Mary Jo Priddy, of Kingwood, Texas went to her heavenly home on July 13, 2022. Mary Jo was born on September 8, 1931 in Abilene, Texas to Willis Jefferson and Velma Dodson Shelton Frazier. She lived in Abilene until 1953. She was brought up in the Southside Baptist Church in Abilene where her Father was a deacon and parents were charter members. Her Mother took her children to everything at church all their lives and to Sunday afternoons she took them to singings at the Municipal Auditorium in Abilene. Growing up in church Mary Jo was active in everything and loved to sing. She had a natural ear for tone and sang solos, duets, trios and quartets at church. After becoming an adult she continued to sing in church choirs and was a soloist.

Mary Jo attended Travis Elementary in Abilene and graduated from Abilene High School in 1949. She proceeded on to Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, where she received her Bachelor of Science Degree in 1952.. She met her husband to be at the church as she was graduating from high school and after his family had moved to Abilene when he was in the Navy. Bobbie Jack Priddy and Mary Jo Priddy married March 22,, 1953.. She and Bob moved to the Houston area in 1953 when he took a job with Standard Oil Company. For the next several years they moved to various cities across Texas and New Mexico. Bob had also graduated from Hardin-Simmons University with a BBA Degree. Mary Jo completed all the requirements for teaching with the exception of student teaching. She spent her first career days as a stenographer and accounting worker. When they were living in Stanton, Texas, she noticed that Big Spring ISD had an article in the paper about hiring a Federal Projects Assistant Superintendent and they were planning to apply for a full-year Head Start program, so she volunteered to assist. She was immediately hired as secretary to the Federal Projects Superintendent.. Together they wrote the application and flew it to Austin where the
application was accepted. From that point on Mary Jo assisted in compiling a teacher manual and managed the budget. She also served as secretary for the General Superintendent who was involved in a community action committee. During that time he knew she was interested in teaching and at mid-term in 1965 he offered her a business education assignment at Big Spring High School so at age 35 she entered the classroom on emergency certificate.. She told us that the High School Assistant Principal visited her that first day and told her she appeared to already be a professional teacher, but she admitted she had butterflies in her stomach.

For two summers she went back to Hardin-Simmons University and completed a double major in business education. In 1969 the family moved to Port Neches, Texas after the beginning of school and she was contacted by Port Arthur High School about substituting there. By midterm she had a full-time position, as a young business teacher was drafted. Mary Jo was teaching at Port Arthur High School when they were required to merge their campus with an African American campus. She volunteered to go as she had teaching experience in Big Spring with teaching multiple ethnic students, but the principal said no I really need you here. A year later he called her on a Sunday afternoon and told her she was to take over as Business Department Head due to illness of the existing teacher and to write lesson plans for her new assignment, as well as her long-term substitute so she was writing eight lesson plans a week. Next the family moved to Humble where she was hired as a business teacher at Humble High to implement a new program of office education and also asked to become the Business Department Head. This was in 1972. Two years later Humble was qualified by Texas Education Agency to hire a Vocational Administrator and Mary Jo got the job.

Mary Jo attended Sam Houston University in Huntsville and received her Master of Education Degree in 1975, specializing in vocational education. Many times she was asked by professors to teach their class because they did not know enough about it to explain what had to be done. She almost had enough credits to receive her Doctoral Degree, but decided she did not need it for her job The first thing Mr. Turner told her was to go out to the Fairgrounds and see what needed to be done for improvements. So she was walking the property with electricians and other contractors to develop a plan for improvement. During this time all new lights were installed around the rodeo arena and throughout the barn. Ultimately a metal show barn was built and new aluminum bleachers. On any given day prior to the livestock show each year you might had seen her out on the grounds on a tractor moving sand around while Jack Fields, Sr. was there with his maintainer cleaning out all the ditches. Over the years it became apparent that the Fairgrounds were no longer suitable for the show. It was very muddy and people were always getting stuck. For the last two years they were able to use Wilson Road Hall for our auctions, which was a blessing.

After that the City of Humble was planning to build a Civic Center so she and Bodie Wagner and J. C. Evans contacted City Council and they were able to secure a 20 year contract on usage of a Rodeo Arena and livestock show pens, but also were able to plan how those facilities were to be built and specified the equipment and pens needed. By the 50th year of the Humble ISD Show they were in the new Facilities.

Mary Jo was asked by Smiley High School to come to assist in Southern Association evaluation of business courses. It was there she met Penny Westerfeld who was a teacher there (her husband Ron was principal of Atascocita Middle School). After Penny left Smiley she became a teacher at Lone Star College, so it was natural that Mary Jo and Penny started a friendship and paved the way for the first Tech Prep Articulation between a high school and a community college, which was unheard of at that time. The college started calling them the dynamic duo. The articulation did a crossover of courses, which allowed high school students to acquire college credits for certain high school courses.

Mary Jo was a trailblazer for vocational education in Texas and a five state region of the American Vocational Association. Vocational Education changed years ago to Career and Technical Education and she was Humble’s first director and in fact she was the third female in Texas to be hired for the position. Ft. Worth and Dallas had the first two female directors. She constantly was receiving phone calls from other new directors asking her how she got things done. She had an open door policy with all her teachers and the buck always stopped with her. Mary Jo was active at all levels of career and technical education. She served in all officer positions of her area association, including president. She was selected as the outstanding Career and Technical Director from the area and later she became President of her Texas Association and was selected as the outstanding director of that organization and from there they recommended her to receive the same award at the 5-state region of American Vocational Association and she won that also.

She was a problem solver and procedural person by nature. She compiled a procedures manual for the State professional organization for her field and was asked by the counselor division to do one for them, which she did. She also compiled one for her area professional association and one for the awards of the five-state American Vocational Association. Before she retired in 1999 she did a manual concerning the Rodeo, livestock show and auction for Humble. Back at the time we had a recession and she was concerned with the local business buyers might have problems continuing their level of purchases she organized a plan for all levels of principals and other administrators to start a bidding fund to start purchasing animals and showing the community that we were giving back to the community. It is still successful today. She also used to invite them all out for a big barbeque where she, Bodie Wagener and J. C. Evans would barbeque all day and that was well received too.

Dr. Say knew she was interested in building a Career and Technology Center for Humble ISD, which would provide an opportunity for high school students to gain certification in a number of fields so she retired in 1999, but started three days later as a consultant to get that done. She became the Project Manager to meet with architects, contractors, design teams and plan a building, which she did and it opened in 2001 on Will Clayton. Certificates were offered in Certified Nursing Assistant, Cisco Networking, A+ certification, Microsoft certification and a Pre-Employment Lab for Pre-Engineering, which offered internships. She brought in federal monies, specified all equipment and furnishings and stayed in the building to see most of it in place before the building opened for students. At this time Dr. Say was leaving and Dr. Sconzo was coming in so she was able to take him through the building.

But was she finished, no for the next eight years she served as a substitute teacher in Humble high schools only. She continued to be an active participant in the Humble ISD Livestock Show and Auction until death and she served on a buyers team at the Auction.

She was an active member of the Humble Area Retired Teacher Association, serving as President and later served two years more as historian where she made decorative memory books for the President. She was a member of Second Baptist Church of Kingwood.

Mary is survived by: Son, Greg Priddy and wife Lynn Priddy, Daughter, Carla Priddy, Granddaughter Jolyn Priddy, Grandson Greg Priddy Jr. , Granddaughter, Andrea Alexander