GRADY HOLT

The following bio was taken from page 241 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Cemeteries of Texas

I am a twin to Grace Holt and a descendant of all those mentioned by my family members.

After graduating from Henderson High School in 1933, I entered East Texas State Teachers College, Commerce, Texas. I dropped out for a while to do construction work but later returned and in 1940 received my B. S. degree with a major in industrial arts.

These were depression years and jobs were not plentiful, but I accepted a job at Whiteface Public School, near Lubbock.

Ouida Wylie, daughter of W. R. (Willie) Wylie and Nellie Anderson, and I were married August 21, 1940. She was the secretary for the district attorney at that time. We packed our belongings and with some apprehension, headed for Whiteface. Upon arriving, we could not find a place to live and found a new classroom with no workbenches or equipment. My teaching career would probably have ended abruptly had I not arrived with a new bride. However, we experienced a successful school year and made many friends while juggling our needs with a meager income.

We were pleased to return to Henderson to teach. Ouida worked as a school secretary the following year.

During World War II, we lived in Champaign, Illinois, where I taught aircraft sheet metal for the Army Air Force Technical Training Command at Rantoul, Illinois, and Ouida found secretarial work in Champaign.

Our son, Steve, was born November 3, 1945, in Urbana, Illinois. About a year later, we returned to Henderson to teach, and Ouida eventually returned to work as secretary to R. C. Lee and later to E. W. Adams.

Our daughter, Mary Jean, made her appearance July 7, 1954. She was the first girl in this generation of Holts, a fact which pleased us all.

In 1957, we moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where I taught at Fair Park High School until retirement and where Ouida retired from Riley-Beaird as an executive secretary.

We encouraged our children to seek an education, and they exceeded our expectation. Steve graduated from Fair Park High School, then received his B.A. degree from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge and his M.A. from Northwestern University at Natchitoches, Louisiana. He married Jeannette McGee, who was encouraged and supported him in all his efforts. Steve was employed by Centenary College for four years serving two years as Dean of Students. Jeannette acquired her B.A. degree and bore us two grandchildren, Abby and Eric, who are now eight and nine years of age. Steve received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg, and Jeannette received her Master’s Degree in psychology, later receiving her certification as a psychologist. Both are psychologists for the State of Arkansas and reside at Maumelle, near Little Rock.

Mary Jean graduated summa cum laude from Northeast State University at Monroe, Louisiana. She was awarded a French scholarship by the State of Louisiana and attended the Universite Paul Valery at Montpellier, in Southern France. She visited several countries in Europe. This was a very enriching experience for her. She returned to L.S.U., Baton Rouge and received her Master’s Degree in library science and presently is employed as a (medical librarian) at the Charity School of Nursing in New Orleans. She recently married Bill Snider, who is employed by the Social Security Administration in New Orleans.

We have renewed our membership with the First Methodist Church, and we are happy to be back in Rusk County again among our family members and good friends.

Submitted by Grady & Ouida Holt