The Brownwood Education Foundation will present two new awards at this year’s inaugural Lion’s Pride Gala, titled “Sunset on the Serengeti,” to be held on Saturday, September 17.
Texas Bank and Bostick’s Auto & Truck Sales are underwriting these awards. The annual Lion’s Legacy award will honor an individual who, through employment, volunteerism or business, has made a lasting impact on the Brownwood Independent School District. This year’s Lion’s Legacy Award will be presented to long-time educator Mrs. Frances Stovall. The BHS Outstanding Alumni Award will be presented to a Brownwood High School graduate who has achieved extraordinary success through his or her personal, professional and philanthropic endeavors. Mr. Paul Waldrop, Jr. will receive this year’s Alumni award.
Legacy Award recipient Frances Stovall was a long-time secondary English teacher in the Brownwood ISD. She taught English II at the high school level for sixteen years, after which she taught English IV for another 21 years, making her service to the Brownwood Independent School District a 37-year career.
Leaving the town of her birth, Brownwood, to live on West Texas ranches and to experience the industrial city life of Pasadena, Texas, Frances Spain returned to graduate from Brownwood High School and Howard Payne University. After marrying Bill Stovall, the legendary Brownwood Bulletin sports editor, she began her teaching career in the Brownwood Independent School District. She received her master’s degree from Howard Payne and attended seven Texas universities for post-graduate work. As Ms. Stovall taught at Brownwood High School, she also taught at Howard Payne University during the summer as well as evening classes. Retiring from BISD in 2003, she became an English instructor at Howard Payne through 2009. Currently, she is on staff at the Brownwood Public Library.Local attorney Mike Smith, who is also a member of the Brownwood Education Foundation Board of Directors, was a student of Ms. Stovall from 1989-1990. Mike said, “I was fortunate to have many great teachers from pre-school through high school here in Brownwood. But Ms. Stovall had—and still has—a grace, style, and competence that was unique to her. She had high expectations of her students and pushed us to work hard. She is such a delight and it is very exciting that she is being honored this way. I’m proud to have been one her students.”
The Stovall family includes son, Mitch Stovall and his wife Shanna, both of whom teach at Denton Guyer High School. They live in Corinth with their children, Abby and Si. Daughter Stephanie is working on her counseling certification and lives in Brownwood. Bill Stovall passed away in 1997, leaving his own legacy of service to the Brownwood ISD, given his many years of solid coverage of area sports. Mrs. Stovall resides in Brown County on her twelve acres with her three head of cats. The Brownwood Education Foundation is proud to present the Lion’s Legacy Award to Mrs. Stovall, as she has truly exemplified the excellence in teaching that the Foundation is advancing through its classroom grant program.
Area business owner Paul Waldrop will receive the Brownwood High School Outstanding Alumni Award. A 1969 BHS graduate, Mr. Waldrop began working alongside his father, Paul Waldrop, Sr., in 1972 in the family construction business. Waldrop Construction is now in its 70th year of operation. Father and son ran the company for forty years until Paul Sr.’s passing.
Today, Paul runs Waldrop Construction in partnership with his son, Sam. The company provides pre-construction, construction management, and design-build processes in the commercial construction industry, having completed hundreds of projects, including many school buildings and special-use facilities throughout Texas and the southwest. Of Mr. Waldrop’s particular work done on behalf of Brownwood ISD, Kevin Gabaree, BISD Assistant Superintendent, said, “Paul Waldrop is the most humble and honest businessman with whom I have ever had the pleasure to work. We worked closely together during the 2005 Brownwood ISD bond election and resulting construction projects, so I had the opportunity to spend many hours with him in his office. I saw him repeatedly make decisions on our behalf, often times at his business and personal expense. And yet, every decision Paul made was for the good of Brownwood ISD and our students. Without a doubt, Paul’s servant leadership has been of great benefit to BISD, and I am pleased to see Paul receive this honor. I can think of no other person more deserving of the Outstanding Alumni Award.”
After graduating from Brownwood High School in 1969, Paul married Lynda Cross and attended Howard Payne University. He served in the Texas National Guard from 1972-1978. Paul has been continuously active in community endeavors, including serving on the boards of the Brown County Chamber of Commerce, the Brownwood Industrial Foundation, the Brown County Youth Fair Association, the Heart of Texas Girl Scouts Council, Brown County Boys and Girls Club, New Horizons Ranch and Home for Children and the B.C. Drinkard Foundation. Currently, Mr. Waldrop is a member of the Brown County Hospital Authority Board, the Texas Bank Board of Directors, the Central Texas Foundation Board, the West Texas Chapter of Associated General Contractors, the Texas Building Branch AGC and is a trustee on the board of Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.
Paul and Lynda are active members of Coggin Avenue Baptist Church. Their family includes daughter Becky Warner and husband Phil of Plano and their children, Hayden and Andrew; daughter Michelle Brasher and husband Tim of Brownwood, and their children, Blake, Lilly and Abby; and son Sam and wife Jenny of Brownwood, and their children, Ethan, Eric, and Eli.
Having been philanthropic in many area charities and causes over the year, Paul Waldrop exemplifies the type of service that the Brownwood Education Foundation wants to foster through its Alumni program.
Tickets for the event are $75 per person, or a table is available for $1,000, and may be purchased at the Brownwood Independent School District’s Central Office (2707 Southside Drive), the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce, or in the lobby locations of Prosperity Bank, Texas Bank and Citizen’s National Bank. Online purchases may be made at the Foundation’s website of www.supportbisd.org. The Lion’s Pride Gala is co-sponsored by Prosperity Bank and Bruner Auto Group. Additional event section sponsors are Big Country Ford, Citizens National Bank, Haynes Law Firm, Kohler, and Southwest Food Services. Information about the upcoming Gala and the Brownwood Education Foundation may be obtained by calling Executive Director Priscilla Monson at 325.643.5644.
