Elizabeth (Liz) Silverthorne
July 18, 1924
December 22, 2021
Elizabeth (Liz) Silverthorne, age 97, of Salado passed from this life during the mid-morning hours of Wednesday, December 22,2021 at a Temple elderly care facility. She was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas on the 18th day of July 1924 as one of six siblings to parents J.W. and Ivy (Fletcher) MacDonald.
Early in her life, the family moved to Angleton, Texas. From her elementary through her high school years, Liz showed an interest in writing and participated in interscholastic league writing contests and served as editor of the high school newspaper and school annual. She graduated valedictorian of her high school class.
In college, she continued her writing by sending contributions to literary magazines. She earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from Texas Women’s University and a master’s degree with honors from North Texas State University. She has done graduate studies at Queens College, New York City, The University of Texas at Austin, Instituto de San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and attended the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conferences.
Liz began her career with a brief stent as a secretary for The Texas Company in Houston. Her intense desire for travel led her to a job as a stewardess and purser, stationed in Miami and New York, for Pan American World Airways on their overseas routes. While in New York, she met and married M. Clark Silverthorne, a medical student at the College of Medicine, State University of New York. The couple had a daughter, Carol and a son, Stephen.
Her husband served in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps for three years which moved the family from Panama to McKinney to Denton before finally settling in Temple, Texas. While at North Texas State University, Liz taught English and Children’s literature for 4 years. In the subsequent 12 years, she taught English literature at Temple Junior College and became Director of the Division of Communications and Modern Languages. While teaching, Liz started to write children’s books as well as articles for children’s magazines.
As her passion for writing grew, Liz moved to Salado to devote more time to writing while she continued teaching part-time. She was a meticulous researcher and often traveled to places to absorb the culture, conduct interviews, study at research libraries or to visit the places her biographical subjects lived. In her freelance career, her work includes over 25 books, as well as numerous short stories and articles covering subjects for children’s literature, cultural celebrations, art, mythology, folklore, biographies, and Texas history.
She was a member of numerous professional organizations including the Society of Children’s Book Writers, National Writer’s Club, Texas Poetry Society, Texas State Historical Association, Texas State Historical Foundation, and the Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers.
Liz won numerous honors in the collegiate world and as a writer. In 1970, she won the “Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award” from the Texas Jr. College Teachers Association and was listed in Outstanding Educators of America. In 1973, she won 1st Place in fiction and nonfiction in the Louzelle Rose Barclay Literature Contest. She has won awards from several Texas historical associations for three of her books, “Ashbel Smith of Texas: Pioneer, Patriot, Statesman, 1805-1886”, “Plantation Life in Texas” and “Christmas in Texas”. In 1994, Liz was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Women’s University. In 1997, she was elected to become a Fellow in the Texas State Historical Association. In 2012, she was inducted into the Angleton Independent School District Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.
All her life, Liz was devoted to education and writing and has left a legacy as an educator, writer, and contributor to the historical literature of Texas.
She is preceded in death by her parents J.W. and Ivy, husband Clark, son Stephen, three sisters and one brother. In memory of her son, she established the Stephen C. Silver-
thorne Memorial Award for Perseverance and Excellence in Research which is presented yearly to support the work of a graduate student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Liz is survived by her daughter Carol Silverthorne of Dallas, sister Geneva Fulgham of Bellaire, TX, as well as several nieces and nephews.
In memory of Liz, contributions can be made to the National Wildflower Research Center, Texas State Historical Association or Salado Public Library.
The family is very grateful for the support of Baylor Scott & White Hospital and Hospice as well as Cornerstone Gardens.
Private memorial service arrangements are entrusted to Hewett-Arney Funeral Home of Temple.
(Paid Obituary)