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Though He Is Gone, ‘Pinkie’s’ Loyalty Lives On
“Nobody loved Texas A&M
more than Pinkie Downs,” de
clared President Earl Rudder.
“His life and love for A&M will
always be an inspiration to those
of us who had the privilege of
serving with him. Though his
loss will be difficult to endure,
his indomitable spirit will live
on.”
P. L. Downs, a fixture at Texas
A&M since 1940, died Mar. 21 in
a Galveston hospital following an
illness of several months. He was
83.
As A&M’s official greeter for
several years, he had been affili
ated with the university since he
enrolled as a freshman in 1902.
★ ★ ★
Downs Memorial
Fund Established
Texas Aggies and other friends
have rallied to establish a P. L.
Downs Memorial Scholarship
Fund.
The Former Students Associa
tion continued this week to re
ceive contributions to the Fund.
Richard L. Weirus, executive
secretary of the association, said
a total of donations will be an
nounced later.
Contributions to the scholar
ship fund may be made at the
Former Students Association of
fice in the Memorial Student Cen
ter.
He had hoped to live to be 92,
at which time he wanted to give
A&M’s centennial address.
“Pinkie,” as he was called by
most of his friends, is credited
with creating the famed thumbs
up admonition of “Gig ’Em, Ag
gies” a number of years ago at
an A&M-TCU football game. His
theory was that if you gig a frog,
he hops.
Downs served the school in va
rious capacities^ He was athletic
business manager, then assistant
director of publicity and informa
tion before becoming official
greeter.
The Downs, who grew up only
two blocks apart in Temple, were
married Dec. 7, 1916, in Temple.
They celebrated their 50th wed
ding anniversary in 1966 with a
reception at A&M’s Memorial
Student Center.
A Methodist virtually all his
life, Downs was a member of the
A&M Methodist Church Board of
Stewards.
A loyal Aggie. Downs was not
ed for his maroon ties with “AG
GIES” emblazoned on them. He
once donated two large trees from
his yard for the traditional Aggie
bonfire before the Turkey Day
football game with Texas.
Born Feb. 26, 1884, at Temple,
Downs was named after an uncle,
Col. Pinckney L. Downs, a mem
ber of A&M’s first graduating
class in 1879.
|llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
\the outside worldl
VIETNAM
Slowly, a program to pacify the countryside is gaining
a foothold in Vietnam, with blackclad government teams
fighting toe to toe with the Viet Cong for allegiance of the
peasants.
Premier Nguyen Cao Ky offered his own three-part
peace plan Tuesday and said negotiations should be limited
to Saigon and Hanoi. Later he autographed a 175mm shell
that U. S. artillery men fired at a Communist taget across
the demilitarized zone.
Secretary-General U Thant proposed a general truce in
Vietnam to be followed by preliminary peace talks, and the
United States announced it accepts the proposal.
WASHINGTON
President Johnson said Tuesday that he had “learned
regretfully” that North Vietnam apparently has rejected
a new U. N. bid to end the Vietnamese war.
NATIONAL
Mrs. John F. Kennedy sought solace in the hope that
her husband had been the victim of a conspiracy when he
was assasinated in Dallas.
Five youngsters helped Chicago police artists sketch
a likeness Tuesday of a man who they said kidnapped their
playmate, Carrie Stephens, 8.
A three-judge federal court rejected heavyweight
champion Cassius Clay’s bid Tuesday for a court order to
keep him from being drafted into the army.
INTERNATIONAL
Pope Paul VI gave the support of the Roman Catholic
Church on Tuesday to civic birth control education to check
the population explosion so long as this education does
not violate “moral law”.
British warplanes blasted the shattered supertanker
Torrey Canyon on Tuesday with tons of high explosives
and then rained incendiary bombs on the ship in an effort
to burn her leaking cargo of crude oil from the sea.
TEXAS
Friends of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Com
mittee, SNCC, picketed Southern University Tuesday when
university officials refused to recognize the committee as
an on-campus organization.
Surrounded by well-wishers, a happy family and his
torical reminders, Senator Bill Patman of Ganado was
governor for a day Tuesday.
Lawmakers Vote
Daylight Savings
AUSTIN <A>) — Texas will
join most other states in ob
serving six months of daylight
saving time, House members de
cided Tuesday.
The House rejected, 67 to 90,
a bill by Rep. Will Smith of
Beaumont that would have ex
empted the state from the day
light saving time provision of
the 1966 Uniform Time Act.
That decision saves the Sen
ate from a decision on the con
troversial issue.
Texas will go on daylight time
with most states on April 30 and
keep the clock advanced an hour
until Oct. 29 because of the
action.
THE CLOSING minutes of the
more than one hour of debate
were marked by whistling, clap
ping and shouting when Smith
said that if the legislature goes
along with daylight time, “Let
us tear down that great banner,
that red, white and blue flag”
of Texas.
Smith told the House that day-
Weather
Thursday: Partly cloudy to
cloudy. Few light rain showers.
Winds southerly, 10 to 15. High
86, low 68.
Friday: Mostly cloudy. Few
early morning tthundershowers.
Scattered heavy thundershowers
during afternoon. Winds south,
0 to 30. High 83, low 68.
First Bank & Trust now pays
5% per annum on savings cer
tificates. —Adv.
light time would put “hundreds
of school kids out in the dark
and rain in the early morning
waiting for the school bus.”
“The lives of the children of
Texas are far more important
than any time bill,” he said.
Rep. Gene Fondren of Taylor
said, however, that Smith’s bill
would cause “great harm, great
damage to business activity in
the state ... We would be an
island in time . . . completely out
of step with the rest of the na
tion.”
“DAYLIGHT time will give
our people and the people who
visit our state an extra hour of
recreation time in the afternoon,”
Fondren said.
The daylight time controversy
has raged in committee and be
hind the scenes for months.
Giants of the entertainment
industry lined up on different
sides of the controversy. Movie
owners — particularly drive-in
movies — were for Smith’s bill
and against daylight time, while
television stations fought it. Also
lined up against the bill were
airlines, railroads and the Texas
Daily Newspaper Association.
Smith’s allies included the Tex
as Restaurant Association and
owners of some radio stations,
particularly those which operate
only in daylight hours.
REP. RALPH SCOGGINS of
El Paso pleaded for passage of
Smith’s bill because his city’s
time would be the same as that
of New Mexico if Texas stayed
on Central Standard Time.
“I wanted to go to A&M from
the time I was 12,” Downs used
to chuckle, “but they wouldn’t let
me until I was 18.”
At A&M, Downs earned a de
gree in marketing and finance,
but told friends he majored in
“Good ’ole Aggie Bull.” He was
a member of the Ross Volunteers,
honors drill unit, the Sul Ross
Literary Society, and was presi
dent of the A&M Tennis Club.
After graduation in 1906,
Downs worked in the Temple
bank for his father, F. F. Downs,
for 28 years. He resigned to be
come a national bank examiner
for the U. S. Comptroller of Cur
rency.
Downs was a member of Texas
A&M’s Board of Directors from
1923 to 1933, and for five years
was a member of the board of di
rectors of A&M’s Association of
Former Students. The Downs’
Natatorium at A&M is named in
his honor.
A man who prided himself in
“living my life for others,”
Downs for many years headed a
“fruit project” at A&M to bene
fit patients at the Veterans Ad
ministration Hospital at Temple.
Aggies donated apples and orang
es from their big Christmas din
ner in university dining halls.
For many years. Downs hosted
a busload of VA patients from
Temple for a home football game
each year. He arranged for them
to be seated close to the Aggie
bench and be recognized by the
fans.
The Aggies’ love for Downs
was shown in 1955 when he was
hospitalized for a time. Friends
organized an “In the Pink” va
riety show which raised $3,000
for Downs’ hospital bill and paid
off the mortgage on his home.
“Pinkie” used to say that he
wanted his last words to be “Be
good to the Aggies.”
Memorial services for P. L.
“Pinkie” Downs were conducted
Thursday in the A&M Methodist
Church of College Station.
Dr. Walter McPherson, pastor
of the A&M Methodist Church,
officiated at funeral services.
Burial was in the College Station
City Cemetery. Callaway-Jones
Funeral Home was in charge of
arrangements.
Pallbearers included Earl Rud
der, Richard Weirus, Jim Lind
sey, Travis Bryan Jr., Edwin H.
Cooper and Bill Lancaster.
Members of the Brazos County
A&M Club were honorary pall
bearers.
Survivors include the wife,
“Miss Bea;” their daughter, Grey
Downs of College Station; a bro
ther, Fort Downs of Temple, and
a sister, Mrs. Lyn P. Talley of
Dallas.
Silver Taps ceremonies the
Tuesday before Easter break
honored Downs.
“Be Good to the Aggies”
Che Battalion
Volume 61
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 1967
Number 421
Back Porchers, 4 Skeeter’
Civilian Weekend Extras
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A singing group billed as “The
Back Porch Majority” will per
form here April 22 as a Memorial
Student Center Town Hall Extra.
The seven young men and
women who comprise “The Back
Porch Majority” began their ca
reer at Randy Sparks’ nitery in
West Los Angeles. Initially
trained in a style imitative of
“The New Christy Minstrels,”
the Majority soon came up with
an individuality apart from other
folk groups.
Also slated as a single act dur
ing the program is “Skeeter”
Davis of Grand Ole Opry fame.
Some of her top recordings in
clude “Last Date,” “The End of
the World” and “Sunglasses.”
Sammy Pearson, MSC Town
Hall chairman, said the evening
of entertainment will kick off Ci
vilian Student Weekend activities
at Aggieland.
Season tickets and activity
cards will not apply for this G.
Rollie White Coliseum perform
ance, Pearson said. He said tick
ets go on sale April 10 at the
MSC Student Program Office.
There will be no reserved seats.
“The Majority” has entertained
for President Johnson and his
family at the White House and
has appeared at such unlikely
events as the Jumping Frog Jubi
lee at Calaveras County.
A review of press clippings in
dicates the group has received
more than its share of standing
ovations in performances
throughout the nation.
One writer said the singers are
so polished ... so hard driving
. . . so dynamic that they have
to be ranked among the top club
acts in the country.
Known around the circuit as
the BPMs, the seven includes
Mike Crowley, Karen Brian, Mike
Clough, Ellen Whalen, Denny
Brooks, Linda Carey and Kin
Vassy.
Some of the numbers listed in
their material includes “That’s
the Way It’s Going to Be,” “Take
a Little Bird,” “Julie Ann,” “He
Was a Friend of Mine” and
“Natural Man.”
——.SsflSw
THE BACK PORCH MAJORITY
The young folk group will perform for a Town Hall Extra,
which will open Civilian Weekend, April 22.
Houston, El Paso
Mayors To Speak
Two major proponents of a city
sales tax in Texas will be heard
Thursday at Texas A&M.
Houston Mayor Louis Welch
and El Paso Mayor Judson Wil
liams are set for a Political
Forum presentation at 8 p.m. in
the Memorial Student Center
Ballroom.
Accident Control
Seminar Is Set
A safety seminar, “The ABC’s
of Industrial Accident Control,”
is scheduled here April 10-12.
Taught by the Supervisory De
velopment Division of A&M’s En
gineering Extension Service, the
course stresses factors of strong
safety programs.
“Urban Politics Today” is the
principal topic for the evening,
announced David Gay, Political
Forum chairman.
Welch was first elected to the
Houston City Council in 1950. He
served eight years as councilman
and is serving his fourth year as
mayor. A graduate of Abilene
Christian College, Welch is a
past president of the Texas May
ors and Councilmen’s Association
and a former president of the
Texas Municipal League. He is
serving on two national commit
tees — one a special education
committee of the Health, Educa
tion and Welfare Department,
and the other an anti-poverty
committee appointed by Presi
dent Johnson.
“Calamity Jane”
Is Scheduled At
Bryan Auditorium
The Stephen F. Austin Aca-
pella Choir will present its pro
duction of “Calamity Jane” April
7 and 8 at 8 p.m. in the Bryan
Civic Auditorium, announced Jim
Austin, choir director.
The musical is based on a fa
cet of the life of Calamity Jane,
portrayed by Karen Kraft. The
male lead of Wild Bill Hickock
will be played by Ted Davis.
“We’ve gone to a great deal
of expense to make it authentic,”
Austin said, “right down to
shooting glasses out of people’s
hands and to constructing a rep
lica of old Fort Scully at the en
trance and an Indian village on
the lawn of the auditorium.”
Tickets for the production can
be obtained at the Bank of Com
merce, First Bank and Trust,
Jarrot’s Pharmacy of Town-
shire, First National Bank, City
National Bank and the principal’s
office at the school. All seats
are reserved. Tickets are $1.50.
An orchestra composed of
members of the Houston Sym
phony and Sam Houston State
will provide the musical score.
SKEETER DAVIS
. . . Also appearing as a single act with the Back Porch
Majority.
Former A&M Student Earns
Air Medal For Viet Service
U. S. Air Force Captain Don
nell D. Griffin, son of Mrs. F. C.
Griffin of 402 N. Coulter in
Bryan, has been decorated with
five awards of the Air Medal at
Yung Tau Army Air Field, Viet
nam.
Captain Griffin, a VC-2 Cari
bou pilot, won the awards for
outstanding airmanship and cour
age on successful and important
missions under hazardous condi
tions in Vietnam. He has com
pleted more than 140 combat
missions.
He is assigned to Vung Tau
as a member of the Pacific Air
Forces, America’s overseas air
arm in Southeast Asia, the Far
East and the Pacific.
Before his arrival in Southeast
Asia, he was assigned to the
965th Aircraft Early Warning
and Control Squadron at McClel
lan AFB, Calif.
A graduate of Stephen F. Aus
tin High School, he received a
B.S. degree in education from
Texas A&M and was commission
ed there in 1961 upon completion
of the Air Force Reserve Officers
Training Corps program.
His wife, Sue, is the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Ray D. Sorrells
of 1019 Bledsoe St., Gilmer.
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M”
—Adv.
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