Beneficiaries: Robert Lee High School Graduates
Fund: Jack and Nina Brewer Scholarship Fund
Jack and Nina Brewer established the Jack and Nina Brewer Scholarship Fund in 2003.
Scholarships go to graduates of Robert Lee High School, with preference given to those attending the First United Methodist Church of Robert Lee. In the first four years of the fund, more than 30 recipients received more than $22,000 in scholarships.
As an endowed scholarship, the fund will continue to award scholarships to Robert Lee students forever. What a tremendous resource for the young people of Robert Lee, and what a magnificent legacy by this inspiring West Texas couple.
Jack and Nina are classic members of America’s “greatest generation.”
Jack was born in Stilwell, Oklahoma in 1927, and attended public schools there. After graduation, he volunteered for the Navy and served until the end of World War II. Following his discharge, he played football at Oklahoma Eastern A&M and graduated from Northeastern State at Tahlequah. He then moved to Borger, Texas to begin a 36-year coaching career.
In Borger, Jack married Nina Starkey, who was also a coach-teacher. They had no children but had many young friends they “claimed” as their own. Jack moved up the ladder to coach at Howard Payne University for three years, where he coached HPU to the conference title in 1954. Jack then moved to La Vega High School of Waco as head coach from 1956-1958. He was Central Texas Coach of the Year in 1957.
Jack and Nina next moved to Odessa and the Ector County ISD, where Jack continued his service as a coach and teacher. Jack and Nina retired and moved to Robert Lee in 1986. They both loved to fish and spent many happy hours together at Lake Spence and Lake Ivie. The Brewers also spent time in church and loved doing civic work. Jack died a short time after establishing their scholarship. Nina remains active and engaged in life.
“We are so happy with the work of the San Angelo Area Foundation,” Nina says. “They have made administration of our scholarship fund easy and rewarding. I hope others join us in helping young people get a good education.”
