Wagamons celebrate 75 years

Jun. 16—Long-time community leaders and residents of Huntsville Charles and Marion Wagamon celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on Sunday, June 4.

The Wagamons are devoted Catholics, whose faith and community devotion earned them the a special Vatican Award, after a nomination by a church member.

"We are not sure why we received the award, the work of God is part of our Catholic faith," said Marion Wagamon.

For 65 years of distinguished service and contributions to their parish, diocese, family, community and social justice, the Wagamons were awarded the prestigious papal Benemerenti Medal and Certificate by Pope Francis. The pair formally received their medal during Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Huntsville in January 2015.

An article written by Eleska Aubespin in January 2015 for the Archdiocese of Galveston — Houston newsletter explains that the medal is one of the highest honors that the Roman Catholic Church can bestow on the laity. St. Thomas the Apostle parishioner Jim & Barbara Riley nominated the Wagamons and Father Fred Valone, Pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle, forwarded the nomination.

Certificate from Pope Francis

The nomination also required further approval and endorsement by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, the Papal Nuncio in Washington, D.C., and ultimately the Pontiff. The Wagamons were considered to be exemplary Catholics and civic leaders in Huntsville and Walker County. Each Wagamon was given a certificate and medal.

Charles Wagamon has served the Huntsville community in various capacities for over 30 years. In 1994, he was elected Walker County Judge and served 8 years.

Wagamon was the Deputy Director-Region VI Education Service Center from 1968-1982, having obtained a PhD from Texas A & M in 1968 in Education Curriculum. Following his retirement from Region VI, he opened a printing business.

Mr. Wagamon was also a Volunteer Guide at the H.E.A.R.T.S. Museum.

He initially ran for Huntsville ISD School Board as a write-in candidate one week prior to the election.

The superintendent at the time was attempting to cut teachers salaries. Wagamon had addressed the school board in opposition to this action and the teachers were impressed by his support.

The teachers pressed him to run for school board although the election was one week out and he won.

He served six years and was also the board president.

When Wagamon's son Edward was diagnosed with cancer, he decided to resign from the board to be available for his son's protractive treatment journey.

"I was born and raised in a small town in Delaware, one of three children. My mother was a teacher and my father drove a bus. My high school graduating class of 1942 was made up of 16 boys and 17 girls," said Charles. "I started college as a pre-med student but I always wanted to fly planes, even when the Army drafted me. I had to press my point with the Army until they transferred me to Arkansas and Texas for training to be an aviator."

A point of information regarding the 2,000-acre tract of land, that was known as the Bryan Air Force Base, was mostly cotton fields surrounding the small, unincorporated community of Riverside, was established in response to the U.S.'s entry into World War II.

The base provided over two years of wartime service as an Advanced Flying School. The post specialized in developing instrument-only flight training.

At war's end, the field was deactivated and turned over to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas to accommodate the influx of veterans returning to school on the nation's new G.I. Bill. For the next five years, Aggie freshmen were housed at what was called "The Annex."

Five years after the end of the Korean War, the base was declared surplus and sat mostly idle until ultimately being leased to Texas A&M in 1962.

Terms of the lease stipulated the school would receive full ownership of the property, infrastructure and improvements at no cost if productive use was made of the venue over the next 20 years. Over the next two decades, the site came to be known as the A&M Research Annex and hosted a vast number of scientific studies and partnerships with outside business ventures.

"During my training at Texas A&M, I met Marion. I was a musician and she was a singer for the United Service Organizations (USO) and entertainer," said Charlies.

"We met at a dance Dec. 5, 1942, and kept in touch throughout the war. Many years later, Marion would gift me the 410 letters I wrote to her when I was away. We were married in 1948, with Marion's parents approval."

"While in the Air Force during World War II, I was a B-25 Bombardier Navigator over Italy and other countries. When I returned home, I served in the reserves and retired with the rank of of Lt. Colonel," said Charles.

Marion Holick Wagamon was originally from the Dallas area, the youngest of three children. The father was a professional musician, who due to health problems moved back to Bryan/College Station, where his parents operated the Holicks Boot Company. This business was the boot providers for the Texas A & M Senior Corp Cadets. The father, Joseph Holick was also the first bandmaster who organized the Texas A&M band.

Everyone in the family were musicians and Marion was a singer, actress and entertainer with USO and other groups who provided entertainment to the military soldiers that attended training at Texas A & M and Bryan Air Fore Base.

"Following high school I attended college in Denton, majoring in commercial advertising and design. I was also a singer and actress but I wanted a family life most of all," said Marion Wagamon. "After Charles and I were married, I had graduated from college and Charles was working on his degree, I worked to help support the family. Our first son was born in 1950."

They are the parents of five children.

"We worked for several school districts after college until Charles was offered a job in Huntsville," said Marion.

Marion devoted 30 years to the children of Huntsville and New Waverly as an elementary and secondary school teacher.

She was the Huntsville High School English Department Chair for 10 years and was the runner-up for Teacher of the Year. She served on several state committees, including State Reading Test, Paper Reduction and Textbook Selection. Marion was instrumental in the creation of the Texas Council of Teachers of English and the Association of Texas Professional Education and served in leadership positions in both.

Outside of school, Marion used her talent for acting and singing to direct the children's musical for the Huntsville Enrichment Activity Program (HEAP) summer programs.

In 2003, she began the Huntsville Catholic Radio, 102.5 FM, which is an FCC licensed local station that has been broadcasting 24/7 since its inception. She served on the Board as President for 13 years.

In celebrating 75 years of marriage, Marion states that when there is an argument, Charles does not say a word, and then goes and does what he wants.

He can memorize everything and knows how to spell every word.

This is despite the fact he had brain surgery in 2021 and had to relearn everything.

"My thoughts on my lovely wife is that she is always there when there is a problem and her solutions are A, B, C. She is a tactician by nature," said Charles.

Charles smiled up at his wife.

"The key to a successful marriage is finding someone who shares the same values and was raised similar to you and pray it all works out," agreed the Wagamons.