Kate McLane Dimmitt

Kate McLane Dimmitt, BBA ’56, of Temple, TX, died Nov. 17. The longtime Baylor advocate and 2014 Baylor Legacy Award recipient was 83. Raised in Cameron, TX, she was a graduate of C.H. Yoe High School and began her family’s long-standing tradition with Baylor when she enrolled in 1952. Following graduation, she moved to Houston, where she met Malcolm Ray “Mac” Dimmitt. They married in 1958 and welcomed daughter Katie McLane Dimmitt four years later. Following Mac’s unexpected death in 1970, Kate navigated life with her young daughter Katie with grace and courage, as the two formed and maintained a steadfast mother-daughter team. Upon Kate’s retirement, she moved to Temple, where she became deeply involved in community life, including her membership with First Presbyterian Church, and she enjoyed lasting relationships with her many neighbors and friends. Family and friends lovingly remember Kate as a woman of unwavering faith, warm and welcoming, humorous and light-hearted, a cheerful storyteller, loyal friend and a sister in Christ. Kate was a longtime Baylor supporter, and her legacy included her family’s give of the McLane Carillon, whose bells ringing from Pat Neff Hall are a campus tradition the Baylor family enjoys on a daily basis. She was named Distinguished Baylor Woman of Central Texas in 2005. Dimmitt was a member of the Endowed Scholarship Society and the 1845 Society and also served on the President’s Scholarship Steering Committee and the Baylor Development Council. Among her survivors are her daughter, Katie Garrison, BSEd ’85, and husband, Jimmy, BBA ’85; granddaughter Martha, BS ’12; grandson Samuel, BBA ’17; brother Drayton McLane Jr., BBA ’58, and wife, Elizabeth; and cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by husband Mac, sister Jo Ann McClaren, and parents Drayton and Gladys. Memorials may be to Baylor University.