The Shirley and Mildred Garrison Scholarship Endowment was established by Shirley and Mildred Garrison in 1997. These scholarships are available for undergraduate students of high academic standing in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications.

Mr. Shirley Leon Garrison passed away in December 2013. He was born in Detroit, Texas, on June 3, 1919. He later moved to Idalou and graduated from Becton High School in 1936. He received his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education from Texas Tech University in 1940, followed by 16 hours toward a master's degree. In July of 1941, Shirley married Mildred Welch and was employed as the Ag teacher for the new vocational agriculture program at Union Schools until he was called to serve for Uncle Sam in World War II. After the war, he spent two years in a post-war program of food distribution and agricultural rehabilitation in Europe. He returned to the South Plains and became involved in farming at Idalou, and eventually settled in the Easter community south of Hereford. He also served as a teacher for the USDA Returning Veterans Agriculture Program during this time. Mr. Garrison later started producing seed and formed the Garrison Seed Company in 1966.

In addition to his farming operations, Shirley was involved in cattle feeding and became president of the Bar G Feed Yard in Summerfield, Texas, in 1983. He was also involved in the banking industry. In 1987 he assumed the position as chairman of the board of First State Bank of Dimmitt. This Dimmitt bank became First United Bank, which now has fourteen branches across the Plains area. He was chairman of the board until 2013. Shirley was a member of the Methodist Church for 80 years, having been baptized at age 14 in a horse tank. He was recognized by the First Methodist Church in Hereford for having served in every available leadership capacity during his membership. He also served the Methodist church at the Conference level. He supported other projects in Hereford such as helping found King's Manor, a senior citizen center. He was a strong supporter of and contributor to Ceta Canyon Methodist Camp & Retreat in Canyon, and McMurry University in Abilene. Since 2002, he was a member of the Wolfforth United Methodist Church, Wolfforth. Philanthropy was a very important part of his life, benefitting many educational institutions with direct support and students with scholarship support. He was also a strong supporter of agricultural heritage museums such as the American Agricultural Museum, and the American Wind Power Center in Lubbock.

He received numerous honors and awards, such as Distinguished Service and Outstanding Leadership award from the Texas/New Mexico Sugar Beet Growers and Citizen of the Year and Agricultural Man of the Year from Deaf Smith County. He had been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humanities from McMurry University and an Honorary Doctor of Human Letters from Texas Tech University. He had been honored by Texas Tech University and the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center with a Spur Award for his philanthropy and Distinguished University Alumni and Agricultural Alumni awards. He was active in many agricultural and agribusiness organizations, as well as many civic organizations in Hart, Hereford, and Lubbock.

In 2006, he lost his wife of 65 years to Alzheimer's. Her illness led him to give a lead gift to the Sears Methodist Foundation to build The Mildred & Shirley L. Garrison Geriatric Education and Care Center, which opened in 2002 in Lubbock. Mildred resided there until her death. He also founded the Garrison Institute on Aging at the Texas Tech Health Science Center, established a chair for research into Alzheimer's disease and funded a brain bank for use by researchers nationwide.

In 2007, he and LuCille Simons met as part of the Forget Me Nots, a support group for the spouses of Alzheimer's patient in the Garrison Center. They married in June of 2007. They were members of the Wolfforth United Methodist Church. They were active sports fans and were Red Raiders to the core.

To support this scholarship, please visit the Shirley and Mildred Garrison Endowed Scholarship gift page.

Contact

Alex Yack
Alex.Yack@ttu.edu
Senior Director of Development
806.742.2802

Matt Williams
matt.williams@ttu.edu
Associate Director of Development
806.742.2802

Tanner Rex
tanner.rex@ttu.edu
Assistant Director of Development
806.742.2802