Mrs. Lillie W. Cole

Duane's take

The official marker's the word I'm going by here, so let me tell you what it says about Mrs. Lillie W. Cole.

Now, Lavernia, Texas, is where this story begins. A woman born there, Lillie W. Cole, who would one day be remembered on a marker in Reeves County as an outstanding and dedicated teacher, and a public benefactor.

Those aren't words folks throw around lightly out here in West Texas. In 1906, Lillie came to Pecos. She came with her husband, Wylie Moffitt Cole, and together they built a life.

They had two daughters. Then 1912 arrived, and with it, loss. Lillie was widowed.

Now, here's where you learn what a person is made of. Some roads fork hard, and what you choose at that fork tells the whole tale. Lillie Cole turned toward the classroom.

She started a teaching career, right there in the wake of grief, and that career lasted twenty-seven years. Twenty-seven years of children sitting in rows, learning what she had to give. Twenty-seven years of Pecos owing something quiet and deep to a woman who came from Lavernia, lost her husband, and answered with a life of service.

Outstanding and dedicated teacher. Public benefactor. The marker says so.

And out here on these long West Texas roads, that's as permanent as it gets.

What the marker says

Outstanding and dedicated teacher; public benefactor. Born in Lavernia, Texas. Came to Pecos, 1906, with husband Wylie Moffitt Cole. They had two daughters. Widowed in 1912, started teaching career which lasted for 27 years. (1968)