Waylon Reese Carroll

Waylon Reese Carroll went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Saturday, February 7, in the loving presence of his daugh-ter Donna Smith. As was his prayer, he lived life fully until his last day. Waylon was born April 20, 1929, on a small farm in the hill country community of Izoro, Texas, to George Milton and Minnie Naomi Reese Carroll. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters Rotha Smith and Letha Irvine, and his wife of 58 years, Ruth.

Waylon learned the values of faith and hard work on the family farm and developed a love for agriculture that never waned. Educated in a one-room school house through eighth grade, Waylon graduated from Lampasas High School, where he was encouraged by a teacher to set his sights on a college education. He earned his bachelor’s de-gree in Agricultural Education in 1950 and a Master of Agricultural Education in 1954 from Texas Tech University.

He first worked in Hereford, Texas, training returning servicemen in agricultural science, before he took a job as the vocational agriculture teacher in Canyon, Texas. There, he met Ruth, a city girl from Philadelphia who had come to Texas to start a new life. The city girl and the farm boy were married in March 1951, and they shared a wonderful life together for 58 years, enjoying square dancing and round dancing clubs, raising a family and serving the school and church community until she passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2009.

Waylon and Ruth moved to Lubbock in 1955 where he opened Monterey High School as one of its first vocational agriculture teachers. He later became Monterey’s vice-principal in 1965. After serving as principal at Atkins Junior High School from 1977 to 1983, he

returned to Monterey where he served as principal until his retirement from LISD in 1989. He was the longest serving original faculty member at Monterey. Students, parents and colleagues will attest to the unwavering energy, support and dedication he gave to the Monterey community, sponsoring band trips and cheering on students at games near and far.

In 1989, Waylon started a second career as principal of TTUISD, guiding students through the program from its early days of

correspondence classes by mail to online classes. During his 60-year career as an educator and administrator, Waylon never faltered in his desire to help guide individual students to improve themselves through education. In 2002 he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the Texas Tech College of Agricultural Science and Natural Re-sources.

Faith played a huge role in Waylon’s life and his love for the Lord was at the center of his life. He served as a deacon at First Baptist Church and remained active as a Sunday school department leader until his final days.

Waylon witnessed the agricultural industry develop from his own small family farm where he plowed with mules to the modern

industry of today. During his tenure as a vocational agriculture teacher, he also served as an FFA advisor. Following his retirement from LISD, he served for ten years as the Agricultural Manager for the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. Preserving this heritage in order to educate future generations was tremendously important to him, and he took great joy in helping to establish and nurture the Bayer American Museum of Agriculture. He spent countless hours volunteering in roles large and small, from organizing a tractor display to giving tours to serving on its board of directors.

But, most of all, Waylon was a devoted and loving family man. He leaves a great void in the lives of his surviving family: son David and wife Celia of McKinney, granddaughter Margaret, husband Todd Wormington and great-grandchildren Adam and Emma of

Alexandria, Virginia; daughter Donna Smith of Lubbock and grandsons Joshua of Irving, Timothy and wife Kristen of Austin and Jonathan of Lubbock; son Don, wife Kathy and grandchildren Jack, Elisa and Wil of Dallas; and brother Varnell and wife Bobbie Ann of Salado, Texas.

A memorial service will be conducted at First Baptist Church, Lubbock, at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 11th. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 10th at Resthaven Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Waylon and Ruth Carroll Family Scholarship Endowment in the Texas Tech College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources or to the Bayer Museum of American Agriculture. Condolences may be offered at www.resthavenfuneralhome.com