Saturday, September 7, 2024
In her obituary, Lizzie Lockard was described as a “gray-haired lady who had greeted thousands of boys and girls on that momentous day when they first started school.”
Lockard, a native of Alabama, would begin her teaching career, which would span more than half a century, beginning in Caldwell County, Texas in 1888. She began teaching in Gatesville in 1889, then returned to Caldwell County, but, eventually, returned to Gatesville to teach in 1902 where she remained as a primary school teacher for the next 40 years, retiring in 1941.
In addition to her teaching duties, she was the primary advisor of the Gatesville school from 1913 through 1932. She was also the guardian of the local Campfire Girls from 1914 to 1925, and shortly afterward organized the first Coryell County Girl Scouts troop.
Over the years, Lockard can be credited with inspiring a few students who went on to do great things. According to a 2014 article about her life that appeared in the Coryell Kin publication, “She had many students who became successful businessmen and professionals. Among her students were Truman Bigham, economics professor at the University of Florida; W.L. Ayres, professor at the University of Michigan; Lytle Powell, a concert pianist; Murray Kendrick, a voice teacher at Texas State College for Women; Dr. Newton Mayo, superintendent of a hospital in Brownwood; Dr. O.K. Mayo, the owner of several Texas dental offices; Mayo Holt, the winner of a Pulitzer scholarship; and Jack Reesing, the Outstanding Student at Baylor University from 1940-41 and recipient of a Tulane scholarship.”
Her summers were spent travelling and studying – always wishing to expand her own education and knowledge. Among the universities she attended to gain additional training were the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the University of Texas. Additionally, she took many specially conducted tours to points of interest and historical sites across the United States, including New York City, Boston, and Virginia. She would always return from these trips with new knowledge to share with her students in Gatesville.
Upon her retirement, it was written that she had been an educator in Gatesville for 40 years and that her teaching career had spanned 53 years. In the years following her retirement, Lockard would always enjoy it when former students would drop by for a visit at her home on Leon Street. Students would often recall her teaching as a great inspiration.
Lockard died in 1951 at the age of 82. She was buried at Restland Cemetery in her adopted hometown of Gatesville.
Five years following her death, in 1956, the Gatesville High School future teachers selected the “Lizzie Lockard Future Teachers of America” as the name for their organization.
