Bessie Lou Dobson Memorial

Bessie Lou Dobson

December 1, 1933 - September 22, 2021 

Mrs. Bessie Dobson has made an impact on the children of Denton ever since the beginning of her career and on through retirement. We are honored to celebrate her commitment to education.

In 1954 she graduated from TSCW (now Texas Woman's University) with a Bachelor's Degree in education. Bessie Lou taught one year at Shadow Lawn for Denton ISD and then substitute taught for several years while her children were young. She was PTA president at Stonewall Jackson and Woodrow Wilson Elementary schools before being hired as a First Grade Teacher at Wilson in 1967. She taught first and third grade at Wilson for twenty years before retiring in 1988. She was a member of the Denton Classroom Teachers Association, Texas State Teachers Association and the National Education Association.

Mrs. Dobson was known as a stern but loving teacher. Those that were not her students were intimidated by her height and the fact that even if you weren't her student and were doing something wrong she would let you know about it, but those in her classroom loved her. She once told the story of finding one of her students with his head down on the lunch table crying. When she asked him why he was crying he said, "they say you are mean and you're NOT mean!" She was happy when teachers got to have duty-free lunchtime but was also sad because she said lunchtime was when she found out the most about her "kids" and the time she enjoyed them the most. She worked hard at being a good teacher and loved teaching. After her retirement, she couldn't stay away from the classroom and volunteered in her grandson Heath's classrooms.

 It seems only fitting to continue her love of teaching by supporting the current teachers and students of Denton ISD through the work of the Denton Public School Foundation. Thank you for helping us carry her legacy forward.