954 Meriam “Shari” Cannon 1954 Carol Jean Stephen Gies 1954 Barbara Ruth Williams 1955 David Arthur Laverty 1956 Fred H. Babb 1956 Patricia Broyles Gohlke 1958 Mildred Johnston Jones 1959 Dorothy “Clorine” Sims Cardwell 1959 Sandra Nan McMath Gauntt 1959 Lou Ann Hintz Horne 1959 Patricia Jo Wittman Rodgers 1959 Alice “Mickey” Mildred Swenson 1960 Joe Donald Marshall 1960 Peggy Ann Shields 1961 Donald William Clark Jr. 1961 Susan Voshen Edington 1961 John Thomas Goza 1961 Sara Elizabeth Wetzel Hughes 1961 Saundra “Sandy” Copeland Winokur 1962 Barbara Praeger Ervay 1962 Carol Irene Kingelin Hilliard |
July 16, 2021 March 2, 2021 August 12, 2021 July 26, 2021 January 26, 2020 August 26, 2021 October 2, 2021 March 8, 2021 April 10, 2021 December 3, 2021 August 16, 2021 May 25, 2021 April 26, 2021 June 5, 2021 March 1, 2021 October 30, 2021 February 6, 2021 September 28, 2021 August 10, 2021 September 23, 2021 June 26, 2021 August 30, 2021 December 24, 2021 August 26, 2021 December 1, 2021 November 9, 2020 March 26, 2021 May 18, 2021 September 28, 2021 August 7, 2021 October 16, 2021 February 1, 2021 July 4, 2021 January 12, 2021 March 22, 2021 February 17, 2021 March 22, 2021 February 5, 2021 July 2, 2021 |
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1962 Richard T. Hull 1962 William H. Tolbert 1963 Howard Ruble Bethel Jr. 1964 Sarah Jane Cooper 1964 Dennis Dale Reed 1965 Gwenda Greer McKee 1965 R. Todd Morriss 1965 James Allen Rolfe 1966 William B. Vandivort II 1967 Howard Lee Powell 1968 Dale Eichenberger 1968 Gordon F. Garlington 1968 David W. McElroy 1968 Thomas Richmond McKinney 1969 Jensie Simms Madden 1970 Larry Gene Roe 1972 Eddie Brister 1972 John Deckert 1973 Joseph Robert Garza 1973 Tohnie Elizabeth Hynds 1974 Rodney Robert Elkins 1974 Roy Green 1974 Carol Stephens-Gies 1975 Frederick Ross Crusemann Jr. 1978 Richard G. Ponsford 1979 James Thomas 1980 Robert Arthur Olson 1985 Clifford Wayne Robbins 1988 William Raymond Kimball 1988 Virginia “Ginny” Pate Pimberton Parr 1988 Joel Randall Russell 1990 Randall “Randy” Wayne Watson 1992 Jennifer Marie Payne 1992 Allen Wesley Snider 1993 Kathryn King Robertson 1997 David Woodrow Noll 1998 Joel Randall Russell 2025 Adriana Velazquez |
March 15, 2021 February 23, 2021 September 14, 2021 March 9, 2021 July 21, 2021 September 15, 2021 November 27, 2021 February 26, 2021 June 14, 2021 January 4, 2021 October 18, 2021 July 9, 2021 September 25, 2021 August 28, 2021 September 24, 2021 July 1, 2021 February 7, 2021 October 29, 2021 July 27, 2021 September 2, 2021 September 30, 2021 May 10, 2021 September 23, 2021 October 4, 2021 January 29, 2021 February 18, 2021 August 28, 2021 July 10, 2021 April 5, 2021 August 23, 2021 August 16, 2021 May 2, 2021 December 12, 2021 August 27, 2021 September 5, 2021 October 2, 2021 August 16, 2021 November 9, 2021 |
Friends We Will Miss
Sarah Weddington, who received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Austin College in 1993, died December 26, 2021.
Peter Bogdanovich, Austin College 2004-2005 Chair of Excellence in International Leadership, died January 6, 2022.
Rosemary Mulder, retired staff member from the Education Department, June 1966 – December 1997, died May 7, 2021.
Ann Fuller, former faculty member and Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of the Faculty, died May 22, 2021.
Several faculty spouses who were active community members died in 2021:
- Phyllis Armstrong (William Armstrong), December 30, 2020
- Martha Jeanelle Gourley (Lloyd Gourley), April 28, 2021
- Jean Lunkley (Bruce Lunkley), March 25, 2021
- Ann Mason ’52 (Bob Mason), October 30, 2021
- Ann Williams (E. Don Williams), March 4, 2021
Austin College Faculty
Often, Austin College faculty members arrive on campus planning to stay only a few years—and retire from the College many years later. We celebrate the lives of these faculty members who did just that—and who now have died after making a tremendous mark upon the students, faculty, and history of Austin College. Find full obituaries on the College website.
Professor Emeritus of Music Cecil Isaac died May 30, 2021. Isaac arrived at Austin College and its Department of Music in September 1962, teaching a sequence of music history and music literature courses, as well as orchestra, ensembles, and brass instruments. In 1964, Isaac began to play music with some community and college musicians; soon Sherman Symphony Orchestra was born with him as Founding Director. Following a distinguished career of 30-plus years, he retired in 1996 and moved to Bellingham, Washington, where he remained throughout his life.
Professor Emeritus of English Jack J. Jernigan died February 7, 2021. He joined the Austin College faculty in 1967 and spent the next 22 years in dedicated service. He received the College’s Homer P. Rainey Award for distinguished service and excellence in 1985. His service included stints as Chair of the English Department, Dean of Humanities, and Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty. He retired August 31, 1989.
Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Thomas Kimes died February 4, 2021. He joined the faculty in 1962, and, though he planned to stay only a short time, he found so much going on at the College that was professionally exciting that there was never a time to leave until his retirement in 1992. In 1976, he was named to the J.N. Chadwick Chair of Mathematics and served as Chair of the Mathematics Department for a number of years. He also served as Director of the January Term program for several years. He led several JanTerm trips to England in study of Stonehenge and other archeological sites.
Professor Emeritus of Religion Thomas Nuckols died on February 21, 2021. He joined the Austin College faculty in 1965 and retired in 1998. During those 33 years, he taught a variety of Religious Studies courses, as well as his own academic specialty of Christian Social Ethics. His sabbatical studies included liberation theology; the role of the church in influencing public policy, particularly related to the arms race and Central America; and the phenomenology of religion with special focus on Buddhism. He also had research interests in biomedical ethics.
Professor Emeritus of Physics Larry Robinson died July 15, 2021. He joined the Austin College faculty in 1969 and spent more than 40 years teaching and interacting with students and colleagues. In that time, he taught nearly every physics class offered, considering it a challenge he was eager to take on. He particularly enjoyed setting up and developing labs and experiments and was quick to incorporate computers into his labs when they became available. He enjoyed teaching “Heritage: Models of Scientific Thought,” and working with new materials, colleagues beyond the Sciences, and many more students than enrolled in his science courses.
Austin College Board of Trustees
These generous and faithful members of the College’s Board of Trustees died during the past year. Find full obituaries, when available, on the College website.
Board of Trustees member Thomas C. Welfelt died June 8, 2021. He joined the board in 2012, serving as a member of the Audit, Financial Health, and Investment Committees. A 1974 graduate of the College, he was a member of Welfelt Properties, a Dallas-based company that holds oil and gas properties.
Senior Trustee Raymond “Jerdy” Gary died on May 5, 2021. A petroleum entrepreneur and public servant, he was 87 at his death. His leadership extended beyond his business, Sooner Oil, to his years as the former mayor of Denison, Texas, and board chair of Texoma Medical Center, and in service to his church, city, and family. He served on Austin College’s Board of Trustees from 1992 to 1995, active on the Business Affairs Committee, and remained on the senior board until his death. He was a supporter of the College’s Annual Fund as well as several scholarship initiatives.
Senior Trustee Ross Hester died August 12, 2021. A dedicated 1947 graduate of Austin College, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1984. In his obituary, his family wrote that Mr. Hester always wore an Austin College tie and pin and occasionally delighted his grandchildren by wearing his “Fear the ’Roo” T-shirt. Mr. Hester served on the Business Affairs Committee of the College’s Board from 1987 to 1999, serving as vice-chair of that committee for several years. He was a generous donor to College needs.
Former Austin College Board of Trustees member Teresa Lozano Long died March 21, 2021. She served on the board from 1999 to 2002, active on the Student Affairs Committee and the New Era Campaign Steering Committee. She and Joe were generous donors to the New Era Campaign, creating the Joe and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Internship in Southwestern and Mexican Studies, the Joe R. and Teresa L. Long Endowed Presidential Scholarship, and the Joe R. and Teresa L. Long Sponsored Leadership Scholarship.