In the heart of Texas
March 12, 2010 (Friday)
These blogs are about the towns I lived in after leaving Houston in the fall of 1949. I started as a student at Baylor University shortly after Thanksgiving, 1949. Waco, Texas became the second home away from home after leaving Houston (see the March 11 blog about Marshall, where I lived for 9 weeks). Waco is in the heart of Central Texas, halfway between Dallas and Austin, on Interstate 35.
I never joined a church in Waco, because I went with Herb Zimmerman to Prairie Point Baptist Church near Groesbeck, and after about 4 months to Groesbeck First Baptist as Associate Pastor. I became pastor at Oletha Baptist, 15 miles southeast of Groesbeck, in the fall of 1951, in the last quarter of my sophomore year at college.
After graduation from Baylor and one semester at the seminary in Fort Worth, Wanda and I married and moved to Lampasas to pastor Northside Baptist Church, which was about the same distance from Waco and Austin, so we went to either city when we wanted to “go to town.” Since Wanda’s folks lived close to Waco, we went there a lot. Several years later we moved to Kosse, and Waco again became our “big” town and also many of our church members were in Waco hospitals when sick. So we went to Waco quite often.
In May of 1953 a tornado hit Waco, killing 114 people, injuring hundreds and destroying many buildings in town. One of my professors was killed with his wife in his automobile. Pancake-shaped hunks of metal that once were cars, now crushed by falling debris, were to be seen all over town. It happened just weeks before my graduation.
One day Pat Neff, former governor of Texas, past president of Baylor, and a Baptist giant, sat down to have lunch with me in the student center cafeteria. He approached my table, asking if the seat was taken, then extended his hand saying, “Neff is my name.” Unnecessary words! The administration building, focal point of the campus, bore his name. His portrait was in several places on the campus and his name was legendary. That was a day I’ll never forget.
I think I could write a book about all my Waco experiences. But I must stop here if I write something about each Texas town I lived in. Next stop: Fort Worth.
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*More about Pat Neff
Me in front of Pat Neff Hall (wearing my denim jacket)