Allie Mae Woodard

Allie Woodard passed away Sunday, July 28, 2019. Graveside services will be 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 31, at Oakwood Cemetery with Rev. Lynda McGee and James Bethany officiating. Visitation will be 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 31, prior to the service, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home. A reception at 2617 Lake Air Blvd, Waco, will follow the graveside services. She was born December 31, 1913, in Erath, Texas, to Thomas Andrew Burt and Lillie Johnson Burt on a farm that she still owns and has been in her family for over 100 years. She attended school in a one-room schoolhouse in Erath until she entered Sanger Elementary in Waco for the third grade, where she had the principal Miss Nina Glass. Her parents rented a place from the H.S. Beard family where she stayed in town during the week, and returned to the farm on the weekends. Her father returned to the country to work each day. Mr. Beard was the superintendent of the McLennan County schools at that time. Allie attended North Junior and graduated from Waco High School. Then she lived in the country and drove to Baylor until she graduated in 1936. She was influenced by every class that she could take from Dr. Lorena Stretch, whom she quotes to this day. Allie Mae majored in English and French and took all the classes for a Master’s degree but never took the time to write her thesis. Allie Mae has flung her green and gold afar and supported Baylor through the years. Allie’s teaching career started in Bruceville-Eddy, where she taught elementary and lived with Mr. and Mrs. Adair and Miss Zora Kincannon. She met so many wonderful families and loved her students. She still remembers their names and experiences they shared. Later she taught at Alta Vista and had many more meaningful students and their families who still stand out in her memories. Along the way, she worked for her dear Migel family, who were childless and treated her as their own on her time off from school. Mr. Migel had known her family for years, and he took her to Toy Land at Christmas and let her play as long as she liked with any and everything. He had no children so he treated Allie Mae as a daughter and brought her gifts from all his travels. He took her to Baylor games and the Cotton Palace and various other places. Allie Mae worked for Mr. V. M. Cox, and he let her come to work whenever she wished and worked for as long as she wanted. Although she loved teaching and her students, she wanted to do more during World War II and worked at Blackland Air Base. She was in charge of supplies and met many many fliers who were in and out of the field. One day, one of the other ladies in the supply department asked her if she would like to learn to fly a plane. Of course, Allie Mae was interested so they took flying lessons and she soloed and got her license. She was prepared to ferry planes if her husband, Nelson, was taken into service. But, because Nelson farmed, he never was inducted into the service. She did love to fly. In 1949 she had a daughter, Betsy, and got involved in being the best mother ever. During Betsy’s school days, Allie Mae became an important part of Lake Waco Elementary PTA through Richfield and became a Room Mother for every elementary grade. She was always there for field trips and whatever needed to be done. Allie Mae was active throughout Betsy’s school years. She helped with the development of the Women’s Division Building of the Heart of Texas Fair. Allie Mae served as Superintendent of the Women’s division and worked relentlessly with the development of the Women’s Division into its prime with various demonstrations and style shows and many many prize winners in every department. The Youth Division grew so much, they eventually moved into their own building at the HOT Fair. She was very influential in this growth with many other hardworking ladies. She has served on the board of the Salvation Army and taught Sunday School at Bosqueville United Methodist Church and served as recording secretary for many years. Allie Mae bought a lake house on Cedar Creek Lake in 1971, after many camping and boating trips to Lake Waco. She lived in Enchanted Oaks off and on for 30 years and still loved her house there. She made some very special friends in East Texas after living in Waco all her life. Last year, she was honored in Austin by Todd Staples, Texas Commissioner of Agriculture for the 37th Designated Family Land Heritage Property 100 years of agriculture by the same family – Johnson Burt Woodard Property – “Hilltop Farm”. Allie Mae had been involved with agriculture all her life and a protector of land. She was forever making improvements on her property working with the United States Department of Agriculture to help get rid of the boll weevils in cotton, improve seeds, encouraging her renters to use good equipment, building terraces, cleaning ditches and cutting cedar posts from her land to build fences. She read and kept up with the latest farm information. Allie Mae did crosswords in ink and read the paper from cover to cover. She made wise investments and was always planning for future improvements. Her mother once told her, “Allie Mae, you think you can do anything”. And truth be told…she did! Happy, happy birthday to someone who saw so many changes in her life and adjusted to the future with bright eyes, looking forward to tomorrow. She is survived by her daughter, Betsy Mae Woodard. Honorary pallbearers will be Gilbert Adam, Dr. Scott Jones, Newman Copeland and Tom McNamara. The family wishes to thank Tiffany Nino of Providence Home Health for her wonderful care of Allie Mae. Memorials may be made to JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 26 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York, New York, 10004, or the charity of your choice. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.