PLAINVIEW, Texas — Attendants gathered on the steps of Gates Hall Thursday evening were given a glimpse of Wayland Baptist University’s founder as Linda Adkins, granddaughter of Dr. James Henry Wayland, spoke of her childhood with “Mamaw and Papaw”.
“They were always making their future plans and hopes. They made the decision together as they grew older to leave their family home at 1501 W. Fifth St and turn it into apartments, just to make a little much-needed money,” Adkins said.
She then spoke of big Sunday dinners where “Granddaddy had absolutely no guilt when he invited people randomly to come and eat” and where “white linen table clothes and napkins with ‘Wayland Hotel’ embroidered discreetly on the corners in royal blue” were used.
She also spoke of Dr. Wayland’s final days when “he no longer saw patients, no longer bustled about town, making his will known to all the business leaders he knew.”
“All good things must end, and in 1948 Granddaddy became gravely ill,” she said. “He was going to have his other leg amputated, but God looked down on him with favor and did not want him to go through this pain. So, He took him to heaven to live with him.”
