Carmen Sue Camp

Carmen Sue “Grandmommy” Yoachum Camp passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on Friday, May 23, 2025, at her home in Liberty City, Texas. She was 87 years old. Carmen’s life will be honored with a visitation on Friday, May 30, 2025, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, at Rader Funeral Home at 401 N. Martin Street, Kilgore, Texas. A funeral service will be held the following day on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at 10:00 am, at the same location. She will be laid to rest at Danville Cemetery after the service.

Carmen was born in Kilgore on September 11, 1937, to Gralphus Ulysses (G.U.) and Anna Bell Graham Yoachum. She grew up in the oil patch in Kilgore and Jefferson, Texas, and was the drum major when she graduated from Jefferson High School in 1955. She married Frank “Bo” Camp later that year, and together they had two children, Guy and Gay. Over the next 70 years, the family lived in Austin, Kilgore, Houston, Brownfield, and Liberty City, Texas.

Carmen had a servant’s heart and never met a stranger. She truly lived by the guiding principle – if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. The rare times anyone became cross with her, she was a master at killing them with kindness.

Carmen was a lifelong educator and active advocate for students and teachers. She had always wanted to be a teacher, and during her first few years of marriage, she proved to herself and the world that she’d be good at it. She did that by teachingher husband, Bo, how to study and helping him get through college at UT in Austin (something few thought possible and a feat that must have required a superhuman level of patience on her part). But they both worked hard, studying day and night, sacrificing any personal life, to achieve their goals together. And they (or Carmen, rather) accomplished this while nursing their first newborn baby, and before embarking on a college career of her own. (Bo has always been the first to admit all this and gives 100% of the credit to Carmen.)

She went on to receive her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Houston, and her master’s degree in special education from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She touched countless lives teaching and learning with her students for over 35 years at Brownfield ISD and Longview ISD, being awarded Teacher of the Year from both schools and Teacher of the Month on multiple occasions. She was awarded honorary lifetime memberships in the Texas PTA and TSTA. She served in leadership roles as a member of Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG), the international honor society of women educators. In 1996, she received the Texas State Achievement Award from DKG Texas, an honor bestowed on exemplary educators. She was elected Second Vice-President of the Texas State (Alpha State) chapter of DKG for 1997-1999, along with serving as president of the local Brownfield DKG chapter (Theta Eta).

Helping support her students and fellow teachers was very important to Carmen and her life’s work. She was always willing to volunteer her time, whether by coming in early and staying late for her students, or traveling the country with DKG organizing professional development courses, sharing her knowledge and experience with teachers everywhere. She appreciated all of the awards and recognition for her hard work, but what she truly valued and cherished were the phone calls, letters and Hallmark cards she got every year on her birthday and Christmas from her former students and colleagues, some of whom she hadn’t taught or worked with in over 50 years.

Above all, Carmen was dedicated to her family. She touched each and every one of their lives in ways that words cannot explain and they are forever grateful for the love she gave them and the time they had together. She is survived by her husband, Bo; grandchildren: Frank “JR” Camp, and wife, Magda, of Liberty City, Jill Camp and husband, Cody Thompson, of Denver, Colorado, Kyle Smith and wife, Sally, of Odessa, Texas, and Kip Smith and wife, Bailey, of Andrews, Texas; six great-grandchildren whom she adored with all her heart: Annabell, Georgia, Everleigh, Keegan, Kason, and Koen; and several cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Frank Guy Camp, Sr., daughter, Lisa Gay Camp Smith, brother, Charles Yoachum, niece, Susan Yoachum, and her parents. She will be tremendously missed by her family, friends and all of the students she loved over the years.

In lieu of flowers, Carmen and her family would appreciate gifts of any amount to the Carmen Camp Scholarship, an Endowment for Special Education, at Texas Tech University. Bo & Carmen established this fund in 1998 to provide scholarships for special education majors, and she cried tears of joy when she was honored at the ceremony announcing the fund. Her legacy lives on through these scholarships, havinghelped dozens of future teachers over the last several years,with hopes to help many more in years to come.

Gifts can be made online at give.ttu.edu (Select View All Funds, check the box for Named Scholarship Fund, and enter “Carmen Camp for Special Education” in the text box). Checks can be mailed to the following address: TTU – Office of Advancement, Attn: Leslie Myatt, Box 2010, Lubbock, TX 79409-2010. Please make checks payable to TTU Foundation, with “Carmen Camp for Special Education Sch End” in the memo line.

The family would like to thank Berenice, Carmen’s caregiver for the last few years, and Jess, Tami, Lacie and all of the folks at Concho Hearts Hospice in Liberty City for the outstanding level of care & service they provided for Carmen and her family in their time of need; and they would also like to thank all of their friends in the community, too many to name, for all their support.