Former GISD Supt. Arnold Oates remembered after passing
Jun. 15—Multiple former Greenville ISD employees and past school board board members have been grieving these past few weeks after the passing of former GISD Superintendent Dr. Arnold Dale Oates on Saturday, June 3, who died at the age of 85.
His time leading GISD from Fall 1979 through Spring 1981 saw several changes that included the passing of a bond issue that allowed for the current Greenville High School to be built as well as for other campuses to be refurbished and equipped with air conditioning.
"We needed new energy to elevate the curriculum, facilities and the confidence of our citizens in our schools. Arnold brought that," former GISD School Board member W. D. "Dee" Hilton said.
When Oates took the helm in GISD, he had some big shoes to fill as he was the immediate successor of Wesley Martin, who served as superintendent from 1961 through 1979.
"I was principal at Carver Elementary when the GISD Board hired Dr. Arnold Oates to be our new superintendent," said retired GISD principal James Evans. "Our previous superintendent was Wesley N. Martin, who had served as superintendent of GISD since I was a student. The most important thing I'll always remember Dr. Oates for was the way he patiently dealt with employees, like myself, who were trying to get over the departure of Mr. Martin.
"As the district assigned me to different campuses, I often referred to my memories of Dr. Oates and how he made me a successful part of his new school team," Evans added. "I learned a lot from Dr. Oates and continued to use what he taught me throughout my career."
Including his time with Greenville ISD, Oates had a career in education that spanned 50 years.
His teaching career began in August 1958, at the age of 21, when he taught biology, chemistry and physics at Talco and Big Spring high schools before being named the Sands Junior-Senior High School principal in Ackerly. This tenure was interrupted, however, when his Army National Guard Unit was activated during the Berlin Crisis in 1961.
Upon returning in 1963, Oates began working on his Ph.D at East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce). During this time, he was also employed as assistant superintendent at Bonham ISD.
After completing his doctoral degree at the age of 28 in May 1966, he joined the Education and Technical Service Division of the Philco-Ford Corporation as an executive administrator.
One of his positions he held with the corporation was education manager at a women's job corps center. He was then named director of the Madera (California) Employment Training Center, which prepared Native Americans for moving from a reservation to urban areas for employment. His last position with Philco-Ford was director of all the company's manpower training operations nationwide.
In 1970, Oates returned to public education as principal of T.C. Williams Senior High School in Alexandria, Virginia. While there, he and his staff and students faced many challenges as the district integrated three racially disparate high schools.
The strides that the T.C. Williams students made in 1971 were depicted in the movie "Remember the Titans." Oates and former T.C. Williams Coach Herman Boone (portrayed by Denzel Washington in the film) developed a lifelong friendship.
Oates eventually returned to Texas in 1979, where he served as superintendent for Greenville ISD, Brazosport ISD and North East ISD in San Antonio. At that time, North East ISD grew to serve a population of 60,000 students across 70 campuses.
Starting in 1986, Oates taught for 13 years at Texas A&M University College Station, as a professor in the Department of Educational Administration.
Oates was also president of his educational consulting firm, named Texas School Planning, Inc. In this capacity, he worked with more than 100 school districts over the course of 25 years in conducting demographic and land use studies, facility planning, and bond issue preparation. Oates completed his last TSPI consulting contract at age 80, but continued to work as senior advisor for the strategic communications firm Erickson Strategies.
Before beginning his expansive career, Oates was born in Ben Franklin, Texas on Aug. 30, 1937 to Arnold Oates, Sr. and Beulah Endsley Oates. He married Martha Holloway on June 4, 1960. They had two children, Katherine Oates Erickson and Mark Oates.
In addition to his work in education, Oates supported many non-profit organizations with missions to help those in need. He was also a deacon, elder and trustee at First Presbyterian Church-Tyler.
A service in Oates' memory is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday, June 24, in the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church of Tyler, 230 W. Rusk Street, Tyler, TX 75701.
Memorials may be made in Oates' name to any charity or Gilmont Camp and Conference Center, 6075 State Hwy: 155 North, Gilmer, TX 75644, or the Garden of Memories Cemetery Association (Fence Fund), c/o Ron Spears, P.O. Box 560, Ben Franklin, TX 75415.
