Zenobia Wilburn

Zenobia Lackey Wilburn was the third of six children born to Sevallia and Doll Beaty Lackey in Ardmore, Oklahoma where she attended elementary and high schools.  Upon graduation from high school with honors, at the age of sixteen, she enrolled at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma where she majored in Home Economics.  She graduated in 1944 with honors.   In subsequent years she attended The Ohio State University and Arizona State University where she earned Master of Arts and Education Specialist Degrees.  Shortly before graduating from Langston, Zenobia married Leonard Earl Wilburn, a soldier from Columbus, Ohio, stationed near Ardmore.  They were married for 47 years before his death in 1990.  Their union produced three children, a daughter and two sons.  

                Zenobia’s teaching career began in Boynton, Oklahoma where she taught Home Economics at Phyllis Wheatly High School for three years.  She and her family relocated to Phoenix, AZ in 1950 where she taught in the Roosevelt Elementary District for 20 years.  During those years she taught 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades before becoming a Reading Specialist for grades 1-4.  She then moved on to Mesa Community College where she taught reading for 14 years before retiring.                    Zenobia also maintained contact with various MCC associates via social activities.  She frequently spoke fondly of her experiences and associations at MCC and especially enjoyed her work with the women returning to school programs and the athletic department.  Zenobia would be humbled, honored and thrilled with her induction into the Mesa Community College Sports Hall of Fame.      

                Zenobia truly loved teaching and touched many students who years later, as adults, told her of the positive impact she made on their lives.  She never forgot former students and could always recall specific events that occurred while they were in her classroom.  Most said they wished their own children could have had the benefit and positive experience of having her as a teacher.  Family, extended family and friends also benefited from her teaching, outside the classroom, and as well as from her honesty, wisdom and wit.