Mar-Jo Huggins (Plainview)

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Mar-Jo Huggins, 82, of Plainview passed away on Sunday August 22, 2021. Funeral services will be held 11:00 A.M. Friday, August 27, 2021 at First United Methodist Church with Rev. Russ Panzer, pastor officiating. Burial will follow in Plainview Memorial Park under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors.

A visitation will be held 10:00 A.M. until service time on Friday in the Parlor of First United Methodist Church.

Mar-Jo was born on December 11, 1938 to Sherwood and Eunice (Simpson) Holley in Plainview, Texas. Mar-Jo knew from an early age that she wanted to be a teacher. She was raised on a farm in the Halfway community and attended the grades two through five at the Halfway community school.  She then attended Plainview I.S.D. and graduated from Plainview High School in 1957. Mar-Jo graduated from Texas Tech University in May of 1961, majoring in elementary education. She was a member of the Tri-Delta Sorority. She later got her Masters of Education degree from West Texas State University in 1981, specializing in reading. She spent a lifetime in the field of teacher education. She taught first grade to graduate level classes. Education was her love and passion. She loved her students and has maintained a friendship with many of her former students.

Her father, S.H. Holley, raised cotton on his farm and in the fall migrant workers from Rio Grande valley moved to their farm and gathered the cotton. There were no modern day cotton strippers and the cotton was picked by hand and put into long cotton bags and pulled on their backs. The migrant families that pulled the fluffy white cotton from the bolls lived on the Holley farm and their entire family helped to pick cotton. This was in the 1940’s and they usually stayed about two months. However, none of the migrant children went to school during that time and this bothered Mar-Jo as she thought they needed to be going to school. So, she decided to teach them at her home. At the day’s end she would gather crayons, pencils, extra work sheets, scissors, paste and other supplies and took them home to have class on the back porch and sidewalk for the children. The minute the school bus dropped her off, they came to Mar-Jo’s class on the back porch.  She could not speak Spanish and they could not speak English, but all managed to smile and laugh and color and count in English. Mar-Jo always had a special love for the migrant children that attended the public schools in Plainview. Many years after her classes on the back porch were almost forgotten she taught migrant children of all ages for the Plainview Public Schools. Her love for the sparkling brown eyes that seemed to dance when they learned a new word, concept or realizing they were reading in English created a lifetime of joy for Mar-Jo. She was selected as the Master Teacher of Migrant Education for the State of Texas in the early 1980’s. She traveled to other states working to design a curriculum guide that was written to help migrant children. She received a certificate signed by the Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton recognizing her along with teachers from other states.

She married Norman Emory Huggins on June 10, 1961 in Plainview. They were the second couple to be married in the new chapel at the First United Methodist Church. Her church was always an important part of her life and she enjoyed working in many areas from youth, young people and the women’s organizations. She has been active in many organizations serving as president of United Methodist Women, serving on the Boards of Stewards, chairman of the worship committee, a member of the Wesley Sunday School Class, president of Rags to Riches Investment Club, served as president of Chapter CZ-PEO and member of Plainview Panhellenic.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Sherwood (Shep) and Eunice Holley and brothers, Sherwood Holley, Jr. and Don Holley.

She is survived by her husband, Norman Huggins; son, Christian Emory Huggins; sister, Toney Holley Lynch; grandson, Kieffer McBeth;  sisters-in-law, Carolyn Huggins Hollis, Marilyn Kidd; daughter-in-law, Dana Burnett Huggins; nieces and nephews, Darrell and Nanette Holley, Ryan and Kody Holley, Devin Holley, Dillon Holley, Brian and Cheri Craft, Holley and Ethan Craft, Roxanne and Joe Hughes, Havannah Hughes, Tanya and Jason Vice and Logan and Wells Gwin.

The family suggests memorials to Alzheimer’s Association or the charity of your choice.