Dale and LaVerne Gore of Salado named Grand Marshals at HPU Homecoming

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Dale and LaVerne Gore

BROWNWOOD , TX (10/08/2012)(readMedia)-- Dale and LaVerne Gore of Salado will be honored by their alma mater, Howard Payne University, during the university's Homecoming Week celebrations. The couple was named Grand Marshals and will be recognized during the Sodexo Alumni Banquet on Friday, Oct. 12, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Mabee University Center's Beadel Dining Area.

Dale Gore, a native of Corpus Christi, enrolled at HPU upon the influence of his pastor, Kenneth Hiner, an HPU graduate. Gore was editor of the Yellow Jacket for two years and was involved in the Life Service Band and Mission Band. Following graduation in 1955, he was on the staff of First Baptist Church Uvalde and later First Baptist Hillsboro. He then pastored Baggett Creek Baptist Church in Comanche County while attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

After graduation from seminary, he served as music and youth director at First Baptist Church of Brownwood. After two years in Brownwood, Dale was called to be pastor of FBC Whitewright. Other pastorates included FBC Goldthwaite; Trinity Baptist, Sherman; and FBC Denison. In 1989, he was called to be the executive director of the Austin Baptist Association where he served for 10 years. Upon retirement he pastored the Elm Grove Baptist Church in Bell County for 12 years.

While he was an HPU student, he met his future wife, LaVerne Dennis. They shared several classes, sat in consecutive rows of assigned seats in Mims Auditorium at Chapel and sang in the school chorus. They were engaged by the beginning of their junior year.

LaVerne grew up in Brownwood, where her father pastored Melwood Baptist Church. She graduated from HPU in August 1954, and the couple married the same month. While her husband completed his senior year, she taught school in Cross Plains. She went on to teach at schools across the state, retiring in 1989. For six years she served as a special education consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, helping churches begin and maintain Sunday school and Vacation Bible School programs for special-needs children and adults. She also taught in the education department of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor for four years.

The Gores have remained active at HPU through Homecoming and the Alumni Association. They each served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, with Dale serving as president for a term. He also served on the HPU Board of Trustees for nine years and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1988. He is presently serving on the board again. LaVerne was named Coming Home Queen during Homecoming 2002.

They are now retired, enjoying their home in Salado and engaging in activities at FBC Salado. They particularly enjoy time spent with their children, grandchildren and two great-grandsons.

The couple's son Jeffrey graduated from HPU in 1984 and, since 2007, four of their grandchildren have graduated from HPU: Addie Barnett and husband R.J., Emily Gore and Molly Gore.

For more information about HPU's Homecoming, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 800-950-8465 or 325-649-8069 or visit http://homecoming.hputx.edu/.

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Founded in 1889, Howard Payne University is a Christ-centered academic community dedicated to excellence by developing and equipping the whole person for intellectual inquiry, personal and professional integrity, and service to God and humanity.

Located in Brownwood, Texas, HPU offers a full array of undergraduate programs and a limited number of graduate programs in a traditional residential academic community. The university also offers selected undergraduate and graduate course work by electronic means and at extended learning centers in El Paso, Texas, and New Braunfels, Texas. HPU maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio, which contributes to the university's reputation of being "a place where everybody is somebody."