AUSTIN, Texas–In celebration of Lillian Enloe Woods’ 100th birthday and to honor her and her two sisters, Betty Enloe and Gladys Enloe Courtney, for their lifelong dedication and contribution to numerous East Texas public school systems, friends and family have established the Enloe Endowed Scholarship in Education at The University of Texas at Austin.
The endowment, which is supplemented by funds from Pennzoil’s Matching Gift Program, also serves to recognize the brief teaching careers of siblings Carl Enloe, George Enloe and Ruth Enloe Crews.
The three Enloe sisters, each of whom attended UT Austin, helped shape the lives of thousands of Texas children during their teaching careers, which cumulatively exceeded 100 years. They encouraged hundreds of their students to pursue higher education, and with this endowment, the Enloe family hopes to continue encouraging young people to follow their footsteps into a teaching career.
Annual scholarships will be available to eligible students from public schools located in Tyler, Polk, Jasper, Trinity and Brazos Counties who are seeking an undergraduate degree in education at UT Austin.
“We are grateful and honored to be the stewards of this valuable endowment, which commemorates the tremendous contributions made by the Enloe family to education in our state,” said Dr. Manuel J. Justiz, dean of the College of Education. “It is entirely fitting that the Enloe Endowed Scholarship in Education at The University of Texas at Austin will forever assist talented future teachers and, through them, the children of Texas.
“We are particularly grateful to Lillian Enloe Woods, whose 100th birthday inspired the creation of this endowment, and we wish her a very happy centennial celebration.”
The honorees are the children of the late John D. and Nancy Barnes Enloe and the grandchildren of David C. Enloe, an early East Texas pioneer, teacher and lawman. The Enloe girls grew up near the now nonexistent lumber town of Mobile, located west of Colmesneil, Texas.
Lillian Enloe Woods, born on July 29, 1897, attended public school in Mobile and began her teaching career in 1913 at the age of 16. Her first teaching position was in a one-room school called New Hope near Cleveland, Texas. She subsequently taught in several small schools in Tyler County, including Mobile, Bethany, Sunny Dell, Mt. Zion and Colmesneil. In the early 1920s she was offered a position in Kirbyville, Texas, where she met and married her husband, B.A. Woods.
Fascinated by the teaching profession, Lillian enrolled at UT Austin, where she received a bachelor of science degree in 1928. She returned to Kirbyville to teach home economics and taught there until her retirement in 1969. In addition to her degree from UT, Lillian received in 1918 a Junior Certificate from Sam Houston Normal Institute, now Sam Houston State University, and a master’s degree in education from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1955. She currently lives with her daughter in Fort Worth.
Betty Enloe, born on Jan. 28, 1906, attended public school in Mobile and Kirbyville. After graduating from high school in Kirbyville in 1926, she attended UT Austin, then later transferred to Stephen F. Austin State University, where she received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics.Betty began her teaching career in Sunny Dell, located near Colmesneil. In 1934, she was hired to teach math in the Colmesneil Independent School District. During her teaching career, Betty taught all grades except the first grade; and although math was her most frequent assignment, she also taught science, Spanish and English.
Upon receiving a master’s degree in library science from Sam Houston State University in 1951, Betty was assigned the task of setting up a state accredited library for Colmesneil High School. She served as head librarian for the Colmesneil ISD until her retirement in 1972. She presently resides in Colmesneil.
Gladys Enloe Courtney, born on Nov. 8, 1909, attended public school at Mobile and Kirbyville and began her teaching career in 1928 at a school in the small community of Emilee, near Colmesneil. Later she accepted a teaching position in Moscow, Polk County, Texas.
After her marriage in 1932, Gladys left teaching to raise a family. She reentered the profession in 1950 at Big Sandy, Polk County, and subsequently taught at Groveton, Rockdale and Bryan. She retired from Bryan ISD in 1970 and lived in Trinity until her death in 1988.
Gladys attended UT Austin for two years, starting in 1926. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Sam Houston State University in 1950 and did post-graduate study at Texas A&M University.
