College Mourns Loss of Trustee
Heywood Clemons, 91, long-time Austin College Board of Trustees chair, died January 20. He served on the College’s Board of Trustees from 1976 to 1999 and spent 16 years, 1983 to 1997, as chair of the board. As chair, he led a successful a $34.6 million campaign that provided a new library center and renovation of seven campus buildings, as well as more than tripling the College’s endowment.
A pillar of the Fort Worth community for many years, Clemons spent 50 years as chairman of Clemons Tractor Co. A past president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, he was involved in leadership in numerous community organizations, including the Van Cliburn Foundation, Fort Worth Opera Association, North Fort Worth Rotary Club, Casa Manana Musical, Inc., and the Exchange Club of Fort Worth. He was a longtime member of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth, where he served as ruling elder and member of the Board of Trustees.
His work with efforts to promote diversified transportation in north Texas resulted in his receiving the Russell H. Perry Award for Distinguished Leadership in Texas Transportation. He graduated from Texas A & M University.
Clemons received the Austin College Board of Trustees’ highest honor in 1991 when he received the Toddie Lee Wynne Award. He also received the Austin College Volunteer Service Award in 1997, when the award was permanently named the Heywood C. Clemons Volunteer Service Award to honor his history of service to the College. The Clemons Award now is presented every year to friends and alumni of the College for service. Clemons also received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Austin College in 1998 for his support of higher education.
Among their many financial contributions to Austin College, Heywood and his wife, Harriett, funded the installation of the 70-ton monolith, Solstice Calendar, created by artist John Van Alstine, near the entrance of Abell Library Center. They also created the John D. Moseley Chair of Government and Public Policy.
In Memoriam
| ’31 Lota Lee Selby Norrell | January 13, 2013 |
| ’35 Walter Bruce Thornton | February 8, 2013 |
| ’44 James W. Bassett | November 12, 2012 |
| ’48 Betty Scruggs Burnett | April 28, 2013 |
| ’49 W.E. “Bob” Burns | March 19, 2013 |
| ’50 Charlie Giarraputo | January 31, 2013 |
| ’55 Charles Baum | May 5, 2013 |
| ’59 William Aaron Cunningham, Jr. | October 6, 2012 |
| ’59 William Brearley Secor | December 27, 2012 |
| ’59 Billy A. Erwin | January 28, 2013 |
| ’61 Edward L.Wagoner | April 28, 2013 |
| ’66 Paul Sabatier | February 3, 2013 |
| ’66 Dan M. Thompson | March 6, 2012 |
| ’66 Billy Vier | November 13, 2012 |
| ’69 Cynthia Woodward McLelland | March 30, 2013 |
| ’70 Michael Eugene Toon | February 5, 2013 |
| ’75 Randall Ray Moore | May 13, 2013 |
| ’82 John Thomas Houston | November 9, 2012 |
| ’83 Christopher Stephen Arthur | December 7, 2012 |
| ’08 Joshua Dalton Draper | December 9, 2012 |
Other Friends We Will Miss
Jimmie Hale, who worked at Austin College from 1976 to 2000, many of those years in the Business Office, died January 28.
Del Hall, secretary to the president at Austin College from September 1986 through September 1995, died February 14.
Carol Underwood died November 7, 2012. She retired from the College in 2002, after working for more than 35 years as a librarian at the College.
Louise Corrigan Jordan, 93, died in November 2012. Mrs. Jordan and her late husband, Edwin, were tremendous friends to Austin College and have impacted the lives of many students through the Jordan Scholarship Program at the College. In addition, they and other members of their family helped to fund the Jordan Family Language House that has assisted many students in language fluency. She was active in many activities and organizations in Dallas, including Dallas Women’s Club, the Dallas Symphony, Dallas Arboretum, Park Cities Presbyterian Church, and many ministries. Her husband, Ed, preceded her in death.