Link Feature: Faye Jarvis

Beginning a new college experience is always a momentous first step. For Faye (Hill) Dozier Jarvis ’52, her first trip to Howard Payne University began a process of connecting to and encouraging HPU students – and subsequently alumni – that has now spanned 70 years.

She grew up in Kyle, south of Austin, and graduated from high school in Lockhart. After going to a state school for her freshman year of college, she wanted to attend a Christian college and transferred to Howard Payne – sight unseen. Her first visit to campus was when she arrived to move into Howard Payne Hall, the women’s dormitory at that time.

She majored in elementary education, sang in choir and was active in campus activities. Favorite memories include participating with teams of other ministry-minded HPU students in outreach events. One weekend, a team of ministerial students along with Ramona (Tennison) Akins ’52 and Jane (Black) Lacey ’52 went back to Mrs. Jarvis’ home church with her. Mrs. Akins played piano, Mrs. Lacey gave her testimony and Mrs. Jarvis sang.

“I also remember a Saturday afternoon when an HPU friend and I ‘went to jail,’” she adds. “He preached and I sang a hymn!”

Following graduation, she married Brooks Dozier ’51, her college sweetheart, and became a schoolteacher while her husband enjoyed a career coaching basketball.

“I was always an elementary teacher, and 16 of my 32 years of teaching were in kindergarten,” she says. “Having little people for their school experience – that’s where my heart was.”

At HPU’s Homecoming in the autumn of 1986, Mrs. Jarvis returned to campus for the first time in years. Her husband had recently passed away, and their three children – Johnna, Nanda and “Tres” – were grown and out on their own. Mrs. Jarvis wanted to reconnect to her alma mater in an especially purposeful way. Her own experiences as a Howard Payne student had been life-changing, and she was eager to find a way to help a younger generation of Yellow Jackets.

“I thought, ‘I know where God wants me to invest the next years of my life.’”

Soon after Homecoming 1986, she contacted then-president Dr. Don Newbury ’61 to see if there were any opportunities on campus. When the director of Veda Hodge Hall resigned a few months later, there was a place for her.

Soon, she had a new title – director of women’s residence life – to go with her new home: a first-floor apartment in Veda Hodge Hall, HPU’s residence hall for women. She moved in during the summer of 1987, enjoying the camaraderie with staff and the small group of students on campus during those slow months. When fall arrived, though, she quickly learned her new job had few off-hours.

“I could only be gone overnight once per month,” she recalls. “I was on 24/7!”

No two days were alike. She shared laughter, soothed broken hearts, fortified shaky self-esteem and provided a strong guiding hand. She was also a steadying presence in the midst of occasional life-threatening emergencies. Her personality – regal poise mixed with motherly warmth – was a perfect balm and a source of inspiration for the young women around her, and she soon earned the nickname “Mama Faye.”

She sought to protect and strengthen the young women she called “Veda ladies,” helping them to believe in themselves and build their sense of self-worth.

“When I moved into the dorm, I wished I had been a trained counselor,” she says. “But after a while I realized that, when we would be dealing with an issue or problem, sometimes my motherly instinct helped deal with it. Sometimes it was just common sense. But then there were other times when I would listen and I would think, ‘This student needs more help than I can give her.’ We were blessed to have people on faculty and on staff we could call.”

Mrs. Jarvis enjoys keeping up with students from those days – men as well as women – on Facebook and learning what they’ve done with their lives. The names and faces bring back vivid memories, and she considers it an honor to be “Mama Faye.”

“I feel so blessed to have had that opportunity,” she says. “It’s like that old saying: ‘There are some people who come into our lives, stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we’re never the same again.’”

Tracey (Russell) Carrier ’88 was an HPU student during that era and her impressions are representative of many.

“From my years at HPU, I remember Mrs. Jarvis as a very kind dorm mother who cared deeply for the young ladies in her care,” Carrier says. “She encouraged each of us to be our very best, to present ourselves to others with confidence and to walk through life displaying how Jesus had impacted our lives. She wanted us to leave our time at HPU as better women for having been there.”

Mrs. Jarvis served at Veda Hodge until 1990, when she married Dr. Oscar Jarvis ’51, a distinguished educator who later served as the dean of HPU’s School of Education. She had a tough time being away from campus, though, and in 1993 she returned for a year as volunteer receptionist in the newly opened Mabee University Center.

“I loved it because I got to see the students going back and forth for breakfast and lunch,” she says.

After Dr. Jarvis’ death in 2010, Mrs. Jarvis remained in Brownwood for a few years before relocating to Austin. In 2020, she returned to Brownwood and enjoyed reconnecting with the university she loves so dearly. She takes part in activities of the HPU Women’s Club and appreciates Melinda Hines, HPU’s first lady and president of the Women’s Club, who leads the group in various initiatives to support the new generation of female students.

“I feel that my days of leadership and assuming responsibilities are behind me,” she says. “My most important role now is to be an encourager, to be an intercessor and to show my support. I feel so blessed with the administration we have.”

Mrs. Jarvis is one of numerous alumni who remember HPU in their estate planning and encourages others to consider that method of making a lasting impact on future students. Also, after daughter Nanda’s death in 2019, Mrs. Jarvis and her son-in-law Joey Wilbourn ’90 established the Nanda Dozier Wilbourn Scholarship.

“I so believe in the mission of HPU,” she says. “I appreciate the opportunity to make an investment in young people when they are preparing for their lives’ work and to lead them to do it with Christian principles.”

Tracey Carrier is just one of many who has enjoyed Mrs. Jarvis’ continuing friendship and influence.

“Being around Mrs. Jarvis in recent years, I’m amazed at her stamina and zest for life,” Carrier says. “She is an inspiration every time I see her and when we are able to spend time having a good conversation. She loves people and she wants others to know Jesus and to experience life to the fullest, according to His plan for them. My life is blessed because of knowing her.”