Giving to TC a
Lifetime Profession
Clara Mae McKimmey exemplifies a life that gives to
others with little expectation of return. She gives because
she believes it is good.
A long-time supporter of Temple College, Mrs. McKimmey, 95, a resident of
Hearthstone assisted living facility in Temple, has lived her entire life in Temple. She has
seen the College grow from a facility that shared space in the basement of Temple High
School in 1926 to a college that spreads over 105 acres and offers more than 20 associate
degree programs and is home to more than 3,200 students.
"We can always depend upon Clara Mae to support the College programs, and she
rarely misses a special program that the College offers," said Dick Archer, director of
institutional advancement for Temple College Association.
Mrs. McKimmey and her sister, Effie Lee, who died this year at the age of 97, grew
up in Temple and were educated long before women valued an education.
"I didn't go to Temple College," she said, "but I went to Mary Hardin-Baylor. My
sister went to Mary Alice McGregor Business College in Temple.
"I got an offer to work in the medical records library at King's Daughters Hospital,
and I worked there for 10 years," she said. She also worked in a Waco hospital for 10
years as a historian.
Her sister worked 25 years for Dr. J.E. Robinson, whom she later married.
"We just worked," she remembered. "If you had children, they wouldn't take you."
Mrs. McKimmey remembers when the community began "to talk up the new
college."
"We gathered up some money and gave," she said of her family's efforts to help the
fledgling college. Though neither she nor her sister attended Temple College, their
brother, Luther Miller, attended and finished his associate's degree. He then took a position with Texas Power and Light.
Mrs. McKimmey married Mac McKimmey later in her life, though neither she nor
her sister had children.
She spends her days at the assisted living facility, as active as 95 years allow. Though
her eyesight is failing and she misses Effie Lee, she moves with a certain agility and
participates in the activities of the facility.
"I feel pretty good," she simply said.
Life for Clara Mae has been good. She worked hard, lived simply and gave when it
was needed.
It was the efforts of her and others like her that have made Temple College what it is
today, said Mr. Archer.
"Without the individual contributions of people like Clara Mae and her family - both she
and her brother and sister gave to the College - Temple College would not have the
support today that it enjoys," Archer said.