Wanda M Lebow

Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, December 2, 2014 in the chapel of Hampton Vaughan Funeral Home with the Rev. David Turner officiating. Burial will follow at Crestview Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 6:00 until 7:00 Monday, December 1, 2014 at the funeral home.

Wanda was born April 8, 1929, La Crosse, Ark. to Henry Bennett and Joyce Harris. She was the oldest of three children. Her father was a Rancher and Farmer and mother was a homemaker in Madill, Oklahoma where she graduated from Madill High School. Wanda went on to earn her Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Southeastern State College in Durant, Oklahoma. She then went to Midwestern University where she earned a Master’s Degree in Education.

Her teaching career began in Antlers, Oklahoma where she met her future husband, Jackie. They married in Paris, Tx. on June 7, 1952 and then moved to El Paso, Texas where he served in the military and she taught school. After finishing his tour of duty and after the birth of their son, Jackie Jr., they eventually moved to Holliday, Texas where she taught High School Math for 4 years. In 1961 they moved to Wichita Falls and she became one of the original teachers at Rider High School where she taught Math and directed the Number Sense Team for many years. She retired in 1988 after 33 years of teaching . After retirement she enjoyed traveling, church activities, and going to family reunion’s in Arkansas and Oklahoma. She was a lifelong Baptist and a member of First Baptist Church and eventually Colonial Baptist in Wichita Falls, Tx. which she attended regularly until her health prevented it. She had a deep faith that was evident in the way she lived her life and treated those around her. She was a very dedicated educator and it was evident in her teaching. Many of her students still remember her ever present smile and here caring attitude through even the most difficult situations. Before her retirement, she was asked to compare her first students at Rider and the students she was teaching now. Her response was, “ Girls today are not afraid to show that they are smart and I am proud to say that a bigger number of students are gaining national recognition scholastically.”

Wanda is preceded in death by her husband Jackie Lebow Sr.

She is survived by her son; Jackie William Lebow Jr. and wife Patricia, grandsons; Daniel Lebow and wife Jennifer and Christopher Lebow and wife Whitney, great-granddaughter; Emily, sister’s; Rowena Sparlin and Sue Rader and several nieces and nephews.