Sunday's Internet Edition, September 05, 2010.
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Treba Skipworth poses for a picture during her 100th birthday celebration at her home.
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Her name is Treba Elizabeth Baker Skipworth, who is a well-known person in the community as an educator, church member, club member and volunteer.
She has plenty of friends, and this was evident when about 450 people attended her 100th birthday party held Aug. 25 at the First United Methodist Church Christian Life Center.
Skipworth received over 150 birthday cards and they’re still arriving in the mail. President George W. Bush and Texas Governor Rick Perry also sent her birthday certificates.
Gov. Perry referred to Skipworth as a “true Texas treasure.”
President Bush stated, “You have led a remarkable life and your experiences have contributed to the strength of our nation.”
Skipworth has lived the American dream, achieving her goals and having a positive impact on her former students and people she has met along the way. Her mind and memories are as sharp as ever.
She still remembers when her family moved to Kingsville in the summer of 1925 from Hamburg, Arkansas, so that she and her siblings could obtain a college degree.
Skipworth recalls her experiences as a student at South Texas State Teachers College (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) where she was in the first graduating class in 1928.
This 100 year-old Kingsville resident vividly remembers people, dates, experiences, and events as if were yesterday. She remains an inspiration to people who know her.
Mrs. Skipworth reflected on her education and her life recently during an interview at her home located near the campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. A home she has lived in since 1941. She is surrounded with gifts and flowers given to her during her birthday party reflecting a cozy atmosphere. Her two granddaughters also created a large albums and a scrapbook that included photographs, college diplomas, transcripts, notes and other memorabilia.
The centenarian looks much younger than her age and she smiles and laughs frequently as she recalls her lifetime experiences.
“I attribute my long life to church, God, family and friends,” Mrs. Skipworth said.
“People have been so good to me,” she expressed looking very comfortable in her home where she has lived since 1941. She remains very healthy except for the fact that she had knee surgery when she fell in her kitchen.
Irma Garcia, a registered nurse, who works with Mrs. Skipworth, enjoys her company. Garcia said Mrs. Skipworth has a good sense of humor, but she is also speaks her mind.
“Her mind is intact and she still writes checks,” Garcia said. Her mother and aunt also worked with Mrs. Skipworth. “She retired both of them,” Garcia said.
Mrs. Skipworth said her brother lived to be 101 and she plans to break his record.
Mrs. Skipworth was born in Hamburg, Arkansas, on August 25, 1907. She had polio when she was five years old and was told she would never walk again. She did walk again.
Her parents, Carey L. Baker and Sue Coulter Baker were married in 1890 and had six children. Her father wanted all six children to obtain college degrees, which they eventually did. This was a remarkable feat because this was during the depression.
Mrs. Skipworth related her father had always wanted to move to Texas. After his store burned down in Hamburg, he decided this was a great opportunity to move to Texas. Her father traveled to Texas on a special train that took people to the valley to buy land and plant citrus grooves. Her father, who was 62 years old and in poor health, decided against settling in the Rio Grande Valley. The train stopped in Kingsville and he noticed a teachers’ college had just opened in 1925. He went back home and announced to his family: “we are moving to Kingsville.”
“Five of us mother, daddy, brother, sister and me, traveled in a New Star 4 door touring car,” Mrs. Skipworth recalling her trip to Texas.
The family arrived in Kingsville and rented a large rooming house at 702 W. Henrietta for $100 a month. “We kept 10 college girls who were under college supervision,” Mrs. Skipworth recalled. Room and board was $30. The family lived at his house for one year and then moved to Ricardo where her father opened a store in 1930. The family lived in the four rooms in the back.
“My brother always spoke of memories of growing up and how poor we were but I didn’t remember being poor because when we wanted something, Daddy would always tell us to go into the store and pick out what we wanted,” Mrs. Skipworth stated. She recalled Ricardo was a thriving farming community.
Prior to enrolling at the South Texas State Teachers College, Mrs. Skipworth attended college one year in Arkansas. She recalled the Kingsville college had one building and the streets nearby were not even paved at that time. While in college she was a member of the English Club and the Classical Club. She remembered the school had football without a proper playing field.
“Everyone would run up and down a grassy field, and that was it,” she stated.
After she received her degree she thought she could find a teaching job immediately but found out the school districts wanted teachers with experience. She admitted that she was very timid growing up and she did not like her name, Treba. Sometimes she wished her father would go with her on job interviews.
“One time a friend and I applied for jobs together and she got the job because she had one year of teaching experience and one year of college while I had four years of college including teaching under supervision,” Mrs. Skipworth recalled.
She also complained to Dr. Robert Cousins, who was president of the college at that time that “it was ridiculous that no school would hire a college educated teacher simply because they had no experience.”
Finally, her teaching opportunity came when the Bonnie View District in Woodsboro hired her for $100 a month in 1929. Some teachers were paid $60 to $70 a month. The teachers were paid when the state sent them money and it might be $25 to $40.
“We lived in the teacherage and paid the grocery bill when we got paid,” Mrs. Skipworth stated. She recalled the state owed her $500 and when she received the money she bought dining room furniture that is still in use today.
She ended her teaching career in 1932 when she married Norman .C. “Billy” Skipworth because it was not proper for married women to work. She wore her engagement ring on a chain around her neck so the school would not know. Mrs. Skipworth described her husband as a “nice fella.” His folks were railroad people. When the railroad went on strike Norman worked for a grocery store.
“I had to up a $100 month job to marry him and I think it was the right decision,”
she stated.
She recalled that people did not have money during this time and the young couple received 55 canned goods at one of the bridal showers hosted by the Ricardo Club. Her husband gave her cedar chest as a wedding present that she still has.
They had three sons, Norman, Donald Ray and Baker. The first two boys were born at their second home located at 703 W. Yoakum which was at the end of town out in the country. They had a cow, pig and and a garden.
. The family later moved to 525 W. Mesquite. In 1941 they bought their last home near the university for $2,000. Mrs. Skipworth’s husband worked for the Houston Natural Gas Company for 41 years before retiring in 1971.
Eventually, Mrs. Skipworth returned to her teaching career after taking time to raise her family. She accepted a job as a teacher at Flato Elementary School and later at Ricardo. She said she learned more about teaching from the Ruby Gustavson, the Flato principal.
She also earned a masters degree from Texas College of Arts and Industries in 1955.
She became employed as principal with the Santa Gertrudis School District in 1968. She also taught seventh and eighth grade English. There were 150 students at the King Ranch School. She said she loved the school.
“Going through those gates was just like going to heaven. We didn’t have all the fancy things that other schools had but there was a lot of teaching, we could do. There was always a lot to do,” she stated in an interview of the Javelina Alumni & Friends Tusk Magazine that features her face on the summer 2007 cover.
She became an innovative teacher creating classes that the students would like.
“Sometimes the cowboys didn’t care for Shakespeare and I didn’t either so I created a home economics cooking class which the students liked. The class involved reading because they had to read recipes,” she said.
Mrs. Skipworth taught the students the value of money by establishing a saving stamp plan whereby they could buy government savings bond. She would take often take her students to Kleberg First National Bank as part of the savings campaign.
The major change she has seen in education today is the change in family values. Parents need to be responsible for their children and students know more information today with technology, according to her. She realizes that some women have to work today.
She retired in 1973 after being in the education profession for 34 years. Mrs. Skipworth and her husband enjoyed 47 years of marriage before his death in 1979. She praised her husband as a modest person who never required recognition for his accomplishments because his family was a great accomplishment.
“He helped out around the house and spent as much time as he could with his boys,” she stated. He was just as good a grandfather as he was a grandfather.”
Her husband was a homebody but he would travel to visit grandchildren. The couple visited their son and grandchildren in Norway.
Throughout her life, Mrs. Skipworth has been involved with her church, organizations, and volunteer work. She joined the Kingsville First United Methodist Church in 1925 when she moved here. She is the oldest active member.
“The church has given us a good life and many happy times. All of our social life and friends were associated with the church and I have many happy memories of times with our friends,” she stated.
Mrs. Skipworth served on the building committee of the Community Life Center of her church. The plaque in the building honors her with these words: Mrs. Treba Skipworth, whose faithful, persistent vision and support set an example for all to follow.”
She donated 10,000 hours of volunteering as a “Pink Lady,” at the local hospital. She served as president of the Spohn Kleberg Memorial Hospital.
She once stated that “being an auxiliary ‘pink lady’’ is the most satisfying volunteer work I’ve ever done. I enjoy helping others and I have learned to be grateful that I am able to walk in the hospital on my own two feet and walk out the same way.”
She has also served as a literacy tutor with the Kleberg County Literacy Council. She received a certificate of appreciation from the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International in recognition of 25 years of service to the society. Mrs. Skipworth was also honored last year for her educational, community, volunteer and membership achievements by the Kingsville Tri-City Retired Teachers Association. She served on the scholarship committee.
During her lifetime, Mrs. Skipworth has traveled to all the United States except North and South Dakota. She has traveled in Singapore, Amsterdam, Germany and other oversea countries.
Her family include her sons, five grandchildren.
During her birthday celebration her guests were asked to write a note about her. Here are some of the comments expressed to Mrs. Skipworth.
“Mrs. Skipworth, your life is a shining example of why this University exists. Parents throughout the region want their children to have the benefits of a college education, just as your father did. Students want to pursue their career and life goals and alumni offer advice because they want to make sure their alma mater improves, just as you did. Families want to have a quality of life that brings them fulfillment and happiness, just as you and your husband and sons did.” Dr. Rumaldo Z. Juarez, Texas A&M University- Kingsville president.
“To me you will always be Mrs. Skipworth, my seventh and eight grade teacher. I am very thankful for the years I spent as a student in Ricardo. The education I received there was great. Not one of my teachers will ever be forgotten but you stand out among the best. I remember you well and the subject matter you taught. I think I could probably still diagram a sentence if I had to!” Beth Franke, president of Kappa Nu Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma.
“ Several of my memories are when she was principal at Santa Gertrudis School and she would visit our classroom and kind of just check us out an give tidbits of advice on whatever we were working on. One time she walked in during art period and one of my classmates was complaining that he could not draw, and I remember Mrs. Skipworth telling him that nobody was standing in his way, except himself. If he felt he couldn’t do something he probably couldn’t do it, but he should at least try. She also went on to tell us there was no right or wrong way for doing artwork. She got my classmate to use cotton balls, glue and glitter to create a piece of art. I gained the knowledge that nothing could stop me from doing whatever I set my mind to except the limits I set for myself,” Sylvia Martinez. (SGS 1968)
“I admire many things about Reba but what I love best is her ability to enjoy life, to laugh, and have a grand time! She is a true friend of mine and I love her.” Miriam Lemmons, former Kingsville mayor.