Dr. E. Leigh Secrest

Services for Dr. E. Leigh Secrest, age 88 of Hideaway, are scheduled for 2:00 PM Monday, April 25, 2016 at the St. Luke Episcopal Church in Lindale with Pastor John P. Carr officiating. Interment will follow in the Mt. Sylvan Cemetery with services under the direction of Caudle-Rutledge-Daugherty Funeral Home in Lindale. Dr. Secrest died Friday, April 22, 2016 at a Tyler hospital. He was born in Tioga, Texas on January 5, 1928 to the late Walter Everett and Jewel (Holloway) Secrest. Dr. Secrest graduated from Tioga High School and attended college at North Texas State University. After receiving his Master’s degree in Physics from North Texas State University in 1948, he married another North Texas student, Bettye Jo Porter. Dr. Secrest graduated from MIT with a PhD in Theoretical Nuclear Physics in 1951 where he became a Phi Beta Kappa. He then returned to the North Texas State University where he served on the Physics faculty for 3 years. Dr. Secrest then worked in the defense and reactor industries as a nuclear physicist for a number of years. In 1965, he joined the Texas Christian University as President of the Research Foundation and Dean of the Graduate School. In 1966, he was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Citation by North Texas State University. Dr. Secrest later became a Vice Chancellor of TCU, first in academics and then in finance. He served on the Board of Trustees for the Trinity Valley School for over 10 years and was honored at the Ft. Worth Trinity Valley School 50 years of timeless education celebration. Dr. Secrest was instrumental in the formative years of the Trinity Valley School. He retired in 1993 and he and Jo moved to Hideaway two years later. Their marriage lasted 52 wonderful years that was culminated with her death in 2000. In 2002, Dr. Secrest married his current wife of 14 years, Myrtle Allen “Muff” Secrest. He was preceded in death by his wife, Bettye Jo Secrest on July 16, 2000, and a son Charles Hinton Secrest. Dr. Secrest is survived by his wife, Muff Secrest of Hideaway; son, Robert M. Secrest of Hideaway; step-son, Michael and Jeanell Gettel of Arlington; 3 grandchildren, Shannon and Bradley Ferguson of Ft. Worth; Michelle Gettel of Ft. Worth; and Stephanie Gettel of Arlington; great granddaughter, Riley Ferguson of Ft. Worth; brother-in-law, Kenneth and Marge Porter of Hideaway; sister-in-law, Cherie and Steve Smith of Baxter Springs, KS; and numerous nieces and nephews. The family will receive friends from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Sunday, April 24, 2016 at Caudle-Rutledge-Daugherty Funeral Home in Lindale.

Dr. E. Leigh Secrest

January 5, 1928 - April 22, 2016