SPC Foundation announces new scholarship to honor local businessman
LEVELLAND – In an effort to honor the late Eddie and Donna Paxton, their four sons and their families presented $10,000 to the South Plains College Foundation to establish a scholarship to assist South Plains College students majoring in business. In doing so, the Eddie and Donna Cook Paxton Memorial Scholarship Endowment was established.
Eddie Paxton was a well-known businessman who served as the President of the Levelland ISD School Board and on the Levelland City Council. According to his son Brett, Paxton operated an insurance company from 1955 until 1976 when he sold his part of the business to his partner James Harder. In 1976, he started Paxton Real Estate drawing from his real estate experience during his insurance years and his background in loans and appraisals when he worked in the early 1950s for Amicable Life Insurance Company. Brett joined the family business in 1979 and Brett’s brother Todd came onboard in 1981. They worked with Eddie until he retired in 2000.
Donna Cook Paxton was the wife of Eddie Paxton. “Dad and Donna met again at a multi-class reunion for Levelland High School after my mother passed away in 1980,” Brett said. “Donna graduated a couple of years after Eddie from Levelland High and eventually wound up in Fort Worth where she started out as a secretary in the Continental National Bank. When she came to Levelland for the reunion, she had worked her way up through the ranks to be a vice president in the bank and was at that time the highest ranking female banking officer in Fort Worth. She happily gave all that up when she married Eddie and joined him in West Texas.”
Eddie and Donna Paxton, 89 and 87, died Feb. 8, 2017.
Brett and his brothers Keith (Patricia) of Levelland and Todd (LeeAnn), both of Levelland, and Micah (Connie) of Lubbock wanted to honor their father and step mother by helping students seeking careers in banking, insurance or real estate.
“These areas are very important to us, and I think they would be pleased to be able to help someone going into these fields,” he said.
The scholarship may be awarded to a full-time or part-time student and to entering freshmen or returning sophomores. The recipient must be a business major with preference given to applicants that plan to work in banking, insurance or real estate.
For more information on the scholarship, to make a donation or for more information about ways to support scholarships and students at South Plains College, please contact Julie Gerstenberger, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, at (806) 716-2020.
