Alumni

Margaret Jane Flowers Duffie

Margaret Jane Flowers Duffie (’51), Wichita Falls. She was a 1951 senior class officer, and was very active in organizing the 50th class reunion. She loved being a teacher -- especially for the fourth grade -- during her 17 years in Vernon and Wichita Falls schools. The Flowers family was a North Texas family. Her parents attended the Normal College and she and her three siblings were all graduates of North Texas.

Bobbie Browder Austin

Bobbie Browder Austin (’63), Hurst. She had many memories and friends from her Kendall Hall days and Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Bobbie worked as an assistant to the director of the counseling department for Tarrant County Junior College, now Tarrant County College, for more than 30 years and retired in 2017. Survivors include her husband, Charles Austin (’63).

Cynthia Ann Parkman-Cropp

Cynthia Ann Parkman-Cropp (’73), Denton. She worked in the North Texas bookstore and as a store manager and an accountant for various companies. She is survived by her children Jennifer Ellen Cropp-Medlin (’01) and Carl Adrian Cropp (’03). She was known for her cooking and she was active in 12 step recovery programs, serving as a sponsor for countless people.

Kyla A. Foster

Kyla A. Foster (’13), Highland Village. A lifelong animal lover and an artist, Kyla attended UNT and discovered a love for science as well. She majored in biology with dreams of pursuing a career in veterinary medicine.

Kevin Shippey

Kevin Shippey (’85), McKinney. The business major worked for several companies, including Compu-Com, T-Mobile, and Conifer Health Solutions. He loved sports and was a passionate UNT football and Dallas Cowboys football fan. He was a member of Kappa Sigma.

Mattie Lou Roberts Gullett

Mattie Lou Roberts Gullett (’48), Canton. She taught business courses at Canton High School for 25 years, then kept books for the family business until the early 1990s. While at North Texas, she worked in a senior dormitory but was an unwelcome underclassman. She said she received no respect until she made public her secret talent as a palm reader and "predicted" the abrupt elopement of one of the residents, which happened soon after.

Cliff Cardwell

Cliff Cardwell (’65), Rockwall. He was a member of Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity. After graduation, he joined the Air Force Reserves. He worked in purchasing with Braniff Airways and Dalfort Aviation. He was an avid traveler, visiting all 254 Texas county courthouses and all 50 states. He and his wife, Linda Allen Cardwell ('66), were married for 56 years.

Bruce Anthony August Jr.

Bruce Anthony August Jr. (’10 M.Ed.), Dallas. He spent his career helping students in higher education. A former correctional officer, he was director of the Multicultural Center at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he also was pursuing a doctoral degree in public affairs. Bruce was a frequent volunteer who served on the board of the Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education, as a representative for the UTD Staff Council, and as the founding and immediate past president of the Black Faculty and Staff Alliance Employee Resource Group there. He was active in his church and loved to cook and grill.

Don January

Photo of Don JanuaryDon January (’53), 93, of Dallas, who played from 1950 to 1952 on the final three of UNT’s four consecutive NCAA Champion golf teams and then went on to a successful career in the PGA, died May 7.

Don was the last surviving member of the team that also included Billy Maxwell, Buster Reed and Joe Conrad -- considered one of the best collegiate golf lineups in history.

Don notched 10 PGA Tour victories, including the 1967 PGA Championship. He earned 23 victories on the Senior PGA Tour, including two PGA Seniors’ championships, and designed golf courses.

North Texas was part of his life ever since legendary golf coach Fred Cobb recruited him to the team. As part of his golf scholarship, he taught a beginning golf P.E. course where he met his wife, Patricia ‘Pat’ Rushing (’53), a student in his class. In addition to his star performance on the golf course, Don was president of Talons and a member of Kappa Alpha and the T Club.

He stayed true to his school. The annual Don January Golf Classic, which takes place in the spring, was established in 1980 in his honor to support Mean Green student-athletes. He was a member of the UNT Athletic Hall of Fame and received UNT’s Distinguished Alumnus and Outstanding Alumni Service awards. He also was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.

Don served in the U.S. Air Force before embarking on his PGA career.

Read more about Don January from the North Texan archives:

1980 profile

2011 Family Legacy article

Read Yucca articles about Don January and the golf team:

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61021/m1/229/

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61020/m1/217

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61022/m1/183/

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