Editor's Note: Loyd Lowe was the Assistant Football Coach for the Tarleton State College Plowboys in 1956. This was the team that almost made it to the Junior Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. The team will be honored on its 50th anniversary at Tarleton State University's Homecoming, Oct. 20-21. Coach Lowe is retired, and he and his wife, Ann, live in Rowlett. They plan to be present for the Homecoming reunion.
BY STUART CHILTON
Challenges are not new to Loyd Lowe, the 1956 Assistant Football Coach for the Tarleton State College Plowboys.
Lowe, the youngest of 12 children, was born in Prairie Hill, TX. on Dec. 17, 1928. As a youngster growing up in Central Texas, he faced challenges every day, especially from his older siblings. The family consisted of 11 boys and one girl. Young Loyd was familiar with the challenges of work that needed to be done around the Lowe's home.
Twenty-five years ago, he underwent the challenge of open heart surgery and in the past year, he faced additional heart surgery with stints being placed in two arteries leading from his heart.
Today, he is the last survivor from his 14-member family. Yes, Coach Lowe has met challenges all his life.
As an infant, he was tagged with the nickname of "Shug" or "Sug" ? the short for "Sugar."
Lowe explained his nickname this way, "I guess when I came along as the last of 12 children, my parents had just about run out of names so the nickname has stuck with me all these years."
What about Lowe's birth place in Prairie Hill. This small community is located in the extreme western part of Limestone County, about 20 miles west of Mexia, immediately north of U.S. Highway 84. The current edition of
The Texas Almanac indicates the community has six stores with a population of 150. A further check of the Texas map reveals Prairie Hill is approximately 10 miles northeast of Mart, which is located just across the county line in eastern McLennan County.
Although Lowe was born in Prairie Hill, he received his public school education in Mart, where he excelled in athletics. From an early age, Lowe was gifted as a swift runner, and this enabled him to participate in football and track.
He was a speedy halfback for the Mart High School Panthers for four years, gaining All-District honors his junior and senior years.
After graduating from Mart High School in May, 1947, Lowe enrolled at then North Texas State Teachers College in Denton on a football scholarship. He played four years for the Eagles. He was named an All Gulf Coast Conference halfback his senior year in 1950.
Shortly after his graduation from North Texas in 1951, Lowe enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. During his service time, he played football for Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth.
Following his discharge from the Air Force, Lowe played defensive halfback and running back for the Chicago Bears during the 1953 and 1954 seasons.
In the summer of 1955, the seasoned halfback came to Tarleton State College as the Assistant Football coach. He also assisted in coaching basketball and track.
Lowe learned about the Tarleton assistant football coaching job from a friend. "While I was working for Wilson Sporting Goods in Dallas, a friend told me about a coaching vacancy at Tarleton State College. I had decided I wanted to be a coach. This friend told me Coach Sandy Sanford had an opening at Tarleton. I looked up Sandy at the coaching school, which was being held in Dallas. We talked about the vacancy. In a few weeks, Sandy invited me to come to Stephenville for an interview, and that prompted Sandy to hire me."
During his two years at Tarleton -- 1955 and 1956 -- the Plowboys won 12 games, lost 5 and tied 1 for a winning record of 69.4 percent.
In the spring of 1957, Loyd departed Tarleton for a coaching position at Kermit High School. He coached at the West Texas high school for three years. During his stay in the Winkler County Seat, he met Ann Sutphen, and the couple was married in 1957.
After obtaining his master's degree from North Texas State College in 1958, Loyd coached four years at Sweetwater High School. He was encouraged by a superintendent to leave Sweetwater and move to Rockdale in Central Texas.
In making the move to Rockdale, Lowe explained, "I had a yearning to become a high school principal. The Rockdale superintendent told me if I would come and coach for two years, then he would name me principal of Rockdale High School. I was in Rockdale for four years ? two years as a coach and two years as the high school principal."
In 1969, Lowe was named high school principal in nearby Marlin. He stayed in this job until 1981.
"I had to have open heart surgery in 1981, and my doctor advised me to retire. So I retired and we moved to Rowlett," Lowe pointed out.
Later, Lowe and Bill Johnson, a well-known Baylor University basketball player in the late 1940s, went into the pawn shop business in Rockwall. Both are now retired.
As for his health today, the 77-year-old Lowe said, "I'm doing fairly well. I had to have some more corrective heart surgery last fall, but I feel much better."
The couple has two children ? Kermit Lowe, who is a Certified Public Accountant in Waco, and Mrs. Loya Ann Merritt, who teaches reading in a Rockwall elementary school. Kermit and his wife, Cheryl, have a daughter. They live southeast of Waco in the community of Riesel. Loya and her husband, Brett, are the parents of two daughters. They live in Rockwall. Both families plan to attend the reunion.
What does granddaddy think about the Oct. 20-21 Tarleton Homecoming?
"Ann and I are looking forward to seeing the team members and other friends in Stephenville. Many of the players I haven't seen since 1956, and that's a long time ago. I wonder what they will look like?"
Dr. Chilton is a retired educator/journalist. He lives in Stephenville, and occasionally writes for this newspaper.
