Robert Trice

Services will be at 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at the First Baptist Church of Canyon with Dr. Charles Price, Executive Director of the San Antonio Baptist Association, officiating. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. at Brooks Chapel. Private Burial will be in Plainview Memorial Park Cemetery, Plainview, Texas. Robert Weldon Trice, known as "Birddog" to most and Coach Trice to others, passed peacefully on August 29 after a lengthy illness. He was born December 4, 1922 in Childress, Texas to Delia and Max Trice and married Evelyn Ogden Roach in 1951. Weldon had many accomplishments during his several careers. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corp from September 1942 - January 1946 when he received his Honorable Discharge. After receiving his B.S. degree from West Texas State University in 1950, he took his first coaching and teaching position in Lefors High School and then moved to Pampa High School to continue his coaching and teaching from 1951 - 1960. During this time, he completed his Masters of Education in 1954 at WTSU. He served as the Pampa High athletic director from 1960 - 1965 and assistant principal from 1966 - 1968. While a student at WTSU, Weldon organized and played on the first golf team in 1950 and was co-captain of the football team in 1949. From 1969 to 1980, Weldon returned to WTAMU as dean of men. He loved WTSU since he was a student and football player at WT. He enjoyed working with the students and maintained close relationships with many of them. Upon retirement at WT, he was hired by the Canyon Chamber of Commerce to be the interim executive vice president. After his tenure with the Chamber, he served as a coach at Canyon Junior High School in 1981 and then as the principal at Rex Reeves Elementary from 1982 - 1986. At Rex Reeves he made many lasting relationships both young and old. Weldon"s love for WT is marked with many accomplishments including the creation of the Herdsman and serving as the first sponsor and reestablishment of the live buffalo mascot named Thunder. He initiated the campaign to establish a fund raising committee for renovation of the Buffalo Courts. He started many activities in student life that are still in place today. Students that were touched by his leadership established a scholarship fund in his honor called the "Weldon Trice Ring Award" presented to an outstanding male resident"s hall student. He served as chair of the homecoming committee from 1969 to 1980 and worked with athletics to bring back the "T" club for graduates. He received the WTSU Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1989 -90 and was named to the WT department of athletics" Hall of Champions in 1993. Service to West Texas State University and the people of Canyon was very important to Weldon. He served two terms on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and was president twice. He was also named Citizen of the Year in 1995. The American Heart Association was a cause that he supported for 35 years serving at both the local and state levels. He served on the Hospital Board for the High Plains Baptist Hospital Executive Committee beginning in 1984. He was a member of the Lion"s Club from 1969 - 1986 and served as president and was a member of the Pampa Masonic Lodge #1381 and Canyon Masonic Lodge # 730. Weldon was an active member of the Canyon First Baptist Church and served as a deacon for over 20 years. He and his wife were directors of the young married adults department for many years. He was a Gideon and regularly distributed Bibles. He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Milton and Jack Trice; and sister, Bea Roberts; his first wife, Marietta Miller Trice; a son, Terry Trice; and a granddaughter, Constance Pearl Hutcherson. Weldon is survived by his wife, Evelyn of Canyon; two sons Ted Trice and wife, Buffi of Grady, NM and Rick Roach of