LSCPA to name new facility “Sheila McCarthy Umphrey Industrial Technology Center”
Sheila Umphrey has spent a lifetime in support of education and community expansion and progress, and her philanthropy has come home to Port Arthur once again.
Umphrey is making a landmark donation of $500,000 to Lamar State College Port Arthur, the single largest gift of its kind in the school’s more than 100-year history. In response, LSCPA is naming its new Industrial Technology Center the “Sheila McCarthy Umphrey Industrial Technology Center.” Texas State University System regents approved the naming of the building during its quarterly meeting today in Huntsville.
“Sheila is a native of Port Arthur and today she is giving back to her community again as she presents this monumental gift to the college,” LSCPA President Dr. Betty Reynard said. “We are thrilled to acknowledge her donation with the naming of the newest addition to our campus, the Industrial Technology Center. We are proud that this new building will carry her name because of what she represents to our community and to education in general.”
Sheila Umphrey knows first-hand the value of education.
As a young wife, she worked at a bank while her husband, Walter, attended law school at Baylor University. In 1965, Walter graduated and would eventually become a legendary attorney.
Always at his side, Sheila was the rock upon which his legend was born.
Sheila Umphrey is a 1958 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur and studied fine arts at the University of Colorado before transferring to major in Commercial Art at Lamar University.
She spent decades as a successful interior designer, businesswoman, community leader, and philanthropist. As part of that philanthropy, she has dedicated herself to supporting the growth of educational opportunities, including Southeast Texas.
The Umphreys have two children, Bart Umphrey and Paige Logsdon, and eight grandchildren.
The Sheila McCarthy Umphrey Industrial Technology Center will house the Process Technology, Instrumentation Technology, Computer Drafting, and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning programs. Construction has already begun on the new facility with completion expected in Summer 2017.
