Tommie Collins Montgomery Lawhon, a former professor who taught child development and wrote about family issues from 1969 to 2009, died June 26 in Denton.

Dr. Lawhon taught at a public school in Victoria before joining the faculty at Eastern Kentucky University. After she married John E. Lawhon III (’53), she took a position as a professor at UNT, where she worked in the School of Home Economics and then in the College of Education when the child development program moved there.

During her time as a professor, Dr. Lawhon was the first woman to receive UNT’s highest teaching honor — the ’Fessor Graham Award. She also was named an Honor Professor by the Student Government Association, was twice named a Top Prof by Mortar Board and received UNT’s Outstanding Advisor Award.

She wrote several stories for the North Texan, including one on the division of labor of chores at home and a cover story about stress. Former students remembered her in a North Texan story about influential teachers.

Dr. Lawhon was a member of Phi Upsilon Omicron, serving as its student advisor for UNT and later serving a four-year term on the National PUO Educational Board of Directors.

Active in numerous organizations, she twice served as president of the Texas Council on Family Relations and was president and co-founder of the Denton Association for the Education of Young Children, where she led the installation of equipment at playgrounds and other services for children. She was a certified family life educator who lectured internationally and wrote more than 200 presentations as well as articles for 125 publications.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees from Texas Woman’s University. She also attended the American Airlines Flight Academy in Chicago and for seven years was based in Dallas, New York and Los Angeles, supervised flight attendants in DFW and served as vacation relief supervisor in San Francisco.