Axe ’Em, Jacks!
Always a Lumberjack: 91直播 students we lost
Hunter Jackson of Wylie
June 6
Matthew B. Nelson of Skidmore
Feb. 17
Alumni, former faculty and staff members
Dr. Donald Wayne Alford 鈥61 & 鈥66 of Marshall
May 17
Patricia P. Allen 鈥65 of Nacogdoches
Jan. 29
Eugene R. Barbin 鈥56 & 鈥70 of Nacogdoches
former 91直播 registrar
April 7
Regina G. Beasley 鈥78 of Marshall
Jan. 1
Gail K. Beil 鈥99 of Marshall
Jan. 8
Barbara A. Bogue 鈥80 of Timpson
March 16
Kathleen Bone 鈥68 of Dallas
Feb. 16
Ecomet Burley 鈥90 of Pearland
Feb. 13
Gary Lynn Carpenter 鈥74 of Tyler
March 7
Jane Chambers 鈥82 of Nacogdoches
May 9
Rebecca A. Clem 鈥63 of Tyler
Jan. 8
Tona Clevenger 鈥75 & 鈥78 of Nacogdoches
Jan. 27
Ricky Allen Close 鈥77 of Fort Worth
Jan. 17
Sandra L. Coats 鈥59 of Nacogdoches
Jan. 7
Judy L. Cockrell 鈥69 of Carthage
May 5
Kerry J. Comeau 鈥76 of Dallas
March 18
Renee S. Dillon 鈥74 & 鈥77 of Dickinson
Dec. 30
Margaret H. Duke 鈥69 & 鈥75 of Carthage
Jan. 14
Helen W. Durrett 鈥58 of Carthage
Feb. 22
Christopher Duvall 鈥05 of Richmond
Virginia
Feb. 22
Drummond Edge 鈥48 & 鈥53 of Temple
March 12
Dr. Margaret O. Forrest 鈥75 of Nacogdoches
Feb. 10
Marilyn L. Foster 鈥76 of Orange
March 14
Harold D. Garner 鈥66 of Bryan
Jan. 17
Alice M. Hanks 鈥81 of Princeton
May 18
George W. Harrison 鈥87 of Lufkin
Feb. 19
Simon D. Hayes 鈥69 of Henderson
March 11
Janice C. Heidbreder 鈥01 of Jacksonville
March 28
Dr. Gary L. Henry 鈥68 of Scottsdale
Arizona
March 14
Dr. J. David Holcomb 鈥62 & 鈥65 of Houston
Jan. 26
Carol Lee Hudson 鈥74 of Lakeway
March 29
Mike Hudson 鈥71 of Nacogdoches
Feb. 4
Gustave Jasper Huff Jr. 鈥59 & 鈥75 of Tyler
Dec. 27
Ramona M. Ingram 鈥55 of El Campo
April 4
Christopher Jefferson 鈥97 of Waxahachie
April 10
Joan Y. Johnson 鈥53 & 鈥59 of Nacogdoches
March 19
Jo M. Jones 鈥84 of Jasper
Feb. 18
Dana Judson 鈥81 & 鈥85 of Pflugerville
Feb. 12
Jimmy R. Killion 鈥55 of Kilgore
May 11
Raymon Lacy 鈥75 of Tyler
Feb. 1
Dr. Tommie Charles Lee of Lufkin
former faculty member
March 30
Melvin L. Marshall 鈥70 of Henderson
March 6
Jennifer Del McBride 鈥72 of Fredericksburg
Jan. 15
Marty McDonald 鈥63 & 鈥70 of Henderson
Feb. 4
Paul Lee Miller 鈥72 of Nacogdoches
Feb. 10
Dorothy C. Morgan 鈥51 of Nacogdoches
April 4
Teann J. Nagelhout 鈥94 of Fort Worth
Oct. 30
Rebecca J. Newton 鈥75 of Longview
May 27
Harry P. Noble Jr. 鈥61 of San Augustine
March 13
Odie Nutt 鈥52 of Carthage
March 13
Dr. Peggy Owens 鈥69 & 鈥73 of Cypress
Jan. 9
Carl N. Peavy 鈥65 of Garland
May 24
Johnny H. Peveto 鈥71 of Orange
March 29
Kimbal S. Pierce 鈥80 of Hamilton
April 18
John G. Pilette III 鈥98 of Tyler
March 26
Donald Wayne Plum 鈥70 of Queen City
Feb. 8
Burdett F. Pulliam Jr. 鈥49 & 鈥58 of Jasper
June 1
The Rev. Eldon L. Reed 鈥45 of Orange
April 3
Ronald L. Sedtal 鈥61 & 鈥69 of Nederland
March 29
Jo E. Simon 鈥78 of Longview
Jan. 22
Mona L. Skinner 鈥48 of Lufkin
Jan. 8
Richard Slawson 鈥65 & 鈥72 of Jacksonville
March 3
Steven C. Smith 鈥78 of Lufkin
Jan. 29
Joseph William Sory 鈥69 of Henderson
Feb. 16
Nonabeth G. Taylor 鈥59 & 鈥64 of Houston
May 4
Jerry Ronald Thompson 鈥63 of Benbrook
May 25
Joyce O. Tinkle 鈥86 of Memphis
Tennessee
April 27
Elizabeth A. Vinson 鈥68 of Lufkin
March 21
Helen Walker 鈥70 of Nacogdoches
May 1
Virginia E. Wallace 鈥83 of Diboll
Jan. 13
James Christian Walters 鈥82 of Longview
March 25
Joseph D. Weber Jr. 鈥78 of Alvin
Feb. 26
Georgeanne Wimberley 鈥91 & 鈥93 of Wichita Falls
former 91直播 staff member
March 17
Joe B. Woodland 鈥63 of Longview
April 4
Guy A. Yarborough 鈥85 of Nacogdoches
March 21
Donors, faculty and staff members
Lt. Cmdr. Robert P. Blount Jr.
Lt. Cmdr. Robert P. Blount Jr., a naval veteran of World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War, passed away Jan. 12.
Blount was born March 19, 1924, in Nacogdoches. While in military service with the U.S. Navy, he traveled the world. He graduated from 91直播 in 1948 with a degree in accounting. After his retirement from the Navy in 1968, he moved with his family to Alamogordo, New Mexico, and worked for Telledyne Ryan Aeronautics at White Sands Missile Range in the drone program.
Robert Alan Cashell Sr.
Known to thousands as 鈥淢ayor Bob,鈥 Robert Alan Cashell Sr. passed away Feb. 11.
Cashell graduated from 91直播 with a general business degree in 1963. He landed in Reno, Nevada, where he transformed a humble truck stop in Verdi, Nevada, into the Boomtown Hotel and Casino, which he sold in 1988.
Cashell was a longtime civic booster, which helped him eventually make his mark in politics, serving as the 28th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1987. In 2002, he ran for mayor of Reno and won with a landslide vote. He repeated his electoral success twice as an incumbent, serving through mid-November 2014.
His many public appointments include serving on the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents from 1979 to 1982 and chairing the Nevada Comprehensive Health Planning Board, the Reno-Tahoe Olympic Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympic Games, and the Nevada Museum of Art. He served on the Regional Planning Governing Board, the Regional Transportation Commission and the Truckee River Flood Management Authority.
Rosa G. Choate
Texas novelist Rosa G. Choate of Nacogdoches passed away April 18.
A 1943 91直播 elementary education graduate, Choate began her career writing fiction in the 1950s. By 1960, she had published several short stories and two Western novels, 鈥淏uffalo Gold鈥 and 鈥淧hantom Hill.鈥 Her publisher believed Western novels by female writers would not sell, so the books were published under the name R.G. Choate.
Under the pen name Kristin Michaels, she later co-wrote two young adult romance novels, 鈥淪hadow of Love鈥 and 鈥淗eartsong.鈥 Her fifth novel, 鈥淭he Sack,鈥 was published under her full professional name, Gwen Peterson Choate, in 2012.
Dr. David Cook
Computer science Professor Dr. David Cook passed away May 28. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Cook later moved to the United States, serving in the U.S. Air Force for 21 years and achieving the rank of major.
He received his Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of Central Florida, Master of Science in teleprocessing science from the University of Southern Mississippi and doctoral degree in computer science from Texas A&M University. Cook joined the 91直播 faculty in 2009.
Willie G. Whitaker
A native of Longview, Willie G. Whitaker passed away April 21.
Whitaker was born Nov. 29, 1934, and graduated from Ned E. Williams High School in Longview as valedictorian in 1952. He continued his education at Butler College in Tyler and later Wiley College in Marshall, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in 1961. In 1966, Whitaker was among the first African Americans to earn a master鈥檚 degree from 91直播. He received his second master鈥檚 degree in social science from East Texas State University in Commerce in 1974.
Whitaker taught social studies and was a football and basketball coach. He frequently worked two jobs, also serving as a police officer in Longview and Marshall, and in Shreveport, Louisiana. He retired from the police force in 1987 as a lieutenant. In addition to serving on the Wiley College faculty, he served as director of discipline for the Marshall Independent School District until his retirement in 1998.
A lifetime member of the 91直播 Alumni Association, Whitaker was a member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marshall and the Knights of Columbus.
Dr. Kenneth Collier
Professor of government Dr. Ken Collier passed away June 14.
A Longview High School graduate, Collier earned a Bachelor of Arts in government from the University of Texas in 1981 and a doctoral degree in government in 1988. He joined the 91直播 faculty in fall 1999.
Collier oversaw 91直播鈥檚 legislative internship program and believed the experience students could gain through an internship with the Texas Legislature was an important part of the educational process. He worked tirelessly to secure funding for the program, which allowed students to live in Austin during each legislative session and work in an office that correlated with their own personal interests, gaining valuable experience in areas ranging from the legislative process to the state budget.
He received the College of Liberal and Applied Arts Teaching Excellence Award in spring 2006 and was named the School of Honors Professor of the Year in 2008.
Collier was appointed Faculty Athletics Representative in 2017 and was an ardent supporter of 91直播 student-athletes. As a result of his leadership, a record-high departmental GPA of 3.22 was attained for the spring 2020 semester.
With teaching interests including campaigns and elections and the American presidency, Collier frequently served as a media spokesperson for the university, providing election-night commentary and expert analysis of campaign results.
Collier was a prolific writer, authoring 鈥淏etween the Branches: The White House Office of Legislative Affairs鈥 and co-authoring 鈥淟one Star Politics,鈥 a textbook on Texas politics in its fifth edition. Collier published articles in the Journal of Politics, White House Studies, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Public Choice and Social Science Quarterly.
Donations to the
Dr. Ken Collier Legislative Internship Program
can be made at .