Elton Hailey '43

The 1940s was a time of progress and innovation throughout the world, the U.S. and even on the home front, here, at McMurry. The world witnessed the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, the formulation of the Big Bang theory and the success of the first non-stop flight around the world. Americans were enjoying the inventions of the t-shirt, the ballpoint pen, the microwave oven and the Polaroid camera. McMurry students and alumni saw the expansion and completion of President Hall in 1947 while, shortly thereafter in 1949, faculty and staff celebrated McMurry’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Although these were exciting times of growth on all fronts, McMurry alumnus Elton Hailey remembers this decade was also a time of war. “When I finally graduated from McMurry in 1943, the Navy sent me to Northwestern University for basic training. I was there a month; then I was selected to go to Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration for a full year. Afterwards, I reported into Orange, Texas, where I was assigned as supply officer on the Cecil J. Doyle for three years.”

Hailey originated from Abilene and had many ties to the McMurry community—his grandfather-in-law was one of the founding members of St. Paul Methodist Church and his parents were donors to McMurry and had a plaque hanging in the girls’ dormitory in their honor. However, Hailey did not attend McMurry initially. “I was recruited by the University of Texas to play basketball. I was on the varsity there for three years. My father had just bought a new business, Abilene Greenhouses. My brother was running it, but was drafted into the military. My dad said, ‘maybe you better come home and run it while your brother’s gone.’ So I came back to Abilene in the middle of my junior year. After awhile, I received a draft notice, so I had to make a decision. My retired uncle and his wife were dorm directors at McMurry, and my uncle suggested I get in the Navy’s program to finish school before they called me up.”

While finishing his bachelor’s degree at McMurry, Hailey was the head of Ko Sari men’s social club. He also enjoyed the intimate size of the campus and appreciated the personal attention given to him by faculty and staff like English professor Willie Mae Christopher and Jewel Posey. One of his fondest memories of McMurry was listening to the Wah Wahtaysees practicing. “I lived down there at 11th and Jeanette. They would practice in the afternoons, and they were so loud you could hear them all the way down the street. I looked forward to hearing those marching drums play every day.”

All in all, Hailey’s career in government service spanned an impressive 23 years. Hailey’s most notable memory as a naval officer was being a crewmember on the first ship to reach the survivors of the USS Indianapolis during WWII. The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes. Of the 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 900 men were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. The ship was never missed, and when the survivors were spotted by accident four days later, only 316 men were still alive. Hailey recalls the event from his own experience, “It was sunk. They had just dropped the atomic bomb out. And the USS Indianapolis was going from Guam to Haiti without an escort. I was in the radio room when a voice came over the radio screaming, ‘Found them!’ I couldn’t believe it. Those sailors had been in the water for five days in the middle of the Pacific.” Hailey said his college experience at McMurry prepared him to face the challenge of this discovery. “McMurry certainly gave me confidence that I could handle any situation that might arise. I was up for the occasion.”

Hailey had the following advice to give to current McMurry students:“Well, given my experience in business and having supervised a large number of people, I found that one of the most important skills they could have is command of the English language and the written word. If you can write well and get your ideas out through the written word, you have a much better chance of going to the top. That’s the most critical thing I learned.”