Donor Stories

Donor Stories

Clark

Through an unusual endowment, two gifted writers have created awards and a retreat for future gifted writers at Texas State.

L. D. Clark and his late wife LaVerne Harrell Clark were both members of the Texas Institute of Letters. L. D. is a writer of novels and short stories (A Bright Tragic Thing, Lone Journey and Other Questing Stories) who taught English for many years at the University of Arizona and other institutions. LaVerne was a novelist, folklorist and photographer (Keepers of the Earth, They Sang for Horses) who founded the University of Arizona Poetry Center. Works of both of them focus on the Southwest.

The L. D. Clark and LaVerne Harrell Clark Literary Endowment will benefit the couple’s two passions – literature and Southwestern studies. With the university’s outstanding creative writing program in the Department of English and its Southwestern Regional Humanities Center, L. D. Clark says that Texas State seemed a natural choice.

The couple committed to the university their family treasures – their ranch in Bastrop County and their home in Smithville. The land had been in LaVerne’s family since shortly after the Civil War, so the decision to contribute it was not made lightly.

The sale of the 240-acre ranch created the endowment, which will fund two annual awards to be given at the Texas Institute of Letters banquet, and the recipients will reside in the home as writers-in-residents for four to six months.

“This is a gift whose stewardship we take quite seriously,” said Tom Kowalski, chair of the Development Foundation in accepting the gift. “We believe the donors have chosen wisely by entrusting us with it.”

Little

After their parents died, the children of Azalete and Byron Little could think of no better tribute to them than to endow a scholarship in their name.

The Dr. Azalete and Byron Little Endowed Scholarship benefits current and future students who major in family and consumer science, show financial need and keep up their grades.

The choice of family and consumer science was obvious: After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, Azalete taught home economics at Texas State for 24 years while rearing her four children with her husband, a longtime assistant manager of the popular Wuest’s Grocery Store. Twice she served as chair of her department. Azalete retired in 1977.

“Mother’s courses were always very popular, even with non-majors,” remembers daughter Judy. “She was a great teacher, for one thing, and she taught sex education! Students loved her. It wasn’t unusual to see students staying at our house until they found a place to live.”

In this way, the children – Jan Little, Laredo, Class of 1961; Karen Little, Canyon Lake, Class of 1966; Judy, San Marcos, Class of 1969; and Byron Jr., Fayetteville, Ga., Class of 1972 – were also giving back to their own alma mater. The daughters chose teaching as a career and the son chose the Air Force. Daughter Judy has taught family and consumer science at Texas State for 34 years.

The couple who were remembered for affecting the lives of many people will continue to affect lives for years to come.

Manford

Endowing a scholarship is Madeleine Manford’s way of supporting future generations and creating a legacy that will outlive her.

Madeleine graduated from Taylor (Texas) High School during the turmoil of World War II and married Travis Manford after the war. They moved to Luling, where Madeleine worked in secretarial positions for several years before deciding to go to college. She’s been a lifelong learner ever since.

She earned her bachelor’s degree at Texas State in 1966 and began teaching English and history in Luling. After receiving her master’s in 1972, she chose to study only the things that interested her. She retired from teaching in 1991 and continues to study and travel extensively.

“I believe we are committed to helping those around us, to living a life that matters and making an impact,” she says.

To that end she established the Madeleine Teaff Manford Endowed Scholarship, funding the award with a combination of resources, from a planned gift to a stock transfer and outright cash gifts. The scholarship will benefit Taylor and Luling high school graduates with priority given to students who plan to study engineering.

“By selecting seniors from specified regional high schools, Mrs. Manford has shown her vision of a Texas made stronger by education,” says Harold Stern, director of the Ingram School of Engineering at Texas State. “Her endowment has helped strengthen our student body, our engineering program and Texas State University.”