2024 Gary McIntosh and Betty Grubs
Recognition of a true Longhorn Legend! Last night, Gary Mcintosh represented Betty Grubbs’s family as she was honored by UT. Betty has donated a 7 figure amount to UT women’s athletics through the years.
Gary says,
“Yesterday I had the honor of representing my dear friend Betty Grubbs, who passed in Dec 2018 at the age of 100, plus six months. Betty and I sat next to each other for 43 baseball seasons at Disch Falk Field on the UT campus. She and Suzanne and I became such close, dear friends over the many years.
I was on the court as her family representative with Hall of Fame Longhorn basketball coach Jody Conradt, AD Chris Del Conte and Exec Asst AD Andrew Hamor, to honor Betty and announce her gift to primarily the Women’s Athletics program at UT. Betty, and her husband Homer were instrumental in helping the fledgling UT women’s program get started back in the days before the NCAA recognized women’s sports, before Title IX. We are now in the 52nd year of Title IX, I believe. Betty and Home went around Austin, promoting the women’s basketball program in the 1970s and 1980s, selling tickets and raising contributions for the program, which didn’t have major funding from any source back then. Coach Conradt speaks very highly of Betty and Homer’s amazing, never ending love for the women athletes, and she continued that support for decades. And Betty’s legacy will live forever.
The gifts, some for baseball and softball facilities on the campus, but primarily to endow scholarships for Longhorn women athletes will be her legacy to the programs she loved. One of the longest, if not the longest season ticket holders at UT in SIX sports! Betty’s gift is the largest scholarship endowment ever for women’s athletics at UT and the third largest gift to the women’s program in the history of UT!
I’m so proud, so blessed, to have been her friend, to have witnessed this amazing woman and what she did for so many people. As my late wife Suzanne Shepperd McIntosh said often, just by being around Betty, you knew you were treasured, you were loved, you were blessed. She had her own tv show early Saturday mornings to help seniors with filing for medicare, medicaid, social security and other needs and advice. She was volunteer of the year in Austin at about age 89, traveling all around the community and up to 100 miles away, providing that help to seniors in nursing homes, community centers, etc.
She earned a Masters degree from the Univ of Pittsburgh, was in the Waves during WWII, became a licensed pilot. She married her husband Homer in 1951 and they bought their home in Sunset Valley in 1952, where she lived until she passed. The week before she went into the hospital, she attended both her beloved Lady Longhorns volleyball and basketball games on the campus. Suzanne and I took her to watch the Horns football team that year for four of the home games. Two were too cold for her to go. But in her 35 yard line seat, she cheered on the Horns just as normal. And we celebrated her birthday the previous May in Disch Falk Field in what is now the Cliff Gustafson Pavilion.
Betty’s husband Homer passed away in about 1996. And her stepson Collins just passed away in the last two weeks. Her granddaughter Shannon survives her, but illness prevented her from joining us this weekend.
These pictures include a scoreboard recognition Saturday at Disch Falk, and scenes from the on court recognition yesterday, the game, and pictures with various of her close friends, who were part of her entourage… some who were travel companions, or who sat with us at baseball games and shared so many good times with her.
I will add other pictures and hopefully videos at some point as I receive them.”
