ALLIE MAE MCDONALD GRILLO, 1920-2018, was the last surviving of nine children born to Benjamin R. McDonald and Elzira Benton Scoggin McDonald. She was born in Hightower, Texas, and grew up in the rural area of southeast Texas and the small coastal town of La Porte. She graduated from La Porte High School, and attended West Texas State College (now West Texas A & M University) in Canyon, Texas, studying languages and teaching. She received a BA degree in Spanish, minoring in English. Later, after several years of teaching both languages, Ms. Grillo completed an MA degree in Spanish.
Beginning her teaching career during World War II on the Texas-Mexico border in Del Río, Texas, Ms. Grillo taught Spanish for more than four decades in public schools. She taught in Dumas, Texas for twenty years, and for twenty-two years at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas. She taught evening and summer classes at North Lake College in Irving. After her “retirement,” she continued teaching Spanish at the Lively Senior Center and Heritage Senior Center in Irving until the age of ninety. Her teaching career spanned a period of over sixty-eight years from 1942 to 2010.
Ms. Grillo completed summer studies to further her knowledge of the Spanish language at universities in Mexico City; Bogota, Colombia; and in the cities of Seville and Salamanca in Spain. While teaching at Dumas High School, at Tascosa High School in Amarillo, and at MacArthur High School, she accompanied high school students to Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, and to Salamanca, Spain for summer study sessions. During her life, she traveled throughout much of the United States, Mexico, The Caribbean, South America, and Spain.
In 1946, she was married to Anthony John (Tony) Grillo, a World War II veteran from New York City.
Ms. Grillo is survived by her three children, Anthony John Grillo II of Hot Springs, Arkansas; Donald Mack Grillo (Debbie) of Camden, Arkansas; and Lori Ann Grillo Sanders of The Woodlands, Texas, seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Throughout her life, Ms. Grillo was very involved in her faith. In 1949, having just moved to the Texas panhandle with her husband and young son, she initiated the process to establish the First Presbyterian Church of Dumas, Texas and became one of the charter members of that church, which recently celebrated its 69th anniversary. For 44 years she was an active member of St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church of Irving, Texas. Bible study was a passion that she pursued intensely.
After retiring from full-time teaching Ms. Grillo enrolled in classes to learn to paint with oils, and soon she was collecting photos of the Texas countryside, which she considered to be the most beautiful in the nation. She painted numerous landscapes of Texas Bluebonnets, and many floral compositions that often included a whimsically placed butterfly.
Although she was an academic and intellect, she always had a sincere smile and a kind word for everyone she met. Those who knew her were blessed by her sweet disposition and kind spirit. She was loved by many and will be greatly missed by those whose lives she touched.
