Memorials › John Roy McLemore

John Roy McLemore

8 Jan 1896 – 30 Apr 1961

Birth8 Jan 1896
Death30 Apr 1961
CemeteryEvergreen Cemetery
Paris , Lamar County , Texas , USA
Added byLadyDi_60 on 16 Mar 2016
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57771340

Bio

THE PARIS NEWS, 30 Apr 1961. 'On the eve of his retirement after 35 years association with Paris Junior College, Dr. J.R. McLemore, its president since 1929, died of a heart attack Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at his home, 2343 Culbertson St. Due to retire within a month as head of the college, he had been named honoree for the Ex-Students Association annual spring banquet on May 20, the same group having presented an appreciation plaque to him at the 1960 fall homecoming game. Joining the faculty of the two year old college in 1926 as basketball coach and instructor, he became its head three years later, and guided its growth, from obscure quarters in Paris High School basement and a shoestring budget, to a million and a half dollar plant, and a high scholastic standing. Monday evening, 'Doctor Mac's' body will lie from 7 to 9 p.m. in DeShong Chapel on the college campus, and Tuesday at 2 p.m. service will be held at Fry and Gibbs Funeral Home. Dr. Ronald Prince of First Baptist Church, where Dr. McLemore was a deacon, will officiate, assisted by the Rev. John Shuler of First Methodist Church. Interment will be made in Evergreen Cemetery. Surviving are Mrs. McLemore, the former Miss Willie Mae Robinson; these children: Capt. John Robinson (Pondus) McLemore, US Air Force, Panama City, Fla.; Mrs. Newton O. Felps, Baytown, and Mrs. Wallace Finfrock, Dallas; four grandchildren; these sisters and brothers; Mrs. Robert Morgan, Kirbyville; Mrs. Ollie Newman and Mrs. Clyde Wilkinson, Houston; Frank McLemore, Beaumont, and Ivan McLemore and Lee McLemore, both of Jasper. Son of Samuel M. and Rose Ella (Bean) McLemore, John Roy McLemore was born at Erin, Jasper County, 8 Jan 1896. He attended Sam Houston State Teachers College, Huntsville, and later, East Texas State at Commerce, receiving his master's degree from the University of Texas, and the honorary LLD from Howard Payne College. He studied for a time at the University of Dijon in France, after World War I service with the 90th Division, and wore the Purple Heart for injuries during that period. He married Miss Robinson at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. R.M. Robinson at Biardstown, 27 Dec 1920, and they taught the nearby Burnett school together for two years. In the spring of 1926, Dr. McLemore taught French before joining the PJC faculty here for the fall term. He became the first president of the Texas Public Junior College Association; headed also the Junior College Athletic Association, the Texas Association of Universities and Colleges, and was treasurer of the Committee on Cooperation between Colleges and Public Schools and was listed in 'Who's Who in America.' Tombstone is inscribed, 'TX, PFC, Company A, 358th Infantry, WW I, PH.'

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