Mrs. W.K. Gordon, Jr. and the W.K. Gordon, Jr. Foundation

The Mr. and Mrs. W.K. Gordon, Jr. Endowed Scholarship was established in 2012 from a generous donation from Mrs. W.K. Gordon, Jr. and the W.K. Gordon, Jr. Foundation. Mrs. Gordon also established the W.K. Gordon Center for the Industrial History of Texas, a Tarleton facility that combines historical research, a museum and special collections library. The center, on Interstate 20 in the ghost town of Thurber, is named after Mrs. Gordon’s father-in-law, William Knox Gordon, an engineer, businessman and central figure in Thurber’s history. W.K. Gordon Jr. was born in 1910 and raised in Thurber. He later went on to a successful career as an oil and gas producer, rancher, businessman, and Fort Worth civic leader. In 1934 he married Anna Melissa Hogsett. Her family had deep roots in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Since his death in 1996, Mrs. Gordon and the Gordon Foundation funded numerous philanthropic causes in North Texas. Historical preservation and history are among her deepest interests. Mrs. Gordon passed away in 2014.