In Memoriam: Mary Anne Houx

Mary Anne Houx, 1987-88 president of CSBA, died Nov. 17, 2006, in Chico. She was 73.

Ms. Houx was born in Kansas City, Mo., and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1954. After marrying Clark Houx in 1962, she moved to Chico in 1964 and taught high school French.

She was a trustee of the Chico Unified School District from 1977 to 1990 and a member of the Chico City Council from December 1990 through June of 1991, when Gov. Pete Wilson appointed her to the Butte County Board of Supervisors. She continued to serve in that office until her death.

Ms. Houx’s colleagues on the Board of Supervisors recently voted to rename her “pet project” the Mary Anne Houx and Frank Watters Children’s Trust Fund in her honor. Established by Watters 12 years ago, the fund has raised more than $1 million to fight child abuse in Butte County.

Ms. Houx was instrumental in establishing the Academics Plus program at Sierra View School. She also helped to start the Chico Public Education Hall of Fame in 1986, which honored graduates and their teachers.

Longtime CSBA staff members recall that Ms. Houx was influential in obtaining the site that CSBA’s headquarters now occupy in West Sacramento, and when construction was complete she christened the building with a bottle of champagne.

“Mary Anne Houx was a strong leader who provided a steady hand and a visionary perspective during a time of transition at CSBA in the late 1980s,” Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin said of the late president. “The modern era of our association can easily be traced to Mary Anne’s leadership, when we became an organization of ‘truth tellers’ advocating for the students in our trust at the state and national level.”

“Mary Anne was a very special president of CSBA,” said former Executive Director Davis W. Campbell, who was appointed to his post the year Ms. Houx was president. “She was exactly the right person for the right time. Hard and tough on the outside, with a soft heart and love and affection for everyone at CSBA on the inside. She provided strength during a very difficult period. She was a true leader.”

Ms. Houx’s husband died in 1974. She is survived by her son, Clark, who lives in New Hampshire.