Philanthropists of the Year

Roy and Leona Isler

Roy Isler was raised on his parent’s farm eight miles northwest of Grady. He has always had a strong commitment to education. After graduating from Grady High School in 1938, Roy Isler attended ENMU for two years before transferring to Texas Tech to earn a BS degree in 1942. After graduation, Roy joined the Air Force and was assigned to the South Pacific where he spent more than two years. He was discharged in December 1945. In 1957, he later returned to ENMU to earn a Master of Arts in Education Administration and Secondary Education.

Before going to the South Pacific, Roy taught Pre-Flight to aviation cadets in Santa Anna, California. It was there that he met Leona who was working for Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach. They were married June 11, 1943.

In 1946, Roy accepted a teaching position at San Jon. He was there two years before he left to become the managing partner in the concession store at Conchas Dam. He and his family were there for nine years.

Roy worked in the Tucumcari and Estancia schools before moving to Livermore, California. There he became the Administrator of the Regional Occupational Program for Eastern Alameda County. This encompassed three cities with a school population of over twenty-five thousand students. He enjoyed this position until his retirement in 1978.

Leona worked at Conchas Dam as reservation clerk for the lodge and cabins, cashier in the coffee shop, clerked and cashiered the stores, ordered supplies and merchandise, and did the bookkeeping. In Tucumcari, she owned a ladies dress shop. Leona started her passion for oil painting while in Tucumcari. In Livermore, she owned and operated a successful employment agency. Leona presently teaches oil painting for the city of Roswell at the Adult and Senior Center. She has paintings at The Gallery and on loan to the Chamber of Commerce in Roswell.

Their son, Reid Allen, was born in 1947. He was killed in the line of duty in Vietnam in 1968. Reid was rendering aid and assistance to a wounded Marine under heavy fire. He was posthumously honored with a Bronze Star Medal for his heroic achievement. It was in 1972, the couple decided that their commitment to education was so strong that they would include ENMU as the sole beneficiary of their estate. In 2005, the couple made a generous gift to the ENMU Foundation establishing a Charitable Gift Annuity. Their philanthropic generosity will establish the Reid Allen Isler Memorial Scholarship Fund for education, fine arts and pre-med students.

Roy speaks highly of his former professors and administrators including Dewey Langston, Leroy Pinnell, C.B. Wivel, Ira Ihde, Carl Parker, Thelma Mallory, P.M. Bailey, Henry Hahn, Dean Cole, Dean O’Donnell, O.M. Williamson, Warren Watkins, Guy Wade and the list goes on. They attribute their “reasonably successful” life to ENMU. They both adamantly stated in unison, “It is time to give back.” For more information on Charitable Gift Annuities or donations, contact Noelle Bartl at 575.562.2412.