Imogene Ingram Gholston

Imogene Ingram Gholston passed away in Dallas, Texas, on July 28, 2020, just two weeks shy of her 92nd birthday.

Funeral service will be private for (family only). Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home.

She was a strong and resourceful woman who gave her all to the dreams she and her husband shared and to her fiercely loved five children and 11 grandchildren.

Imogene was born on August 11, 1928, in Wilson, Oklahoma.  She graduated as valedictorian of her high school class in Beggs, Oklahoma in 1946, and also provided the music for the ceremony as the pianist. She worked to cover the cost of an associate degree at the University of Oklahoma, where she was a nominee for campus beauty queen. Imogene took a year off in the middle of her studies to help care for her mother, who died that year of cancer. When Imogene returned to OU, her romance with Don Gholston, then a pharmacy student, took off. The two were married on February 24, 1951, and settled in Amarillo, Texas. They agreed to aim for four children by their 10th anniversary.

Four years and two little girls (Terry and Lisa) later, Don and Imogene moved to Dallas, where Don started medical school and Imogene continued working full time as a legal secretary. After the birth of their third daughter (Mindy), Imogene became a stay-at-home mother who worked wonders on a shoestring budget as Don finished his medical training. Phase 2 of training took the family to Denver, where their son (Cris) was born two days after his parents’ 10th anniversary, finishing the 4-children-in-10-years plan. The whole family rejoiced to have a boy! As Don was finishing training in Louisville, a fifth child (Dana) came along. The family then returned to Amarillo for Don to establish his cardiology practice, the first in the Texas Panhandle.

Imogene was a full-service wife and mother. She took an active interest in her husband’s profession and pitched in when his office staff took vacation. She sewed beautiful clothes and clever costumes for her children, lent her amazing ingenuity to their school projects, volunteered to help with their extracurricular and church activities, had her children do arithmetic in their heads before mental math was a thing, and taught them to use their own words, and the dictionary (!), whenever they wrote. She was a consummate problem solver but did not let her children off the responsibility hook.

As the children grew up and moved away, Imogene and Don had more time to travel to medical meetings together, play tennis, and teach themselves how to manage their own financial investments. They went out of their way to create special memories for their grandchildren through visits, special trips and, most importantly, annual family reunions at their much beloved vacation spot, Little Squaw Resort on the Rio Grande near Creede, CO. When Don was diagnosed with lung cancer, Imogene cared for him while simultaneously completing the closing of his practice and dealing with a substantial remodeling project in their home.

After losing Don in 2001, Imogene served as an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church, learned how to use a computer – including how to interact with tech support in India, and stayed in close touch with her far-flung family.

Imogene loved cats, babies, yellow roses, hot fudge sundaes, thoughtful shopping for her children and grandchildren, serious novels, maps, and reading every single word in a brochure or newspaper. Beautiful, elegant and always well-groomed, Imogene set a fine standard for her children. She never complained – about anything. Her offspring are stronger for having been loved and influenced by her.

Imogene was preceded in death by her parents, Clifford and Myrtle Ingram, her stepmother Martha Ingram, her older sister Nadine Ingram, her younger brother Jack Ingram, and her dear husband Don. She is survived by children Terry Rogstad and husband Tom (Louisville, Kentucky), Lisa Clarke and husband Doug (Houston, Texas), Mindy Miesner and husband John (Charleston, West Virginia), Cris Gholston and wife, Lisa (Dallas, Texas) and Dana Sieling and husband Steve (Dallas, Texas), and by grandchildren John Rogstad, Eric Rogstad, Crispin Clarke, Johanna Miesner, Donovan Miesner, Carson Sieling, Luke Gholston, Hayden Sieling, Madeline Gholston, Mary Melinda Miesner and Holt Sieling. She was aunt to 10 nieces and nephews.

The family suggests the following charities for those who wish to make donations: Westminster Presbyterian Church (Amarillo, Texas), Susan G. Komen Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, or the Amarillo Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.