Class Notes

ClassNotes

’60s | EDDIE E. TRICE ’68 went to work fulltime in college administration following graduation. In 1980 he became head pastor of what is now South Plains church in Levelland, Texas. Eddie just celebrated 35 years of ministry in the same church!

’80s | DAVID OSBORN ’83 has been promoted to president and COO of WestStar Bank in El Paso, Texas. WestStar Bank is a community bank with $1.1 billion in total assets. He has 32 years of banking experience mainly in commercial lending. David is married to Cindy Sides Osborn ‘85 and they have three daughters.

MINDY PATTERSON

’84 was named assistant city manager for the City of Abilene in November 2015. She has work for the city for 24 years, most recently as the director of finance. In her new position she will oversee the departments of Finance, Community Services, Transportation Services and Administrative Services. Congratulations Mindy!

ROBERT “RANDY”

HAYES ’86 retired from public education in May, 2015 after 29 years as a band director. He now serves as Minister of Music/ Children at First Baptist Church of Whitney, TX. Randy enjoys membership in “The Singing Men of Texas” and “The Waco Community Band.” Sheri Ditterline Hayes ’88 continues to teach in the Whitney Independent School District where she serves as Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Band Director. Randy and Sheri love spending time with their daughter, Chelsei, and granddaughter, Madison.

LYNNE (HULL) HARRIS ’87 received her Master’s in Human Services in 2012 and received her Education Specialist’s degree in management and leadership October, 2015. On December 18, 2015, her oldest daughter got married in a medieval/LOTR themed wedding. She has worked in the testing center of Indian River State College for over 8 years now and this year marked her 25th wedding anniversary and a half-century of life!

’90s | CLAY BULLS ’95, this year’s Spirit of McMurry award recipient, was appointed in October 2015 to serve on the Texas Physician Assistant Board by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The board issues physician assistant licenses to qualified individuals to practice in Texas. Congratulations Clay!

DR. ELAINE DISPO ’03, a communication graduate, completed her Ph.D. in leadership from Our Lady of the Lake University in Fall 2015. Her dissertation was about intercollegiate student-athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ leadership and self-reported satisfaction, athletic and academic performance. Elaine, a Frank W. Buckley scholar and Sam M. Walton fellow who earned her M.A. in communication systems management at Angelo State University in 2006, is teaching business and communication courses, currently for Cisco College and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She attributes McMurry with her first exposure to “Servant Leadership,” which she further studied in her doctoral degree and presented to her higher education colleagues. Elaine, who was inducted into the Psi Chi international honor society in psychology while at McMurry, will give a talk about her sport psychology research at the Southwestern Psychological Association conference in Dallas this April.

MICHELE ANDERSON

SCHMIDT ’95, a resident of Coronado Nursing Center, was elected this past fall as Coronado Resident’s Council Vice President for 2015 and 2016. While at McMurry, Michele’s major was political science. She was the first political science student to ever graduate with departmental honors in her major.

KAISI (FOSTER) CUNNINGHAM

’99 is now serving as Family Ministries Coordinator for Westminster UMC in Houston, TX. Kaisi received her Master of Divinity Degree and Master of Arts in Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary following graduation from McMurry. Congratulations on the new position, Kaisi! immediate and long term support to our nation’s wounded, ill and injured Special Forces Green Berets, their families, and the families of our fallen.

HUNTER SIMS ’07, head football coach at Howard Payne University (HPU), was just announced in March 2016 as the new Athletic Director for the university. Sims will serve a dual role as coach and athletic director beginning in fall 2016. He was named head football coach at the end of the fall 2015 semester. Sims additionally served three years as an assistant at HPU before being promoted to offensive coordinator and assistant head coach in 2012. Congratulations Hunter!

’00s | DR. NICOLE HORN BYRD ’05 is working in Temple, TX as a Physical Therapist in Pediatrics.

FRANCES ARIAS ’07

has accepted the position of Operations Manager at the Green Beret Foundation, which is headquartered in San Antonio, TX. Frances has moved back to Texas after spending the last seven years working and studying in Washington, D.C. The Green Beret Foundation provides

ALUMNI AUTHORS

In 2014 LYNNE (HULL) HARRIS ’87 self-published a science fiction novel, Averin: Corwa’s Medallion, and a Bible study book, New Covenant Studies through Amazon’s Create Space and Kindle.

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