Priscilla Pond Flawn

Mrs. Flawn was a native of Sarasota, Florida. She graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio with a B.A. degree in English and a minor in Music (organ). She and her husband Dr. Peter Flawn had two children, Tyrrell Flawn, who resides in Washington, DC with her husband, John P. Howe III, M.D., and the late Laura B. Flawn, M.D.

Mrs. Flawn had a lifelong interest in the education of young children. For 14 years, she was teacher and Head Teacher at Good Shepherd School in Austin. She was a founding member of the Austin Association for the Education of Young Children and, in the past, served on the Austin Child Care Council, the editorial board of the syndicated Child Care Column carried by the Austin American Statesman and the Parents as Teachers Committee of the Mental Health Association of Texas. Upon Dr. Flawn's first retirement from UT in 1985, friends of Mrs. Flawn set up a Professorship in Child Development within the Department of Human Ecology. In 2002, when the Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Psychology Building was dedicated on the University of Texas campus, the Child and Family Laboratory School in that building was named in her honor.

For more than 50 years, she loved and supported The University of Texas. In 1985, with matching funds from the Board of Regents, two additional Priscilla Pond Flawn Professorships were established - one in Organ or Piano Performance in the School of Music and one in Early Childhood Education in the College of Education. As part of the Bass Performing Arts Center 2001 Gala, two scholarships in the College of Fine Arts were created in her honor - one in theatre and dance and one in music.

A member of The University Ladies Club for more than 55 years, Mrs. Flawn was President of this organization in the mid-1970's. She served on the Advisory Council of the Henry Ransom Humanities Center from 1992-1995 and was active, until recently, on the Departmental Visiting Committee of Human Ecology and on the Restoration of the Hogg Auditorium Committee. She was an honorary member of the Advisory Council for the Texas Memorial Museum and, from 1999-2003, served on the Executive Committee of the Chancellor's Council.

Since arriving in Austin in 1949, Mrs. Flawn was very involved in the Austin community. This included her service on the Austin Community Foundation Board of Governors and the Executive Council of the Umlauf Sculpture Gardens. She was a member of the Board of the Austin Children's Museum in its early years. She had memberships in the Society of Mayflower Descendants and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Texas, where she coauthored a new segment of the 4th Grade AISD curriculum on Texas History. In 1989, she was appointed to the Governor's Commission on Women by then Governor Clements. She served a three-year term on the St. Andrew's Episcopal School Board of Trustees and was the recipient of the Charles Alan Wright Award. In 2005, she was honored by The Austin Project with its Lifetime Achievement Award for her advocacy to improve education and the quality of life for young children.

Many knew Mrs. Flawn as the First Lady of The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to being the First Lady of The University of Texas at Austin, she was the founding First Lady of the University of Texas at San Antonio. She joined Dr. Flawn in building a new university from the ground up. There were only 25 employees when they arrived in San Antonio and 5 years later, when they returned to Austin, there were 7,000 students.

She was a wonderful mother who taught her daughters to work hard and reach for the stars. She was fondly known as Mema to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and would often be found singing, dancing and sharing a life lesson with the next generations.

She is survived by her husband of 70 years, Dr. Peter Flawn of Austin, her daughter Tyrrell Flawn of Washington, D.C., her grandsons John Graham Hill of Santa Monica, CA, Peter Charles Hill of Austin, Thomas Flawn-Chopp of Crested Butte, CO, her granddaughter Priscilla Flawn-Chopp of Austin and nine great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her daughter, Laura Flawn, M.D.

A celebration of Mrs. Flawn's life will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, April 16, 2016, at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 3201 Windsor Road.

In lieu of flowers, the Flawn family has asked that gifts in memory of Mrs. Flawn be made to support the Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Laboratory at UT Austin. Gifts can be made online at: http://tinyurl.com/prispflawn or made payable to UT Austin and mailed to 120 Inner Campus Drive G2500, Austin, TX 78712. Questions can be directed to Marie Cloutier at 512-475-9229.