(1893 - 1994)

Celeste Brown Gough was born in Eureka, Missouri to George Dorris Brown and Mary Hook Brown. A widow, Mrs. Brown later married Dr. Edward H. Lyle who moved the family to Texas in the early 1900's. In 1915, Mrs. Gough graduated from the University of Texas with her B.A. degree in English and Latin. At UT, she was president of Zeta Tau Alpha and remained interested and active in her sorority all of her life. She married Capt. John Edwin Gough in 1922: Capt. Gough was a 1915 graduate of Lehigh University where he was active in sports and his fraternity, Delta Tau Delta. Following her husband's untimely death in 1931, she led her young family (daughter, Celeste Phyllis Gough, and son, William Brown Gough) by her Presbyterian values and her wonderful sense of humor, charm, love of people, and uncommon good sense that inspired three generations of family and friends. This centenarian, who wanted to become one, exemplified a basic tenet of gerontology, i.e., that older people are not only teachable, but they teach. The faculty of the Huffington Center on Aging are indebted to this remarkable person for what they learned from her that we are teaching to those that follow.