Spring 2013 - McMurry University

“Someone who desires knowledge should always listen to the messenger and keep his eye on the Hawk.”
- TERRY GILBRETH ’68, Sculptor of Sacred Wind
the M c Murry University magazine for alumni & friends
ideas...
unwrapping

...for a
education

FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear McMurry Alumni and Friends:
Welcome to this issue of The Messenger and to a world that lights up
within its pages. I applaud the contributors for their stories and for
your gracious sharing of them. We are enriched by their presence
in The Messenger and most notably, by the presence of these contributors in our
McMurry Family.
Recently, I was thumbing through some statistics and noted that 94 percent
of our freshman class – McMurry’s Class of 2016 – are from Texas. As a
transplanted Texan, I am especially appreciative of the variety of reasons folks
have for choosing to live, work and study in Texas. Given where and how we
recruit and have historically drawn from West Texas for our student population,
there’s not really much of a surprise in that 94 percent figure.
And yet despite that overwhelmingly ‘Texas-centric’profile of our student
population, the McMurry Family is international in its engagement. And it does
so in some very meaningful and diverse ways.
An important element in the spiritual development of students is the process
through which they go in determining their place in the world. That process
can have many inputs and generally results in a graduate with a changed
perspective and an inclination to more fully engage in that world.
This issue of The Messenger provides some insight into the ways in which
members of the McMurry Family undertake their journey to understand
and impact the global landscape. Whether through travel in support of our
academic mission, exposure to our array of international faculty and staff,
or participation in outreach through humanitarian mission trips, McMurry
is preparing its graduates to take their place in the world…and to positively
impact that world.
I know you will find this issue of The Messenger to be informative and trust
you will be impressed by the commitment of those about whom you will read.
Enjoy!
Warm Regards,
John H. Russell, Ph.D.
President
Publisher
McMurry University Relations
1 McM Station Box 938
Abilene, Texas 79697
Editor-in-Chief
Gary Ellison
Editor
Lori Thornton
Art Director
Sheila Kitts ’01
Photographers
Tina Bertrand
Sheila Kitts
Contributing Writers
Dave Beyer
Gary Ellison
Loretta Fulton
Scott Kirk
Samantha Shaffer
Jackie Underwood
©2013
McMurry
President
and Officers
Dr. John H. Russell
President
Dr. Paul Fabrizio
Vice President for
Academic Affairs
Lisa Williams
Vice President for
Financial Affairs
Debra Hulse
Vice President
for Institutional
Advancement
Brad Poorman
Vice President for
Information &
Support Services
Vanessa Roberts
Dean of Students
Ron Holmes
Athletic Director
FEATURES
3
7
12
14
19
23
3
Role Model UN
Chalk It Up to Global
Experience
The Road Less Traveled
Giving Them a Reason
to Smile
Servin’ Up a Little World
Perspective
Determined to Teach
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7
36
Athletics Update ...........24
Class Notes ................26
Friends We’ll Miss ..........28
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MODEL UN TEACHES leadership, diplomacy, and multilateral
cooperation between international students
McMurry Model UN students took
“learning by doing” to a new level this
winter as they traveled to the Galapagos
Islands in South America to participate in a special
Model United Nations international event. The
students, under the tutelage of political science
professor Dr. Tina Bertrand, had the opportunity
for real-life interaction with students from across
the world through their trip to Ecuador.
Although small in comparison with most
Model UN universities, McMurry has carved out an
enviable national and international reputation for
excellence, leading Model UN to extend the special
invitation. Each year, the National Model United
Nations (NMUN) invites universities and colleges
from all over the world for a week-long conference.
During the conference, each school represents a
country and serves as that country’s delegation in
a simulation of a United Nations’ session. Students
acting as delegates tackle real-world issues and draft
resolutions to help solve these issues in specialized
committees.
Out of this group, a select number of schools are
chosen to participate in a Global NMUN conference
held somewhere in the world each year. McMurry
was one of only 25 universities from around the
globe to be invited to participate in this year’s
prestigious conference, where Model UN students
represented Argentina and focused on the issue of
“Sustainable Development.”
This year’s participants were Martha Chace, a
senior English major/biology minor from Clovis,
New Mexico, serving on the Status of Women
Committee; Joshua Brooks a junior biochemistry
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major from Abilene, Texas, serving on the Science
and Technology for Development Committee; Kenna
Cornelius, a senior life science major/chemistry
minor from Coleman, Texas, serving on Methods for
Sustainable Development Committee; and Quinten
Smith, a senior English major/education minor from
San Antonio, Texas, serving on the Population and
Development Committee. Smith also served as team
leader.
McMurry Model UN lived up to their stellar
reputation at the conference. The team won the
Distinguished Delegation award for their diplomatic
efforts as Argentina. In the Commission on the
Status of Women, Martha Chace won Best Individual
Delegate accolades for her work on bolstering extant
educational programs across the globe and improving
national strategic goals for women’s education.
While at the conference, the students also
participated in a service project involving reforestation,
and Drs. Bertrand and Joel Brant participated in
hacienda restoration.
According to Model United Nations surveys over
a period of years, participants say that the experiential
learning environment significantly improves their skills
in: leadership, public speaking, persuasion, team work,
setting priorities, mediation, and working with new
people.
Dr. Bertrand agrees with that assessment. “In my
opinion, Model UN goes above and beyond honing
career-building skills, although these skills certainly
are invaluable to our students as they prepare for
their careers. Model UN transforms our students
into activists. They learn how other countries
perceive complex issues, and how to overcome
differences to achieve collaborative outcomes that
benefit everyone in some way. Our students become
invested in finding solutions to problems that plague
the people they have researched and emulated at
these conferences. In addition, our students develop
or deepen their empathy for those who struggle
with problems that once were beyond, or only at the
periphery of, our students’ state of awareness.”
During this process, students also become more
confident in their own ability to "be the change that
[they] wish to see in the world,” said Dr. Bertrand,
citing Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote.
“This especially is true when our students go
toe-to-toe with students from Harvard, Duke,
and a variety of other prestigious, international
universities. McMurry students return to Abilene
with a profound realization that they can succeed
and change the world, despite the daunting
reputations of the players with whom they interact
at Model UN conferences.” She continues, “One
testament to this is the recent awards our students
won at the National Model UN – Galapagos
conference. McMurry was one of only 25 schools
selected from across the globe to participate in this
exclusive conference, which is an achievement in
itself. Representing Argentina, McMurry students
won a Distinguished Delegation Award and a Best
Delegate Award in the Commission on the Status
of Women. While material awards certainly are
satisfying, the changes within our students are where
we see the ultimate benefits of experiential learning
programs.”
Reflecting on the trip, award-winner Martha
Chace said, “Galapagos was an experience of a
lifetime. Since I am beginning my road to becoming
a lawyer and soon will be entering law school, I felt
attending a Model United Nations conference would
be good preparation for what I will be experiencing
along that road. I definitely didn’t expect to learn and
grow as much as I did.”
Smith agrees. “I learned so much from this
experience—the Ecuadorian infrastructure,
international relations, and even a little about the
vegetation. What I also brought back from this trip
was lots of sand, souvenirs and ten new close friends.
I would like to thank every single person who
donated to us and helped make the trip possible; it
was truly a blessing.” ■
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...to
Global
Experience
SIX MCMURRY PROFESSORS come from around
the world and offer our students a unique
perspective from their global experiences.
The answer seemed so
obvious; Dr. Anna
Saghatelyan had to laugh
when asked if coming from
another country helped give
her biology students a valuable
perspective. “Of course it does,”
said the associate professor from
Armenia. “I grew up on the sea
and there are many kinds of lush
plants and mountains to hike. I
don’t think someone can develop
a passion for plants if they come
from flat land.”
Saghatelyan is one of six
professors or instructors who came
from different parts of the globe
to teach at McMurry. Some teach
in fields in which introducing
their students to a different
culture seems a logical extension
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of their courses, while others teach disciplines
in math and sciences that one would think are
universal. However, even those teachers, such as
Saghatelyan, believe their perspectives benefit
their students.
Dr. José Gómez, who teaches Spanish in the
foreign language department, thinks that when
a student learns about another culture, he is
also gaining a deeper understanding of his own.
“Definitely,” said the native of Quito, Ecuador.
“You’re learning your own culture.”
Gómez believes his students benefit learning
Spanish from someone who grew up in a culture
that spoke the language rather than from an
American who learned the language. “I think
it is an advantage,” he said. “I am sharing with
them what I learned growing up.”
He also believes learning at least one other
language besides your native tongue is essential
to being competitive in a global economy.
“We are in the economy of knowledge, and
everybody is going to have to know about
another culture,” he said. “We should at least be
bilingual. That is what it is going to take to be
competitive.”
Dr. Hyunshun Shin, associate professor of
organic chemistry, is multi-cultural on several
levels. She is not only a native of South Korea,
but her 20 years in the United States has been
split between Philadelphia, San Francisco and
Abilene. Not only do her students benefit from
her international perspective, but also from her
experience living in diverse parts of this country.
She said her own students seem less willing to
leave the comforts of home when they finish
their undergraduate studies than she would
prefer. “They say, ‘I don’t want to leave Texas. I
love Texas,’” said Shin. “That’s alright.”
Shin believes that relating to her students
is vital to teaching them, especially when the
subject is as difficult as chemistry. She told of a
conversation she had with her parents when she
was particularly frustrated trying to motivate her
students.
“My mom said, ‘Even three years old, my
grandson knows who likes him and who does
not. If you do not teach with your heart, your
students will know as time goes on,’’’ Shin
recalled. “As an educator, I am concerned about
improving people’s lives and learning skills.”
Shin makes an analogy between chemistry
and human interaction, saying that just as
attractive forces of molecular interactions play
a crucial role in chemical reactions, personal
interactions have a great impact on positive and
negative brain activities related to learning.
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Dr. Yelena Kosheleva, psychology
professor and professor in the curriculum
and instruction department, injects an
understanding of other cultures in all of her
classes. The native of Russia said most of the
students who select her classes already have an
interest in other cultures. “As a result of their
involvement, their interest deepened and many
expressed a desire to travel internationally to
experience different cultures,” she said.
In Kosheleva’s Multi-Cultural Psychology
class, students explored different cultures
on campus, such as athletics and social
clubs; through interviewing students, they
discovered insights into core values on campus.
“As a result, we had a round of fascinating
presentations by students that collectively
outlined elements of the McMurry experience,”
she said.
Another of Kosheleva’s classes is a course
in language acquisition for teachers who plan
to be certified as English as a Second Language
(ESL) teachers. “We discussed how a teacher
can demonstrate an interest in students’
cultures and languages as well as help them
be better integrated into the community of
their peers,” she said. “Reaching those students
is only possible if the teacher is sincerely
interested in them and their academic success,
as well as their personal well-being.”
Kosheleva’s husband, Dr. Tikhon Bykov,
associate professor of physics, can’t make as
direct a connection between his subject matter
and that of his wife, but that doesn’t mean it
hasn’t made an impact on him and the way he
teaches. For example, his student’s experience is
much different than what he experienced in his
native Russia. “In Russia you would study your
core subjects, and really little else, when you
got to this level,” he said. “Here the approach
is very different in a liberal arts education. I
really like that (liberal arts) approach. You take
a broad approach. It’s very useful.”
The professors have assimilated themselves
well into West Texas culture, primarily because
they love their adopted country. “I’m an
Ecuadorian,” said Gómez when asked how he
identified himself. “But when you’ve come to a
country that has opened up opportunities for
you, you learn to love that country.”
It could well be that, as Gómez and
his fellow professors from other countries
introduce other cultural perspectives to their
students, they are also deepening their students’
love for their own country. ■
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To ring in the New Year, 17 students traveled to London, the
financial capital of the world. This trip gives students the
opportunity to experience the professional world and become more
cultured while receiving up to six course credit hours. The students
researched their particular interest before leaving for the 10-day trip.
After the research concluded, the students experienced firsthand
the ins and outs of major companies such as
Whole Foods and American Airlines,
and also had the opportunity to tour
museums and visit
landmarks such as
the Eiffel Tower and
Stonehenge.
The world is like a book.
Those who do not travel only read one page.
Saint Augustine
“Because of
participating in
this trip, I know
now that the
career path I’ve chosen
is the right one for me.”
MARTHA CHACE,
About her trip to the Model UN Conference
on the Gallapagos Islands
“The educational
experience of a
lifetime.”
KELSEY HEAD,
About her trip to Italy
Annually, McMurry Religious Life hosts World Village in Wah Wahtaysee.
Meant to serve as a mission trip right here on campus, students camp out in
tents to raise awareness of our neighbors around the world living in the harsh
conditions of extreme poverty and to raise funds for annual mission trips.
A group of 15 students, faculty and staff traveled
to Aurangabad, India, July 16-31, 2012. During
the two-week mission trip, members of the McMurry
community worked through Life Light Ministries to
teach English at St. John's English School, cultivate valuable
relationships at New Beginnings Children's Home, and
explore opportunities to learn about Jain, Buddhist,
Hindu, and Sikh cultures and religions. Students not only
experienced and ministered to a world very different from
their own, but they also received course credit in religion or
sociology. This summer, the team is returning to India July
8 - August 2, led by faculty and staff outside the Religious
Life office. This shift of leadership which is a good sign
that McMurry, as a whole, is making a difference.
Over Spring Break, seven students and staff
traveled to El Paso, Texas to volunteer at the
Houchen Community Center, while another
three students ventured down to Juarez, Mexico
to build a home for a family living in poverty. The
family of six graciously welcomed the McMurry
team into their lives as the students worked on their
new home. These trips resulted in meaningful, lifechanging
interactions between people of different
cultures, and proved to be more memorable for these
students than a trip to the beach.
JOIN THE
MCMURRY
HISTORY DEPT
ENGLAND/
SCOTLAND
June
3-11,
2013
The Haitian people have suffered immensely since the
2010 earthquake that destroyed their homes and so much
more. McMurry sent 14 hard-working students, staff and alumni to
build new homes for people who had been displaced. Not only did the
students minister and serve the Haitian people, but they became educated
on Haitian Creole and the culture as a whole. Members of the McMurry
community also facilitated therapeutic yoga classes for children suffering
with post traumatic stress disorder. McMurry will be returning to Haiti this
summer on June 19-26.
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Giving
Them a
Reason to
Smile
Volunteering is in the lifeblood of McMurry University alumna
and current Board of Trustees member Dr. Jolynn Galvin.
A
successful dentist in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, Dr. Galvin has shared her
expertise through mission trips both
internationally and at home in New Mexico
for many years. Since 1982, she has gone on
twenty-two mission trips to Mexico and South
America and two Mission of Mercy trips in New
Mexico providing dental help and spreading the
message of Jesus Christ.
In her most memorable mission to the
headwaters of the Amazon River in northern
Peru in 2004, her son Patrick served as her
“dental assistant.” While there, they faithfully
ministered to the Yaqua and Ticuna Indian
tribes through the Christian Hands in Action
(CHIA) mission group based in El Paso, Texas.
“We literally went to the head of the
Amazon in Peru in this boat that was a hundred
years old,” said Dr. Galvin. “It’s not exactly
what you would think about when you think
of a cruise ship. We traveled on the river and
stopped at villages where the people came onto
the boat and we did dental work.”
Most of the trips since then have been to
Mexico. However, the recent turmoil in Juarez
has kept the group from making trips the past
few years. “One of the last international mission
trips I participated in with CHIA was out of El
Paso,” she said of her 2009 trip.
So she has turned to providing dental
services in New Mexico through Mission of
Mercy. “It’s a two-day event where we set up
dental chairs and see patients from five in the
morning until five at night on a Friday and
Saturday,” said Dr. Galvin. “The first one was in
Albuquerque in November 2010. We had 1700
volunteers; probably 300 of those were dentists
who came from across the state. On Thursday,
the volunteers in Albuquerque came to set
up five semi-truck loads of equipment. Other
volunteers prepared patient histories and took
blood pressures prior to treatment.”
Her second stint with Mission of Mercy was
in Las Cruces in March 2012. “My hygienist,
Nicole Olivas, and I traveled to Las Cruces. It
was a wonderful experience. Although we saw
fewer people than in Albuquerque, the patients
who came to this event got more care. Nicole
cleaned teeth; I did prosthetics. In prosthetics,
we replaced missing front teeth. People were
Dr. JoLYNN GALVIN spreads smiles across
the world, having participated in over twenty
mission trips that provide dental services to
those in need.
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very appreciative.” She is already planning
for the next Mission of Mercy event in
Farmington on September 2013.
Dr. Galvin’s willingness to give to others
was ingrained early in her life. “I had parents
who raised me in a Christian home and
stressed the importance of being involved in a
church. They also impressed on me the value
of an education.”
Through that Methodist church
connection, she had heard about McMurry
and knew at an early age she wanted to attend
college there. “When the time came to go
to college, McMurry provided me with a
wonderful scholarship.”
McMurry faculty and staff also provided
comfort when her father died unexpectedly
during Dr. Galvin’s first year at McMurry.
“The support and loving care from campus
minister, Bert Affleck, and professors, Dr.
Clark Beasley and Dr. Bill Dulin, got me
through a very difficult time.”
Her McMurry ties remain strong.
She has served on the McMurry Board of
Trustees from 1994 to 2003 and from 2005
to the present. While at McMurry, she made
friendships with her three suitemates that
have lasted a lifetime. “We met as freshmen
and are still the best of friends. Martha
Michael was my roommate and Ansel Roney
and Robyn Lilley Luster were our suitemates.
The four of us get together all the time.”
After she established a dental practice
in Albuquerque, one of her pastors, who
had been her Sunday school teacher at
St. Paul UMC while she was attending
McMurry, suggested she might check into
CHIA. “I started in 1983 and I just kept on
volunteering.”
Even though she has dedicated much
of her time and talents to volunteering for
missions, she also provides other services
to McMurry University, First United
Methodist Church in Albuquerque, and to
her community. Dr. Galvin is the McMurry
Ambassador to her local church and acts as
an advocate for McMurry to other churches
in the Albuquerque area. She appreciates the
United Methodist Church’s heritage of higher
education and commitment to learning,
and hopes to rekindle passion for higher
education in the local church.
Dr. Galvin has worked with the Shadow of
the Church, which provides meals, financial
assistance, and other services to the poor
and homeless in Albuquerque. She has
also worked with the Interfaith Hospitality
Network to provide food, serve as an
overnight chaperone, and recruit volunteers to
help homeless families find permanent homes
and jobs.
Throughout her life, Dr. Galvin has
recognized and appreciated her McMurry ties.
“I have had inspirational mentors and loving
friends and family who have helped me along
my life journey. Each day I am more thankful
for the educational experiences at McMurry.”
When asked why she volunteers so much
of her time, finances and talent, Dr. Galvin
gave two reasons: First, “I hope in some way
to give something back for all the things I
have been given. My talent is fixing smiles
and getting people out of dental pain. The
feeling one gets when a patient thanks and
hugs you makes life worthwhile.” And second,
she credits her Methodist heritage. “I am a
Methodist and try to live by John Wesley’s
rules: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the
means you can, in all the ways you can, in all
the places you can, at all the times you can,
to all the people you can, as long as ever you
can.’”
We can all learn from that example. ■
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Servin’
Up a Little
World
Perspective
Through a partnership with Abilene’s
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE, McMurry
University benefits from the unique perspective
of six refugee employees and their families
and friends.
Someday, Nyundo Nzamu plans
to be the one walking through
the McMurry cafeteria serving
line—instead of washing dishes.
A
refugee from Rwanda, Nyundo Nzamu
has been in Abilene for one year, thanks
to the efforts of the International Rescue
Committe (IRC). Nzamu is one of six refugees—five
from Africa and one from Nepal—who work in
McMurry’s Mabee Dining Hall. The dishwashing job
is his first. He has family back home in Rwanda, and
he hopes that they can join him soon.
In his native country, Nzamu was a lawyer. He
has plans to continue working and learning so that
someday he can be a professional in the United
States.
And he knows where he will get that education.
He likes being on the McMurry campus, and he
likes the people he encounters every day. “At one
time,” he said, “I will be a student here.”
The International Rescue Committee dates to
1933 when the American branch of the Europeanbased
International Relief Association was founded
at the suggestion of Albert Einstein to assist
Germans suffering under Hitler.
It evolved over the years to its present form,
with U.S. offices located from coast to coast. The
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IRC works with the U.S. Department of State to relocate
refugees in cities across the United States. The Abilene
office opened in November 2003 as a satellite of the
regional office in Dallas.
In January 2004, the first refugees arrived in
Abilene. Since then, about 100 refugees per year have
been resettled here, representing countries worldwide.
Their presence is felt across the city, from classrooms to
churches to the workplace.
To most Abilenians, especially those associated
with an educational institution, the IRC has brought
a new dimension to the city. “It adds diversity to our
community that we really, really need,” said Lydia Long,
an adjunct professor who teaches government and
criminal justice courses at McMurry.
Several of these refugees are valued employees in
the dining hall. To gain a global perspective, all students
have to do is walk to the dining hall and talk with one of
the six refugees who work there. McMurry uses Aramark
food services, which also provides services for Hardin-
Simmons University and Abilene Christian University.
Aramark has been at the forefront of hiring refugees
since the IRC opened an office in Abilene. Andy Fisher,
food service director at McMurry, is thrilled with
that decision. Among his most reliable and cheerful
employees are Baranderaka Nestory of Burundi, Vanice
Ndarubayemo of Burundi, Nyundo Nzamu of Rwanda,
Regina Kayiba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Rehonia Butoy of Burundi, and Yashoda Bastola of Nepal.
Fisher, who came to McMurry in August 2012,
said the refugees already were employees when he
arrived. Most are dishwashers because of their limited
English, he said, but in their native countries, many
were professionals. Even with the drop in professional
status, the refugees are thrilled and grateful to be here,
Fisher said. “Their attitude reflects how happy they
are to be living in America. These folks come in with
a smile on their face, happy to be at work,” Fisher said.
One refugee who is on leave this semester is fluent in
French and English and is always willing to help translate
conversations between the refugees and the McMurry
staff and students.
Students in Lydia Long’s American government class
last fall heard a representative of the International Rescue
Committee tell about the repressive governments that the
refugees lived under before making their way to Abilene.
Long’s fall class was made up of 18- and 19-yearold
students. They listened as Lisa Marciniak, volunteer
coordinator with the local IRC office, spoke about the
hostile situations that the refugees fled. “It’s really eyeopening
for our students to understand the culture of the
refugees,” said Vanessa Roberts Bryan, dean of student
affairs.
By definition, refugees cannot return to their
homeland because of the threat of persecution or death.
Most flee for political reasons. “Marciniak spoke before
the November election, and her comments made an
impact on some of the students,” Long said.
She had been encouraging her students to vote but
some didn’t see a reason to, figuring that one vote didn’t
matter. Long wanted the students to hear what it is like in
countries where people don’t have the right to vote and
are even killed for their dissenting views. “I wanted them
to know what an honor it is to be able to vote,” Long said.
Bryan said McMurry has partnered with the IRC for
several years in service projects. One project adopted
by the Freshman Leadership Challenge is the annual
packing of Thanksgiving baskets for refugee families.
The project is more than just a nice gesture. It also is
educational for McMurry students, who learn about
cultural and dietary differences between typical
American families and refugee families.
Kirsten Mauritsen, a sophomore English major
from Artesia, New Mexico, remembers the first time
she helped with the project. “Americans usually buy
canned goods, even for Thanksgiving dinner,” she said.
But the IRC instructed the students to purchase fresh
vegetables and dried beans and rice for the refugees —
even if it was Thanksgiving. Not only did the McMurry
students learn about different cultures, some even
learned a new way to shop.“Some of them hadn’t really
picked out vegetables before,” Mauritsen said.
The exposure to different cultures impressed
Mauritsen enough that she signed up for a mission
trip to Haiti in June 2012. According to Dr. Cynthia
Martin, associate professor of mathematics and
program sponsor, “Encouraging service is a great way
to train students to be leaders.”
McMurry students also enjoy other interactions
with refugees and their children, according to Bryan.
They have hosted field days for refugee children to
play soccer and other sports. Another popular event is
trick-or-treating in the residence halls. “It was crazy,”
Bryan said of last year’s Halloween experience. “It was
really fun.”
Another fun experience for refugees and McMurry
faculty and staff is the annual Kris Kringle party.
McMurry employees drew names for a “Secret Santa”
gift exchange. Last year, one of the gifts exchanged was
a toy for a refugee child whose name was also drawn.
McMurry students receive great satisfaction in
providing assistance to refugee families; in addition,
connecting with these families has taught students
about other cultures and broadened their perspectives
of the world. ■
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Determined to Teach
After escaping genocide in Cambodia when
he was eight, Kimhun Dam now expands the
mental landscape of his students in his high
school World History class.
Each time Kimhun Dam drives by the McMurry
campus with his two children in the car, he pays
his alma mater the highest of compliments.
“This is going to be your college,” he tells his 11-yearold
son and 10-year-old daughter. Dam, a native of
Cambodia who escaped the genocide of the 1970s with
his family, earned an education degree from McMurry
in 2009.
He currently teaches United States and world history
in the Abilene school district’s Academy of Technology,
Engineering, Math, and Science.
Dam has fond memories—and a grateful heart—
for his professors at McMurry who helped him earn a
degree. His appreciation and love of McMurry are so
deep that he would gladly reverse the calendar and start
over. “I would love to go back there and do it all over
again,” he said.
The feeling is mutual. Lynn Nichols, a retired
McMurry education professor who supervises student
teachers and teaching interns, said Dam made a
wonderful and lasting impression. “He was very, very
motivated,” Nichols said. “I think that’s part of his will to
give back” to the community.
Dam’s journey to the United States, to Abilene, and
to McMurry is the stuff of legend. In 1976, when Dam
was eight, his father led the family and 200 villagers out
of Cambodia into Thailand to escape the genocide being
inflicted by the Khmer Rouge communist regime.
The 200 villagers eventually split into equal groups,
and Dam’s father led 100 people through the jungle into
Thailand, where they settled in a United Nations refugee
camp.
The Dam family lived there four years before they
were sponsored to come to the United States, sight
unseen, by Fred and Carolyn White, members of First
Central Presbyterian Church in Abilene.
Once in Abilene, they blossomed. None spoke
English upon arrival, but Dam’s father soon was
employed as a gardener at Hendrick Medical Center.
The four Dam siblings all learned English and graduated
from high school.
After graduating from Cooper High School in 1991,
Dam took some classes at Cisco College and worked
before opening Szechuan restaurant with a partner in
1996. The restaurant was—and still is—a favorite for
Abilenians. Dam could have stayed with the restaurant
and lived happily ever after, but he was motivated to
become a teacher. With the support of his wife, Tum,
Dam enrolled at McMurry. “Without my wife, my
teaching dream was almost impossible to reach,” he said.
Ten years after opening the restaurant, Dam sold
out to his partner. But Nichols recalled that when Dam
was taking classes at McMurry, he also worked at the
restaurant. Nichols laughed remembering the two shirts
Dam talked about—one smelled like the restaurant
kitchen, the other like school.
By the time Dam got to McMurry, he spoke and
read English well enough for everyday life, but doing all
the required readings for a college degree was another
matter.
Perry Kay Haley-Brown, dean of the School of
Education, remembers that she was surprised at Dam’s
desire to teach subjects that required so much reading.
But she was also impressed. “He obviously has a passion
for not only learning,” she said, “but also sharing his
expertise.”
Nichols, too, saw that quality in Dam. He saw a
young man who was so appreciative of all the people
who helped his family come to the United States that he
wanted to give back.
Nichols said it was a privilege to have Dam in his
class and to see him interact with other students and
professors. Nichols hopes he was able to help Dam
achieve his dream. “What I concentrated on was helping
him become the best teacher he could become,” Nichols
said.
Kimhun Dam’s skill as a teacher honed in a nuturing
environment, combined with his extraordinary story of
survival, will no doubt inspire and prepare his students
for success in an uncertain world. ■
22 23

athletics UPDATE
MEN’S & WOMEN’S
SWIMMING
The curtain came down on the 2012-
13 season of the McMurry swim teams
with their annual journey to the Liberal Arts
Championships, held this year at Coe College
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The War Hawks’ men's
team earned a third place finish and the
women's squad a ninth (with just five female
competitors attending the meet!).
During the course of the year, McMurry
head coach Bev Ball’s youthful roster generated
a total of 39 personal best marks.
The team also paid tribute and bid “thank
you” to three seniors who closed out their
careers this year: Amanda Genzling, Sean
White and Aaron Vasquez.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Playing in its first season transitioning
from NCAA Division III to NCAA
Division II, the McMurry University women’s
basketball team compiled a record of 12-14
with a very ambitious schedule. After starting
the season 0-5, the War Hawks notched their
first NCAA II win over regional rival Angelo
State and went 12-9 the rest of the way in the
2012-13 regular season, including 9-7 versus
Heartland Conference foes.
The win versus ASU was also the 100th for
McMurry head coach Dr. Veronica Snow, in
her fifth season at the War Hawks’ helm.
The team’s three seniors—Rikeita Thomas,
Jamie Wilson and M.J. Vickers—all helped set
the tone for 2012-13.
Junior forward Keshia Collins once again
led the team in scoring (13.5 p.p.g.) and also
averaged 6.4 rebounds per game. Collins shot
78.8 percent from the free throw line and
amassed 21 blocks.
Freshman Claire Bruffey had an
outstanding first collegiate season. The homeschooled
forward averaged 5.5 p.p.g. and made
28 treys. Fellow frosh forward Ana Dominguez
had a dazzling start to the year—7.8 p.p.g., 7.3
r.p.g., 1.7 b.p.g. and shooting 41 percent from
the floor—before missing 14 games with a
leg injury (returning for the final two regular
season contests).
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The McMurry University men’s
basketball team has had to deal with
its fair share of adversity this season. At the
beginning of the year, the team was practically
new. Just five returning players, a new
coaching staff, and a new conference stood in
the way. However, the War Hawks responded
nicely, finishing the season with a 17-9 record,
including a 9-7 record against the Heartland
Conference.
Senior Takoby Jackson has led the way for
McMurry this season, averaging a team best of
14.3 points per game. Over the course of the
year, Jackson has scored 20+ points six times
and has broken the double-digit mark in 17
contests.
Alfred Perez has come on strong over the
last half of the season and is the force behind
the War Hawks’ front court. The 6’8” big man
is averaging 9.8 points per game, but has found
his stride at the end of the season, averaging
16.5 over his last four games heading into the
regional tournament.
The “true-guards” for McMurry had nice
seasons, as Antonio Bell averaged 9.1 p.p.g.
and DJ Stennis scored 6.9 p.p.g. Stennis also
boasted a 1.94 assist/turnover ratio, while Bell’s
is currently at 1.67.
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
Junior shot putter Paul Davis unleashed
one of the nation's top efforts this
season to lead the War Hawks' men's team to
a second place finish at the National Christian
College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Indoor
Championships at Indiana Wesleyan University.
The McMurry women placed sixth in the nation.
Former NAIA power Azusa Pacific
University—also transitioning to NCAA II—on
the NCCAA men's title and Shorter University
took the women's crown.
Davis' shot of 62' 1” surpassed his own
previous McMurry school record (61' 0 ¼”) by
better than a foot and obliterated the NCCAA's
meet record (was 56' 10 ¼”) by more than five
feet!
McMurry's men also crowned another
national champ in the high jump where JuJuan
Austin cleared 6' 7”, taking first place out of a
four-way tie at that height based on jumps.
Newcomer Desmond Williams also brought
home gold for McMurry, shattering the indoor
long jump record for both McMurry and the
NCCAA. Williams' leap of 24' 4 ½” not only won
the event, but eclipsed the War Hawks' previous
record by seven inches (23' 9 ½” set by Gavan
Bass in 2009). The jump was more than a foot
better than the previous NCCAA record (23' 8”),
as well.
In the triple jump, the War Hawks had
three competitors place in the top eight, led by
sophomore Dillon Wilkins. Wilkins,
who has battled with teammate Chris
Ogle all season in the event and with one of
the duo breaking the school record every week
this season, took back the McMurry mark with
a jump of 48' 0 ½”. Wilkins placed second in
the final standings, with Ogle finishing fifth and
Isaac Hamilton seventh.
In the women's competition, the 4x200
relay quartet of Paradise Hooper, Purity
Hooper, Tiana Alexander and Shanita Coleman
finished second in a clocking of 1:43.41. The
4x400 relay—Paradise Hooper, Purity Hooper,
Coleman and Jasmine Williams—was fourth
with a time of 4:01.37.
The 4x800 relay quartet was fifth, finishing at
9:56.73 minutes. The group consisted of Lauren
Peery, Leah Doughty, Mercedes Bietendorf and
Mary Affleck.
Davis was named “Outstanding Performer”
for the men’s field events, in post-meet voting
by the NCCAA coaches. Davis’ mark in the
shot put was also good enough to earn him an
invitation to the USA Indoor Track and Field
Championships, held in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, where he wore the McMurry colors
among the nation’s elite in his event.
McMurry University’s football team closed
out its 2012 regular season slate of games by
scoring a 35-3 exhibition game victory over
the University of Mexico at Wilford Moore
Stadium on November 17th. While the border
battle is not officially recognized by the NCAA,
it was a great win over the No. 2 team in
Mexico’s equivalent of a national championship
playoff. But even more, the game was a cultural
experience as both sides became more familiar
with each other’s culture, thanks to a common
love for the game of football!
24 25
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class NOTES
1987
Jennifer Jane Daggett ’87, got
a teaching position at Staple
Elementary School in Joshua, Texas
soon after receiving her degree from
McMurry. She’s now completing her
26th year of teaching in Joshua. On
February 25, 2013 at the meeting
of the Joshua Area Chamber of
Commerce, Jennifer was one of nine teachers recognized
as “Teacher of the Year” for their schools. Jennifer teaches
at the Plum Creek Elementary School. At the event, her
principal and assistant principal spoke very highly of
her ability to work with other teachers and her friendly
attitude toward parents, students and faculty. Jennifer
is married to Alan (Class of ‘88). She and Al have two
children, Aubree (“Bree”), a sophomore at Tarleton
State, and Carson, a junior at Joshua High School (and a
potential McMurry prospect). She is also the daughter of
Tom and Marnette Isbell, who are also McMurry alums.
1999
Toby Rodriguez ’99 (History
and English) and his wife, Kathy,
recently had a daughter, Sydney
Brynn Rodriguez, born on
December 27, 2012.
2004
Lyndsay
(Llewellyn)
Baker ’04 and
her husband,
Kevin,
welcomed their 7 lb 6 oz little boy,
Lawson Len, into the world on
December 12, 2012.
2003
Whitney Giles Martin ’03 married
Bobby Martin on March 24, 2012.
2005
Anthony J. Muniz ’05 (Political Science and History)
is working as a college computer administrator at the
University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. He oversees all
computer systems for the campus president, provost,
budget and legal affairs offices that entail over 1,000
faculty and staff members.
2006
Jackson Lewis Harner was
born to Catherine Watjen
Harner ’06 and Major
Arch Harner in Alexandra,
Virginia, on May 2, 2012.
Jackson weighed 8 lbs 6 oz at birth and was 19 inches long.
2007
Frances Arias ’07 will be
graduating in June from
American Military University
with her second master’s
degree in Military Studies
with a concentration in
Asymmetrical Warfare.
She also participated in the
December Washington, D.C. GORUCK Challenge in
which she raised $3,320 for the Green Beret Foundation in
memory of classmate SSG Jeremie S. Border.
2008
Leighanne Meador ’08 and Blake Ortiz ’10 were
married Saturday, November 24, 2012 at the Marty
Leonard Chapel in Fort Worth, Texas. Former McMurry
students and faculty joined them for the wedding and the
reception following. Leighanne Meador was preceded at
McMurry by her parents, Michael ’73 and Helen Foster
’74 Meador, and brothers, Michael ’99, Edward ’01, and
Robert ’04. Blake Ortiz ran for McMurry’s first National
Championship Track Team. The Reverend Bill Libby, who
knew all the younger Meadors and Blake Ortiz as students,
performed the ceremony.
2011
Joshua Neeves ’11 married
Jessica Collins-Heath ’11
on December 15, 2012.
Chuck Jones ’11 and
Elizabeth Jones ’10 had their
first baby, Noah Lee Jones,
on January 27, 2013 at 4:13 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 9.2 oz
and was 21 inches long. Of their new bundle of joy, they
shared, “We love our future War Hawk!”
2012
Cody Langston ’12
married Lauren
Alexander ’12 on
March 9, 2013.
SAVE
THE
DATE
Homecoming
Oct 4 -6, 2013
Alumni sing the alma mater after a concert during the spring band
tour to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
LEFT: Barbara Whorton-Farley ’73 and Carla Woolley ’73 with
Band Director David Robinson.
26 27

friends We’ll Miss
Daniel Joseph Ames ’93 of Rumford, Maine, died January 11, 2013.
James Armstrong of Conroe, Texas, died August 1, 2012.
Donald Battles of Abilene, Texas, died December 30, 2012.
Emilee Ramsey Beckham ’38 of Amarillo, Texas, died October 17, 2012.
James Bell ’55 of Post, Texas, died August 29, 2012.
Ophelia Bilbrey of Abilene, Texas, died September 23, 2012.
Ralph Birdwell of Abilene, Texas, died February 12, 2013.
Eddie Blackwell of Abilene, Texas, died September 19, 2012.
Zackie Van Houten Boen ’92 of Zabulon, Georgia, died November 2012.
Louise Spiegelmire Bohannon ’43 of Arlington, Texas, died September 19, 2012.
James “Jim” Bonds ’72 of Hamlin, Texas, died September 1, 2012.
Jeremie Border ’06 of Mesquite, Texas, died September 1, 2012.
Nancy Bouldin of Woodward, Oklahoma, died November 23, 2012.
Tommy Boyd ’58 of Throckmorton, Texas, died October 26, 2012.
Betty Murphy Brock ’66 of Lakeway, Texas, died September 21, 2012.
Ben Bruckner of Amarillo, Texas, died November 27, 2012.
Tommy Burton of Winters, Texas, died August 20, 2012.
Bobby Carter ’52 of Lubbock, Texas, died August 27, 2012.
Hoyt Cole ’49 of Anchorage, Arkansas, died September 5, 2012.
Allen Cordts of Durham, North Carolina, died November 7, 2012.
Doyle Ray Dean of Hamlin, Texas, died January 11, 2013.
Lawrence Devasto ’71 of Tyler, Texas, died August 17, 2012.
John Easter of Abilene, Texas, died November 5, 2012.
Lona Mable Earnest of Abilene, Texas, died August 29, 2012.
Nell Blakney Evans ’41 of Houston, Texas, died September 4, 2012.
Elizabeth Lynch Ford ’65 of Abilene, Texas, died January 25, 2013.
Pete Gaulding of Abilene, Texas, died November 10, 2012.
Norma Walker Gayle ’67 of Abilene, Texas, died September 15, 2012.
Bobby Haney of Imperial, California, died November 8, 2012.
Nancy Hardy Harrison ’87 of Abilene, Texas, died November 8, 2012.
Winnona Herring of Abilene, Texas, died February 8, 2013.
David “Scotty” Holland of Abilene, Texas, died January 4, 2013.
John Hyde ’67 of Sweetwater, Texas, died February 16, 2013.
Jessica Suzanne Kennedy of Kerrville, Texas, died on March 1, 2013.
Matadi Kikunga ’99 of Humble, Texas, died December 8, 2012.
Christine Kitchens ’50 of Seminole, Texas, died August 19, 2012.
John Leeson ’53 of Southaven, Missouri, died October 21, 2012.
Tommy Lopez of Abilene, Texas, died September 16, 2012.
Dottie Floyd Lowrey ’56 of Knox City, Texas, died November 5, 2012.
Joan Katherine Mallery of Deming, Texas, died January 12, 2013.
Roma Yarbrough McIntyre ’60 of Lake Jackson, Texas, died October 29, 2012.
Joseph McMahon ’67 of Granbury, Texas, died August 14, 2012.
Dawn McRae of Sweetwater, Texas, died September 24, 2012.
Linn Meyerdirk ’73 of Austin, Texas, died December 12, 2012.
Edgar Lee Moore ’70 of Hurst, Texas, died January 25, 2013.
Barbara Nottingham of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, died January 26, 2013.
Max Overman of Chesterfield, Virginia, died February 6, 2013.
Louis Pittard of Gouldbusk, Texas, died February 18, 2013.
Bonnie Rigby ’44 of Dayton, Texas, died January 16, 2013.
Joseph Rios ’74 of Abilene, Texas, died January 30, 2013.
Virgil Sears ’49 of Lake Kiowa, Texas, died August 9, 2012.
Byron Sibbet ’69 of Fort Worth, Texas, died January 9, 2013.
Susan Prestridge Swindle ’92 of Abilene, Texas, died December 9, 2012.
Richard Tarpley of Abilene, Texas, died September 17, 2012.
Marilyn MacKenzie Threlkeld of Sweetwater, Texas, died September 21, 2012.
John Valentine ’79 of Abilene, Texas, died August 2, 2012.
Barbara Wilson Washam ’57 of Abilene, Texas, died September 11, 2012.
Barbara Louise Pirtle Young ’48 of Chicago, Illinois, died.
Louis Grady Pittard
Louis Grady Pittard passed away on Monday,
February 18, 2013 after a short illness. He was 98
years of age. He was born November 1, 1914 in
Coleman County.
Louis married Eugenia Hartsfield Pauley on
July 19, 1942, and they had four children—Knox,
Gary, Nancy and Robert, who all graduated
from Mozelle High School. Louis was involved
in farming and ranching most of his adult life in
south Coleman County.
Among his many involvements were:
service as election judge for the Voss voting
precinct for many years and membership on
the Coleman County School Board, the Board
of Trustees for the Mozelle CISD, the Coleman
County Water Board, the County Committee for
the ASCS of Coleman, and the Central Colorado
River Authority Board for 25 years, having been
appointed by the Governor of Texas.
Louis was a 32nd degree mason and
belonged to the Scottish Rite. In March 2004
Louis was awarded the prestigious Golden Trowel
Award by the Coleman Masonic Lodge, and in
2012 he received his 75-year pin. In 1978, Louis
was named Rural Citizen of the Year for Coleman
County, awarded by the Coleman Chamber of
Commerce. In 2009, Louis and Eugenia were
inducted into the McMurry University Athletic
Hall of Honor as recipients of the Bob and Clara
Brown Award for support of McMurry athletics.
Eugenia died on February 6, 2007 after
65 years of marriage. Louis is survived by his
children: Knox and his wife, Pam, of Bedford;
Gary and his wife, Lee Ann, of Tyler; Nancy
Smith and her husband, Rodney, of Abilene;
and Robert and his wife, Cindy, of Dallas. Also
surviving him are his eight grandchildren and
nine great grandchildren.
Louis was a proud supporter of McMurry
and Baylor University athletics, where his
children attended college and played football
and basketball. Memorials may be made to the
McMurry University Annual Fund, 1 McMurry
Box 938, Abilene, Texas 79697.
Staff Sgt. Jeremie Border
McMurry graduate Staff Sgt. Jeremie Border ’06
28 29

friends We’ll Miss
died September 1, 2012, while serving in the U.S.
Army in Afghanistan.
Border, a native of Mesquite, Texas, was
killed in action while serving in Operation
Enduring Freedom. He died after an insurgent
attack in the eastern Afghanistan province of
Ghazni, according to a military statement.
Border, who double-majored in sociology
and communications, played four years for
McMurry’s football team, from 2002 to 2005,
and appeared in nine varsity games. Border, who
wore No. 28, played defensive back, but also had
one attempt as a freshman punter and one kickoff
return as a sophomore, said McMurry Sports
Information Director Dave Beyer.
Border also was active in McMurry’s
Servant Leadership program, Fellowship of
Christian Athletes and Makona Men’s Social
Club. He was a resident assistant and was named
to “Who’s Who Among Students” in American
Universities and Colleges.
Bobby Lee Carter
Bobby Lee Carter was born July 3, 1929, in Ovalo,
Texas, and passed away August 27, 2012, in
Lubbock, Texas. Memorial services were held in
the Wesley Chapel at Lakeridge United Methodist
Church with the senior pastor Reverend Bill
Couch officiating.
Mr. Carter graduated from Abilene High
School in 1948, and later attended McMurry
University, where he earned his bachelor of
science degree in 1952. He competed as a
member of McMurry’s sprint relay team from
1949 to 1952 and was an NCAA Track Honor
Roll selection during his time as a McMurry
athlete.
He was inducted into the school’s Hall of
Honor in 1999 and served on their Board of
Trustees from 2003 until his death. He was a
member of Lakeridge United Methodist Church.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years,
Frankie Carter.
Survivors include his current wife, Patricia
Schneider Carter; four children, Carolyn Harper
of Springfield, Illinois, Stephen Carter of Dallas,
Sara Lackey and her husband, Steve of Lubbock,
and Jan White and her husband, Tommy, of
Plano; one brother, Dennis Carter of Abilene;
three grandchildren, Dustin Harper, Kate Lackey
and Blake Lackey; and two great-grandchildren,
Keegan and Riley Harper.
His greatest achievements were as a high
school football and track coach in Odessa and
later Fort Stockton, Texas. He was greatly loved by
all and will be remembered as a loving husband,
father, businessman and coach. Memorial
contributions may be made to McMurry
University, S. 14th & Sayles, Abilene, TX 79697,
where a scholarship is being set up in his honor,
or to the American Diabetes Association.
Nell Blakney Evans
Nell Blakney Evans was born on February 15,
1921 in Marshall, Texas, and died September 4,
2012, in Houston, Texas. She was the daughter
of William Lester (Bill) and Nell Rook Blakney.
She graduated from McMurry College in 1941 in
three years with a major in Spanish. At McMurry,
she was active in Alpha Chi, Kappa Phi and
Sigma Lambda Kappa. Ms. Elizabeth Wyatt was
one of her favorite professors. Her first job upon
graduation was teaching high school Spanish in
Rotan, Texas. In later years, she was a bilingual
teacher for elementary students in Richardson,
Texas.
In 1942, she went on a blind date with 2nd
Lt. Holland B. Evans, who was stationed at Camp
Barkley. They were happily married for nearly
70 years. The Nell Blakney Evans Memorial
Scholarship at McMurry is named in her honor.
She is survived by her husband, Holland; sons
Holland Jr. and Greg; grandsons Holland
IV (Bo) and Blakney (Blake); and four great
grandchildren. Holland Jr. (1966) and Holland IV
(2003) are also McMurry graduates.
Nell was a longtime member of the First
United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas.
She had a passion for travel and for exploring
other cultures. She and her husband were
among the first Westerners to visit China. Her
hobbies included needlepoint, photography,
birding, collecting Chinese postage stamps and
antiquing. She and her husband loved their
cabin in the mountains of northern New Mexico
and traveled there from Dallas every other
month for nearly 30 years.
Jean E. Hunt
Jean Edna Hunt was born September 22, 1916 in
Scio, Ohio to Battelle Hines and Edna Watson.
She passed away May 11, 2012. Her family
moved to Texas when she was four and then
to Odessa, Texas in 1930, where she lived for
68 years before moving to Plano to be near her
family.
In the fall of 1933, while McMurry
President Dr. J.W. Hunt was passing through
Odessa on a recruiting trip, he was introduced
to Jean and her sister, Louise, and they agreed to
attend McMurry in 1934. She was a member of
the Wah Wahtaysee, serving as a leader her last
year. Jean worked her way through McMurry as
an assistant to the president and received a B.A.
degree in 1937.
While at McMurry she met Julian Winford
“Red” Hunt, who was the son of President Hunt.
After graduation, they married in 1938 and both
worked in Odessa, she as an accountant and he
as a pilot and airport manager. They had two
daughters and she discontinued working outside
the home to be a homemaker. She also served as
a volunteer for various community projects.
She is survived by daughters Marsha
Jeanne Hachtel and Beverly Jane Hildebrand;
three grandchildren, Charlotte Bryant, Jeffrey
Hachtel and Natalie Hildebrand; one great
granddaughter Madison Bryant and her sister,
Helen Joy Smith. She was preceded in death
by her husband, Julian Winford Hunt, and her
sister, Louise Henderson.
Dottie Floyd Lowrey
Dottie Floyd Lowrey, a 1956 graduate of
McMurry College, passed away on November 5,
2012.
While in elementary school, Mrs. Lowrey
was busy learning music. At Tahoka, the
Methodist church bought a small organ, which
she learned to play. When the family moved to
Lamesa, Texas, she continued to learn on the
large pipe organ at the Methodist church there.
After graduating from Lamesa High School in
1952 as salutatorian, she continued her studies
at McMurry College on the five keyboard pipe
organ. She was a member of Delta Beta social
club and studied business.
She taught school after graduation and
became very active in the community and the
school at Knox City. She also formed the first
high school choir at Knox City. The school and
students benefited from her working with the
University Interscholastic League.
She received many requests to play for
weddings, funerals, and churches. She had a
special love for teaching a Sunday school class
for older women.
She is survived by her husband, Melvin
A. Lowrey; a daughter, Jan Searcey; and two
grandchildren, Jenna Freeby and John Searcey.
Dottie is also survived by her sister, Shirley
Floyd Williams. She was preceded in death by
one grandson, Josh.
30 31

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Abilene, Texas 79697
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