Dateline: April 27, 2006

CC recognizes two distinguished alumni

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Clarendon College Ex-Students Association bestowed its Distinguished Alumnus Award on two former students during the 68th annual Alumni Reunion last Saturday in the Bairfield Activity Center.

Austin attorney Broadus Spivey and the late Hazel Cole Brandon were each recognized for professional and personal achievements, civic responsibility, and continuing support of Clarendon College.

Spivey, a 1956 graduate of Clarendon College, was born in Hall County, and attended schools in Lakeview, Friendship, Memphis, and Goodnight before coming to Clarendon High School where he graduated in 1954. He married Ruth Ann King, and the couple moved to Austin, where Spivey graduated from the UT School of Law in 1962.

Spivey practiced law in Lubbock for ten years and then returned to Austin, where he has practiced law as a civil trial lawyer in all kinds of civil litigation and is now a partner in the firm of Spivey & Grigg, LLP. He was president of the Texas State Bar in 2001-2002.

Brandon was born in 1910 in Van Zandt County, Texas, and came from Cuerero, New Mexico, to Donley County in 1922.  She married James Richard Brandon on March 17, 1936, in Clarendon.

From the time she was a little girl, Hazel always wanted to be a teacher. Her goal was out of reach, however, because of her family’s finances. They could afford some of the costs but not all of them. Dean R.E. Drennan encouraged her to enroll in Clarendon College, and he and President H.T. Burton helped find ways for her education to be paid for. Her one year at Clarendon College gave her the start she needed to pursue her dream, and she never forgot that.

“Clarendon College was her hero,” her sister, Jimmie Matheson, said Saturday.

She was a school teacher for 33 years before retiring in 1974. Hazel was a member of the Texas State Retired Teachers Association.  She was also a member of the Clarendon Order of the Eastern Star Chapter #6 and had held various offices within that organization.

Before her death in 1998, Brandon was a faithful alumna, and she attended the annual alumni reunion regularly; and each year she quietly made some donation to the college, which had given her so much. Her award was accepted by her sister.

Other activities this weekend were the recognition of and presentation of Golden Diplomas to members of the Class of 1956; recognition of current outstanding CC students; and remarks on the current thoughts about higher education by CC President Myles Shelton.

Speakers for the evening included Jimmy Blackerby of the Class of 1966 and Broadus Spivey. Both men spoke of Clarendon College’s influence on their lives and the need for ex-students to support the college.

Blackerby discussed the life of a young man who attended the school 40 years ago, and the success that young man found in life after he attended Clarendon College – a life that included graduating from the University of Texas, an honored military career, success in business, and finding the love of his life. He then revealed that young man to be himself and said that his perspective had changed over the years.

“When you get closer to that point in your life where there are fewer days ahead than there are behind, the measuring stick you use for being successful changes,” he said. “You find that it’s not how much money you have or how many boards you sit on or how many honors you’ve received, but rather it’s how well you’ve served your family, your community, your country, and your God.”

Spivey talked about the characters he had known growing up in and around Donley County and of how the lessons he learned at Clarendon College followed him through life. In all his travels as an attorney, he said he frequently comes across others who either were from Clarendon or had attended Clarendon College.

Spivey also talked about his love for the college and the people who have worked there.

“These halls today are not the same halls that we walked, but they are just as hallowed,” he said. “They are not hallowed halls because of the brick or mortar or light fixtures, but because of the people who make up Clarendon College.”

An estimated 190 alumni, students, parents, and faculty attended this year’s banquet.

Ex-Student officers elected for the coming year during the Saturday business meeting include President Bud Schaffer, Vice President Chris Clifford, Secretary Hazel Guy, and directors Genella Eads, Neva Spier, and Mary Neil Risley. Also serving on the board are directors Frankie Henson and Shirley Bulman and immediate past president Jewel Houston.