Thelma Ray

Thelma Grace (Evans) Ray (1902-1987), grew up in North Texas.  She took trips with her siblings to Dallas on the Cotton Belt Railway. She received a B.S. at Denton’s North Texas University. She also received her MED and an administrative certificate from Texas Christian University. In 1925, she married Bailey B. Ray. They stayed together for 38 years, until his death in 1964. She started teaching high school biology in 1942-1943, and after a two-year leave working for Convair and one year teaching at Village Creek School, she returned to Birdville ISD to teach third grade.  In 1954, she moved to Browning Heights Elementary. She became principal of O. H. Stowe Elementary when it opened in 1959. Thelma Ray also wrote A History of Birdville, which she self-published in 1965.

Source: [“Character Sketch of: Mrs. Thelma Grace Ray,” by Marilu Lowdermilk, April 11, 1983, for Mr. Duane Gage, History 2623]