History - Who was Frank R. McKinley?

Frank R. McKinley arrived in Farmington in July 1935. He had accepted the job of Superintendent of the Farmington schools and had just left the same position in Elida, New Mexico. McKinley was born in Missouri on May 19, 1879. He attended school through 10th grade in Raymore, 25 miles south of Kansas City. He soon realized that his 10th grade education would limit his success and began attending the now defunct Kansas City (Kansas) University. He delivered newspapers and read gas meters to help pay for his education.By 1900, he was teaching school in Kansas City, Kansas, where his family lived. Two years later. he took a teaching position in the now host town of Armour in Pawnee County Nebraska. On August 22, 1906 he married Ella Mae Tarr in Pawnee City. Nebraska. Ella Mae, who also taught school, would give birth to three sons: Bobby, Bill and Ralph. In the mid-1910s Frank and Ella Mae moved to Curry County, New Mexico. Frank left teaching and homesteaded a few miles north of Clovis. Dry farming would be his occupation for the next few years. In 1919, he went to work as the principal of the Bellview School, which was located thirty miles north of Clovis and a few miles west of the Texas border. About three years later he began working for the Elida school, between Clovis and Roswell. The McKinley family lived in Elida for twelve years. In 1935 he took the opportunity to become the superintendent of the Farmington schools. While in Farmington, McKinley instituted the hot lunch program, introduced the National Honor Society and modernized the curriculum. While he kept abreast of modern trends in education, he was, as the Times Hustler noted, a firm believer in emphasizing "Readin, Ritin and Rithmetic." McKinley retired at the end of the 1947-48 school year. after devoting more than 40 years to education. Shortly afterward. Mr. and Mrs. McKinley moved to Albuquerque to be near their son Ralph.In 1952, The new school being built on Butler was named for Frank McKinley. F.R. McKinley School was built during the spring and summer of 1952 and opened on September 2nd, with Ralph Hall, who had been a 6th grade teacher, being the first principal. In the fall of 1952, Frank McKinley suffered a bout of cancer, but was successfully operated on at Bataan Memorial Hospital in Albuquerque. Ella Mae died in Albuquerque in July 1955. Frank later returned to Farmington and lived with his son Bill, who was the manager of Purity Drug on West Main Street. Frank became ill in September 1965. While being cared for at San Juan Hospital. he received word that he had been selected as a member of the New Mexico Education Association Hall of Fame. His nomination said. "It is fair to say that the Farmington school system is a monument to Frank R. McKinley." He died on September 14, 1965. Frank and Ella Mae are buried in Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque.