Some sad news.  I have learned that our fellow graduate, Tommy Carter, is now deceased.  The information was released on his daughter’s Facebook account. Several of our graduates reached out to Tommy to encourage him to attend our reunions and become reacquainted with classmates.  Unfortunately, they were never able to obtain success from their endeavors.
Here are some pictures of Tommy in our yearbook.  He was nominated as one of our Senior favorites.  Let us all remember Tommy as we knew him in high school.  May Tommy be at peace.

Unfortunately, all classmates in the picture are now deceased

Michael Don McGown, Sr passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday, July 16, 2022. He was born on February 27, 1943 to Need & Gladys McGown in Waco, TX. Don attended Bryan Adams High School where he was on the cheer team. He still has his cheering sweater after all these years, although it would be a bit tight. Don and his family also attended North Waco Baptist Church, the same church where his son, Michael, would one day attend while in college and volunteer in the Youth Department.

Don graduated from Texas A&M University in 1964 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and received his MBA from Northwestern University. He held numerous positions at numerous companies like Hallmark, Coca-Cola, Kitchen Fresh, Judson Candies, Martin-Marietta, KCI, and USAA. His jobs took him from Chicago, to Kansas City, to Houston, to Chattanooga, and finally to San Antonio where he eventually retired before moving to Katy to be close to his sons and their families.

Don began to date Kay Louise Griffith, a striking freshman at TCU, after being setup on a blind date. It was peaches and cream from there. They married on December 28, 1964, as soon as Don graduated, just weeks before he went off to war in Vietnam. After servicing as an intelligence officer, he came home safely and the family began. Michael Don McGown, Jr was born in September of 1968 and Kevin Wayne McGown followed 14 months later in December of 1969. Being quite the handful, Don and Kay decided that was enough.

Don was a wonderful father to his sons. He never missed a ballgame, took the boys hiking, fishing, and camping as Indian Guides through the YMCA. Adventures at Camp Ocoee included swinging from vines in the woods, fishing at the same productive hole year after year, almost burning the lodge down, and sleeping with the windows accidentally open on a snowy night.

Don was also a loving husband to his dear wife, Kay. They were married a total of 57 years. They built a life of love and mutual support through the years. They served each other and served the Lord at church. They loved to cruise and went to Alaska, the Bahamas, the usual stops out of Galveston, and even the Panama Canal. Don’s final wish was for the whole family to go on a cruise, which they did, just 5 weeks before he passed.

Don was a devoted Aggie. Despite his best efforts, his sons attended Baylor and only one grandchild out of 6 went to A&M. But the Aggies were always his favorite team. True to tradition, the Aggies never lost, they just ran out of time. It was not unusual for Don to watch old A&M football games throughout the summer to gear up for the upcoming season.

But probably the thing that Don will be most remembered for is his love for the Lord. While Don had always gone to church and became a Christ-follower as a boy, he had a personal spiritual awakening in his life in the 1980’s. Probably driven by his desire for his young sons to shape up and follow Jesus, Don & Kay started taking very seriously their own personal spiritual lives while in Chattanooga. This continued when they moved to San Antonio where the family attended Shearer Hills Baptist Church. As a leader in the church, Don taught numerous Sunday School classes, was a deacon, and volunteered in countless ways, all to serve the Lord. But he wasn’t just a church attender—you could see Jesus in his words, his kindness, and his willingness to help anyone. Ultimately, the example set by Don & Kay was a key factor in both their sons being called to go into the ministry and they both serve as pastors today. Michael is the pastor at Parkway Fellowship and Kevin is the pastor at Regeneration Church, both church plants started by each.

Don will be missed greatly. His laugh, his smile, his Aggie fanaticism, his borderline hoarding (because you might need that someday), and his love for Jesus, are what we remember and love the most. He leaves behind his loving wife, Kay, two sons, Michael & Kevin and their wives, Amy & Patresa, and six grandkids, Mason and his wife, Valeria, Elena, Spencer, Abby, Libby, and Ben. There is also a great grandchild on the way which Don will see from Heaven.

We miss you so much already. Love you big.

Darell Gene Gill, a long-time resident of Plano, Texas passed away July 2, 2022 at the age of 80. He had recently moved to Cibolo, Texas to be closer to his sister, Vickie Jackson. He was born on May 15, 1942 to Delbert Gill and Thelma Mae (Wheeler) Gill in Waco, Texas where he grew up. Darell was a graduate of the 1960 class of Waco High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree from North Texas State University and also earned a master’s degree from East Texas State University. For a time, Darell played semi-pro baseball for the Waco Missions. He later used his athletic talents to coach baseball and football to budding athletes in Plano ISD. In 1994, he earned a state football championship ring when the Plano Wildcats won the state title. The Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association awarded Darell as the first recipient of the Texas High School Assistant Coach of the year. In addition to coaching, Darell was a teacher for over 30 years.

Darell was a member of the Freemasons and a licensed pilot. He loved to fly and in 1985, the Plano Daily Star-Courier wrote an article about Darell teaching flight training to flying club students.

Darell was a very active member with FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and member of the Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas. He was a loving father, brother, uncle and friend. Darell will be missed dearly by those who knew and loved him.

He is survived by his sister, Janice Meadows of Griffin, Georgia, Vickie Jackson and husband, John of San Antonio, Texas, and Kathy Gill Foil of Brenham, Texas; brother, Travis Gill and wife, Pam of Victoria, Texas; nieces, Jennifer Nelson, Vanessa Presson, Amy Horn, and Kara Koen; and a host of other loving family and friends.

Darell was preceded in death by his daughter, Mandy Gill Gupta and parents, Thelma and Mozine Wood.

A memorial service was held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, July 14, 2022 at Turrentine-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013. The service was recorded and can be seen by clicking on the following link: https://celebrationoflife.tv/blog/darell-gene-gill.

w/ David McPhail	w/Gwen Ewing Hodges