LUCILE HOLT

The following bio was taken from page 242 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

Lucile Holt was the second child in the Marvin and Abbie Holt family, and she found many relatives surrounding her. She had one set of great great grandparents, four sets of great-grandparents, and both sets of grandparents had lived in Rusk County before the Civil War.

The first Beall landed in America around 1658 in Maryland, and his descendants scattered, with many settling in Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama.

Several branches of the family settled around Church Hill and New Prospect. Three of the Smith and Beall ancestors were charter members of the Church Hill Methodist Church, with later generations becoming members. This was the church that Lucile joined in her early years.

Lucile had a great desire to learn, and she received much encouragement. However, one of her experiments was very disastrous. Not having seen too much of the outside world at the tender age of three, she decided to find out how the eyes worked on the doll Santa had just delivered. She cracked its head, and having discovered the magic which made the eyes open and shut, became very upset that it would not go back together again.

She always enjoyed books and read as many as were available to her. After finishing Henderson High School, she taught in the winters and went to college in the summers. She received a B.A. Degree from Stephen F. Austin and an M.A. Degree from George Peabody in Nashville, with English as her major. She had several teachers and fellow classmates who were noteworthy authors, and from letters she received from them, they had much respect for her and her ability.

Many of her forty-seven years of teaching were in Laneville and Henderson High Schools teaching English. She had many ex-students from both schools that never seemed to forget the extra miles that she went with them. She returned their love and respect as long as she lived. She was never too busy or tired to help any student that asked for assistance, and there were times when she insisted on giving after-hours help to some who were not overly desirous but were in no position to protest.

While I, Grace, was talking to an ex-student that Lucile taught quite a few years back, he was telling me how much he appreciated her. I said, "I think some thought she required too much." He replied, "No, but her discipline I never questioned."

One of Lucile’s students told another teacher, "I like Miss Holt, but I don’t like for her to tell me what I am thinking before I know myself."

Lucile was greatly touched and very pleased the last few months of her life by the scholarship in her honor that was presented by her many friends to a deserving English student.

Many young college students express to us, her family, their appreciation for having had their Senior English under Lucille, and that they "breezed" through their college English courses. We are very proud of her contribution to education.

Submitted by her family.