Eleanor Paxton Smith Garrett

Eleanor Paxton Smith Garrett – dedicated mother, entrepreneur, educator, and industrious clubwoman – died on March 1, 2022. The native of Texas and fifth generation educator was a resident of Garland. Dr. Garrett and her husband Charles founded Garrett Electronics in 1964, which has grown to become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of metal detection equipment.

Eleanor Garrett was born in Apple Springs, Texas, in 1934. After graduating as class valedictorian from Pennington, Texas High School, she graduated with honors from Sam Houston State University with B.S. and M.Ed degrees. In 1955 she married Charles and taught school in Jefferson County while he earned an engineering degree from Lamar University. They settled in the Dallas area, where she taught school in Garland before devoting herself to their new company, which initially made sport metal detectors for treasure-hunting before expanding into the security market in 1984. Garrett detectors have discovered some of the world’s greatest buried treasures, and its security equipment has protected millions, including Olympic athletes and spectators at the Games since 1984. As the company grew steadily and evolved to include publishing, video production, and training, she was instrumental in founding Ram Publishing Company, an award-winning Garrett subsidiary.

Dr. Garrett was also very active in patriotic and historical organizations. She served as the principal officer of the Dallas chapters of both the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Daughters of the American Revolution and served as a state officer of each. She was also the principal state officer of Magna Charta Dames and Barons. She was a member of United Daughters of 1812, Daughters of the American Colonists, Colonial Daughters of the XVII Century, Daughters of the Indian Wars, Dames of the Court of Honor, Plantagenet Society, Order of Washington, Huguenot Society, Manikun Society and Order of Eastern Star.

Dr. Garrett was a member of the Orchard Hills Baptist Church in Garland for over sixty years and was a charter member of Garland Women’s Building and a life member of the Dallas Genealogical Society. She was honored as a Distinguished Alumna of Sam Houston State University and Groveton High School. She and her husband Charles were generous donors to Sam Houston and Lamar University, and she received an honorary doctorate degree from both universities. In 2010 the Eleanor and Charles Garrett Teacher Education Center was dedicated at Sam Houston. The Charles and Eleanor Garrett Engineering Center was dedicated at Lamar University in April 2012. She was involved in forestry in Trinity and Houston Counties for some 50 years, and in 2002 she and Charles were named Texas Tree Farmers of the Year by the Texas Forestry Association.

Dr. Garrett was predeceased by her husband of almost 60 years, Charles; father and mother, Mervin and Hazel Marie Gibson Smith and her brother, Lynn Ray Smith. She is survived by her three children, Charles Lewis Garrett, Jr., Deirdre Lynne Garrett Hasselbach and her husband Timothy of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Vaughan Lamar Garrett, his wife, Angela, and their two children, David and Sydney.

Bubba.

We called her Bubba. Why? My older brother Charles Lewis Jr. was mentally handicapped and had difficulty pronouncing some letters of the alphabet. Rather than pronouncing Momma, it came out Bubba. It stuck, so that’s what her name was from then on.Years later after college I occasionally called her Mom, although that took some time to get used to.

Charles Lewis Jr.

She managed Charles Lewis’s medicine every day, mixing it in a spoon with some apple sauce so it would go down better. The seizure medicine was only in capsule form so that required mixing. One time she accidentally gave me the medicine bc she was in a hurry and grabbed my head and said “open wide” and she stuck the mixture in my mouth and I swallowed it. I said something and she apologized. Honest mistake. She did this medicine routine for him twice a day for 18 years until he went to Mexia State School. That’s dedication and love. She sent quarters and dollars to Charles Lewis every week so he could buy Cokes from the machine. Charles Lewis liked Cokes as much as Bubba did. She relentlessly made sure Charles Lewis received the best care possible, and she did that often with a fiery command.

Music.

Mom sung in school and church choirs and had appreciation for music, band, orchestra, choir and the opera. She played piano as well. She listened to contemporary music on the radio which I enjoyed just as much. 1969 riding with Bubba down Glenbrook avenue in Garland in the passenger seat, a song came on the radio. I listened with my eyes wide open and I stared at the radio and said “What is that?” Keep I mind I said what rather than who, because it was so out of this world. Bubba said, “It’s the Age of Aquarius!”. My mind was blown. I still remember the sound and the lyrics and I am still in awe to this day of that song. She liked the Beatles too. She watched them perform on the Ed Sullivan show and was impressed and thought they had a good future ahead of them. She was pregnant with me when “we” watched them. They performed in February and I was born that May, 1964.

Piano.

1972, 2nd grade. Mom was doing dishes and I walked into the kitchen. Mom said, “Vaughan I’ll give you a choice. Do these dishes or take piano lessons. Which one would you like to do?” I chose piano lessons of course! I still play piano, and I still play the same piano we acquired that year. Now I do the dishes and play piano.

Trumpet.

Just before middle school, Bubba asked, would you like to be in the band, and again I answered yes of course! So we went to a music store and I looked around and chose a coronet. I blew in it as my mom and dad watched. It sounded ok so they bought it for me. I knew how to read music from the piano lessons, so playing the trumpet came easier.

Private lessons.

Once committed to taking private lessons, mom took me there, every week, on time, for all the years I took lessons, which was 9 years! 4 years on piano and 5 on coronet. That’s commitment, not just on my part, but my mother’s part being the chauffeur and provider and motivator. Mom also supported the purchase of a Moog synthesizer my senior year of high school. It was the contemporary sound. I still have it too.

Ice cube.

Driving through Big Bend national forest, sitting in the back seat next to my sister, I was happily sucking on ice cubes. Dad was driving and mom in the passenger seat. Suddenly I realized I was choking on ice… a big piece. I sat there, unable to breath, wide-eyed not knowing what to do. Mom was in front of me, in the passenger seat, So I tapped on her shoulder as we flew down the road, and I pointed to my throat in gag mode. Bubba quickly turned around and stuck her finger all the way down my throat and magically pulled the ice cube out. Boy I was relieved.

Odor. One time on a trip with the family, driving down some road, someone passed “deadly” gas inside the car! Deirdre and I gagged on the smell and went Peeewwww! I said, “Who did it?” No one answered. I questioned again, “Who did it?” Deirdre said she didn’t. I said “I didn’t”, then bellowed “Now who did it?” Bubba, tired of the subject, said “OK I did it, now there, be quiet! Well, she probably took the blame just to shut us up. I bet I know who really let it. Dad was the only one who was silent the whole time.

College. I joined a Fraternity. Dad was not really for it at first, but later he was fine with it. Bubba was good with it from the start bc she knew it was important in school to belong to an organization and meet friends, whom I still cherish to this day. My dues were $35 a month. Bubba paid it for until I graduated. My parents visited my fraternity house, sat on the front porch with me, met my brothers, and supported it. They paid for college because they understand the lifelong importance of a quality education. I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication thanks to mom and dad.

Ancestry.

No one knew history better than my mom. She was a genealogy expert. She proved that she was a blood descendant of key persons who signed the Magna Carta, the Bigot father and his son. She proved she had relatives in the Civil War. She joined numerous historical organizations including the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Daughters of the American Revolution, and researched stories about many ancestors through the years of her blood kin. She proved to be descendants of the Moulds family who settled in the states in the 1700’s and hammered the first U.S. colonial copper coins that treasure hunters recover. She speaks of Evander Gandy, our one arm doctor decendent that moved from Louisiana in the latter days of the Civil War to settle in Texas. His arm was shot off while he was performing surgery on a battlefield. He was granted land, which is now owned by the Garrett estate. Her relatives are my relatives, and I am thankful of the extensive research she conducted over the years.

Teaching.

Mom loved to teach third graders. She said it’s the perfect grade to teach, not too young and not too old. Her passion for teaching was rewarded by her college, Sam Houston State Teachers college, now Sam Houston State University. The Eleanor and Charles Garrett Education center was appropriately named in their honor around 2010. My mother loved teaching, which was her chosen profession. She sacrificed this profession to help develop Garrett Metal Detectors in 1964, a lifelong commitment.

Dad’s education.

Mom put Dad through college. She had one requirement of Dad when he proposed. And that was to graduate college. Imagine that, Dad asked, “Will you marry me?”, and she answered, “Yes, but under one condition, will you get a college degree?”, and to that he answered yes.

In a manner of interest, she put him through college. He went to Lamar University, near her Sam Houston Teacher’s College. He got his Electrical Engineering degree which formed the foundation of his lifelong career in metal detection.

Garrett Metal Detectors.

Mom was the catalyst who catapulted Garrett into the best metal detector company on the planet. As dad sat in the garage after tinkering and perfecting his own metal detector design for a year, mom had enough. She walked into the garage at midnight and looked at dad and said, “Charles, it’s time to put that detector on the market, or forget it!” That began Garrett Metal Detectors in spring of 1964. If she had not have given that directive, the company would not have formed. She assumed tasks, such as placing ads, bookkeeping, organizing paperwork, ordering parts, accepting deliveries, shipping orders, and handling mail correspondence. Charles Garrett, the inventor, received worldwide recognition, rightfully so, and became “The Father of Treasure Hunting”. And Eleanor Garrett became the “Mother of Garrett Metal Detectors”, the perfect and essential companion. She became the company’s mother, an honor that was rightfully hers.

The atmosphere of the family spirit of Garrett Metal Detectors was embodied by my mother back when it all began, treating employees like her children, caring for them, treating them fairly, getting to know them, feeding them, celebrating with them, lending an ear during troubled times, remembering their birthdates, and learning about their children and remembering their names and birthdates as well. There is a reason that employees retire from Garrett, and that is because they were treated well, and so they gave back and worked hard for my parents to support the company to perpetuate it forward. This synergy creates an atmosphere that is wholesome and successful.

Tree Farmers. My parents loved land so much, especially East Texas piney woods, that they acquired tree farms. I walked the land that they bought, managed, seeded, and cultivated, which produced timber that was sold to help rebuild communities after hurricanes in the U.S. and abroad. In fact, their operation was so successful that they were named “Outstanding Tree Farmers for the State of Texas 2002.” How is it possible to accomplish so much? The answer is a deep appreciation for God’s green earth, plus their teamwork, got the job done.

Christian. Mom was a regular member of Orchard Hills Baptist Church of Garland. She gave regularly and generously, above and beyond the tithe stated in the bible. She prayed before meals or made sure someone in the group prayed before the meal. She read her bible daily.

She prayed regularly for the family, friends, church, the company, the United States, and for the world. She made sure the family went to church, especially Sunday school, where she believed the smaller classroom was a conversational environment for teaching. She brought me up in the Baptist Church and that is where I learned “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” I was Baptized at Orchard Hills when I was 10. She was there when I accepted Christ.

My family. David and Sydney were her pride and joy, and she always showed them with gifts and talked with them about relevant subjects. Any time she could hug her grand babies, she would. Her love is instilled in them and my children will always be better because of Bubba. She was kind to my wife Angela and loved her and supported my marriage. Bubba supported my livelihood and was always there for me, in all things, anytime, throughout my life, and I will always be thankful for her love for me.

I love you. Every conversation always ended with “I love you”. Through the years Bubba always said, “I’m glad you’re mine.” Well, truth be known, that comment works both ways. She was mine too. And in a manner of speaking, for all those who had the pleasure to know her, she was everybody’s mother.