Frankie Walker Smith Education Endowed Scholarship

Frankie Walker Smith graduated from Huntsville High School in 1939 and attended Sam Houston from 1939 until 1942 studying Education. The 9th child of William A. and Bessie K Walker, she was known as “one of those Walker girls” all eight of them being tall and lank with beautiful legs. Mr. Walker was a butcher for the grocery store “on the square” and Mrs. Walker was a seamstress, working for McAdams Dry Goods, Felder’s clothing store and “Mrs. Estelle”. During WW II, Frankie was employed as a clerk for the federal government when prisoners were housed at what was later known as Country Campus. She moved to Houston, Texas and was working as a secretary when she met her soon to be husband. She married David L. Smith in 1947. Frankie passed away November 15, 2000. In 1960, David L. Smith Realty was established in Pearland, Texas. David Smith and his wife Frankie started the company. January 1, 2008 David L. and Frankie Smith’s daughter, Dr. Susan S. Lenamon, acquired the family business. Susan now carries the torch and is committed to carrying on the family tradition.
Susan graduated from SHSU in 1973 with a BBA in Business Education. She is an endowed life member of the Sam Houston State University Alumni Association and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2005. She is currently serving as Vice President. She was employed by the Pearland Independent School District for 25 years as a teacher, principal, and director of communications. Susan is married to Bearkat, Ben Lenamon. They have 3 children, Leslie, Martin and Leigh; seven grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. Susan contributed $10,000 in memory of her mother, Frankie Walker Smith, to begin the restoration work on a 113-year-old MP. Moeller opus 139 pipe organ which was dedicated to Sam Houston State University’s Peabody Library in 2007. The organ was purchased and installed in the auditorium of Old Main in 1894 and was played by faculty members several times a week at then – compulsory chapel services.