Obituary: Mary McCall

Mary McCall, the former first lady of Baylor University, died Nov. 13 in Dallas at the age of 95. She began her Baylor experience as a 16-year-old student. She was a teacher and counselor in the Waco Independent School District. Mary McCallHer first husband, Lloyd Russell, was the Baylor baseball coach and chairman of the department of health, physical education and recreation prior to his death in 1968. On Christmas Day in 1970, she married Baylor University President Abner McCall. She supervised construction and decoration of the president’s home, Allbritton House. Also, as president of Baylor’s Round Table, she challenged members to establish the Round Table Scholarship Fund to benefit Baylor students. She also established the Lloyd O. Russell Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Abner V. and Mary McCall Scholarship Fund. She served at First Baptist Church in Waco as a Sunday school teacher and trustee. In 1995, she was recognized by then-Gov. George W. Bush as a “Yellow Rose of Texas.” That also was the year of the death of her second husband. She moved to Dallas in 2003 and joined Park Cities Baptist Church. The McCall family received the initial annual First Families of Baylor Award, and she also received Baylor’s Founders Award for service and dedication to the university. She is survived by her daughters, Linda Letbetter and Nancy Chapman; stepson, Dick McCall; stepdaughters, Bette Miller, Ann Chroman and Kathleen Sigtenhorst; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.