Mrs. Sneed

By Larry Wilcox

Mrs. Lucille Sneed was a Business teacher.  Some of the subjects she taught me was typing and Bookkeeping.  But, she taught me a lot more than course material.  Mrs. Sneed was a tough task master and demanded the best.  She was a devout Nazarene lady and would not allow language that even approached cussing.  I recall her chastising me for using the word "Shucks".  Mrs. Sneed would not accept mediocrity but demanded the best in everything. 

While I was a professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, there was a big move to try to improve the professor's instruction.  The administration looked for ways to judge the quality of instruction given by the professors.  One idea they came up with was to have the students evaluate the professors.  I thought back to my Russett days and remembered Mrs. Sneed.  I thought to myself if I had been asked to evaluate her at that time, I am afraid I wouldn't have given her a very good score.  But, after my lifetime experiences, I know I would give her a very high score.

I have always held her in high esteem and her demand for high quality work.  I visited her in her latter days when she was in a rest home.  Her mind was was bright as ever.  Together we recalled her days at Russett.  Evidently after teaching at Russett she went to teach at Millcreek.  Sadly for me, her fondest teaching memories were her days at Millcreek and not Russett.

In my teaching career I often told my students about Mrs. Sneed and used her as an example of how they should perform by asking them, "What would Mrs. Sneed say?".