Evelyn W. Isbell
Dallas teacher and school librarian Evelyn W. Isbell loved books and learning.
Mrs. Isbell, 87, died at Autumn Leaves of Arlington assisted living center on Jan. 10. Services were Monday at First Baptist Church of Irving, where she was a member. She was buried at Five Mile Cemetery in Dallas.
The 23-year educator, who moved to Irving in the 1940s, started her teaching career the same day her younger son began school in 1960. She taught at Benito Juarez Elementary, served as a teacher and librarian at Mark Twain Elementary and was librarian at Harry Stone Middle School.
"Our house was full of books, and a lot of them were books her mother bought her when they were little," said her daughter, Linda Dippel of Lawrenceville, Ga. "When they bought the house, Daddy built a floor-to-ceiling book case that was full of books."
Mrs. Isbell studied at Arlington Junior College and earned her undergraduate degree from what is now the University of North Texas in Denton. She also has master's degrees in library science and counseling from UNT. She retired from teaching in 1983.
The mother of six also was active in her church and in the Boy Scouts, a group in which her husband, Victor, had a lifelong association.
"She did much more than be a den mother," said her son, David Isbell of Plano. "When we were no longer in Cub Scouts, she became sort of a coach for how to be a den mother."
He said she twice taught Camp Wisdom summer sessions on being a den mother. The Circle 10 Council gave her a district award of merit in January 1974, and she earned her 20-year pin in 1978.
Mrs. Isbell's survivors also include her daughters, Freda Isbell of Norman, Okla., Kay Cash of Fort Worth and Vicky Bailey of Mansfield; brothers Edwin Williams of Mexia, Texas, and Van G. Williams of Houston; 14 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and 1 great-great-grandchild. Her younger son, Allan Isbell, died in 1997 from heart failure.