TVCC press release
Those who knew Dr. Ray Hargrove-Huttel professionally remember her as competent, knowledgeable and compassionate. But she was also always ready to share a laugh or tie on a pair of bowling shoes to have a little fun.
Hargrove-Huttel was a nursing instructor for at the Trinity Valley Community College Health Science Center in Kaufman for 22 years from 1987 until 2009. After leaving TVCC, she took a position as an Associate Dean of Nursing at West Coast College in North Hollywood, Calif., and later became an associate professor at the Texas Tech University School of Nursing.
Hargrove-Huttel died on Dec. 23, 2012, after a battle with cancer.
Six months later, her family has teamed up with TVCC to dedicate a scholarship in her memory. And they are using her favorite pastime – bowling – to help.
“She started a bowling fundraiser when she was at TVCC,” said Aaron Huttel, Hargrove-Huttel’s son. “So we just thought bowling would be appropriate.”
The college will be hosting the Dr. Ray A. Hargrove-Huttel Scholarship Bowl-A-Thon June 24 at the Terrell Bowling and Entertainment Center (2500 West Moore Street).
The event will be from 8-11:30 a.m. Games will start at 8:15, 9:15 and 10:30. A ceremony dedicating the scholarship effort will be hosted at 10:15 a.m.
The event will cost $10 per game, and groups of five bowlers will be accepted as well as individuals.
The family of Hargrove-Huttel and the nursing faculty and students who were touched during her career are working to fund an endowed scholarship in her name through the TVCC Foundation. The Dr. Ray A. Hargrove-Huttel Memorial Scholarship, once endowed, will aid students for many years to come.
The scholarship will be designed to help students who are in their sophomore year of nursing school, Level III or Level IV, who have earned a 3.0 GPA and have financial need.
During her time at the college, Hargrove-Huttel touched many lives.
“I was in registration recently and one of our past grads was signing up for the RN to BSN program. She asked how she could reach Ray,” said TVCC Health Science Center Provost Dr. Helen Reid.
“When I told her she had died, she was devastated and said she wouldn’t have been a nurse if it wasn’t for Ray. She has been a nurse for 18 years and her daughter is now working on getting into our ADN program. Ray inspired lives like that every day.”
Hargrove-Huttel worked as a nurse for 35 years, beginning her career as a captain in the U.S. Army. Later, she became a nurse educator, earning her PhD in Nursing at Texas Woman’s University in 1988.
She authored several nursing books and taught nursing board review courses across the country. She received several awards, including the TVCC Teaching Excellence Award in 1998 and the TVCC Extra Mile Award in 2002. She was selected as one of the Great One Hundred Nurses in the DFW area in 2001.
“Ray had high standards and a great ability to get students to strive to meet those standards. She was gifted in her ability to question the students and get them to think critically,” said Reid. “One student said to me that Ray would ask questions until the student didn’t know the answer, and then the teaching began.”
To sign up for the bowling event, contact Kathy Fowler at 972-932-5725. Those who cannot attend the bowling event but would like to support the memorial scholarship fund can do so by mailing contributions to the Dr. Ray A Hargrove-Huttel Memorial Scholarship, c/o TVCC Office of Institutional Advancement, 100 Cardinal Drive, Athens, TX 75751.
For more information on the scholarship and TVCC’s other endowed scholarship opportunities, please contact TVCC Institutional Advancement at 903-670-2620.