(July 22, 1879 to July 28, 1966)
Louise Melton Prichard was born in Hickory, Newton County, Mississippi. She was the wife of Lev H. Prichard, Sr..
Following her husband’s death in 1949, Louise continued to oversee the Anderson-Prichard Oil Company as a board member and major stockholder up until the company assets were sold for $123.3 million in 1960.
The Prichards were longtime members of First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City; and, after Lev’s death, Louise provided major support to religious institutions in the state, donating the chapel that bears her name at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City.
On her death in 1966, she left her estate to Oklahoma Baptist University to establish a permanent endowment for ministerial students, the largest gift in the school’s history.
“The late Mrs. Louise Prichard, donor of the largest gift ever given Oklahoma Baptist University, was memorialized during a special chapel, Wednesday, Mrch 16, 1977, at OBU. Porter routh, executive secretary-treasurer of the Southern Baptist Executive Committee, was the speaker. Mrs. Prichard died in 1966, leaving an estimated $5 million for scholarships for OBU students studying for the ministry and for the mission fields. She was the widow of the late Lev H. Prichard, who co-founded the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation. She was a member of the First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City.
In the 10 years the Prichard Trust has been in operation, more than 4,000 semestral awards have been made, totaling more than $1¼ million.
Also on the chapel program were William E. Neptune, acting president; Frank Coy, missionary-in-residence; the Bisonette Glee Club; and three OBU students now receiving Prichard scholarships; Solomon Masenda, Rhodesia, sophomore; Dave Willets, Oxen hill, MD,, senior; and Pat Daniel, Bossier City, LA, junior.
A luncheon for program participants, members of the Prichard family, trustees, and students receiving Prichard Scholarships was held following the chapel.
The last ‘Louise M. Prichard Day’ was five years ago. Netpute said, ‘Once every turnover of students we like to dedicate a day to express our appreciation for the life of Mrs. Prichard. We hope to call to public attention the trust and what it means to OBU. Also the day gives the friends and family of Mrs. Prichard an opportunity to share remembrances of her’.”
* Text from the March 24, 1977 issue of The Baptist Messenger, published by Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
