The spacious Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center is now open and teeming with Lamar University students enjoying the many recreational sports opportunities and amenities it has to offer. The Umphrey Center is the latest—and largest—quality-of-life enhancement on the Lamar University campus.
The center opened to students on Sunday, April 15. To mark this milestone, Lamar hosted the grand opening of the Umphrey Center and the reopening of the remodeled McDonald Gym for the community on Sunday, April 22. The 2 p.m. ceremony honored the Umphrey and McDonald families.
“The Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center is not only a major facility for Lamar University, but also a signature facility for the region,” said President James Simmons. “This makes Lamar University a special destination for our students and will greatly enhance our ability to recruit and retain quality students.”
Financial support for the state-of-the-art Umphrey Center comes largely from an additional student fee assessed to all students enrolled at the university. Lamar University students voted for and passed a referendum in April 2004 approving the fee and the construction of the center.
The 129,550-square-foot building is named the Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center in recognition of the largest gift in the university’s history. Sheila, and her husband, Walter, presented a $5 million gift to the university in December 2005, the largest single gift in the university’s history.
The facility encompasses the landmark McDonald Gym, with spectator seating for volleyball games. The renovated areas and new construction include 13,000 square feet of cardiovascular and free-weight training; a one-tenth-mile walking/jogging track; a 43- foot climbing wall; basketball, volleyball and badminton courts; racquetball, handball and squash courts; indoor soccer and roller hockey court, a wellness and fitness center; health food café and juice bar; lounge areas with pool tables; an outdoor putting green; and air hockey, foosball, video games and television.
The Umphrey Center is a vital addition to LU campus life and a significant demonstration of the university’s commitment to its students.
AN EYE FOR BEAUTY
Sheila Umphrey is an artist, an adventurer and a muchadmired presence in Southeast Texas. She’s an interior designer, a successful businesswoman, a community leader and philanthropist. She’s a mother of two, a grandmother of seven and, for 47 years, the wife of one of America’s most respected trial lawyers. She loves riding motorcycles and has an eye for beauty— on and off the open road.
Now, Lamar University has added another legacy to the life of this remarkable woman: The Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center will enrich generations of Lamar students—as well as the community.
“This is a sincere honor for me,” Sheila Umphrey said. “I watched it going up. I’ve been so impressed. I think the building is incredible, and it’s a real honor that I’ve got my name attached to it.”
The creation, design and significance of Lamar’s Umphrey Center holds special meaning for Umphrey because, she said, “Susan (Lamar First Lady Susan Simmons) has shown me everything that was involved in it—the whole concept from the ground up.” She was renting a movie for her granddaughter recently when the clerk saw the name on her card, recognized her and said, “‘Oh, you’re Sheila Umphrey, as in the rec center!’ She said, ‘We just love it. We call it The Sheila. That’s really a cool name.’”
Sheila studied commercial art at Lamar, and Walter holds undergraduate and law degrees from Baylor University, which named the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center in honor of both philanthropists. But the Lamar project is special, Sheila said, because “I’ve never had anything named just for me before.”
“I think the vision Jimmy— and Susan—had when he took over the presidency and the things they have done for Lamar and added to Lamar have just been amazing. They have been beautiful additions that have meant so much to the entire region. We all are so proud of what Jimmy and Susan have done at Lamar.”
Born in Fort Worth, Sheila McCarthy Umphrey grew up in Port Arthur and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. Her creative gifts emerged when she was young.
“Even as a small child, I loved coloring in coloring books,” she said. “As soon as I was able to actually draw, I started taking art courses, including private art lessons.” Sheila studied fine art at the University of Colorado, then came to Lamar for a year to study commercial art. “I never really took design courses, other than just here and there,” she said, “but I took every art class I could possibly take even after Walter and I were married.”
She has built a successful career as an interior designer and owner of The Decorating Depot Inc. “I have been in business 18 years now, and just love it,” she said. “Our business has grown so much that I have three designers, a secretary and a ‘girl Friday.’ Who would have ever thought it?”
Her landmarks include the Stedman Building, where Walter has law offices, as well as other law firms, banks, a hospital, homes, other businesses and, her most treasured project, the Baylor Law Center itself. She also continues to paint, exhibiting her talents in fine art.
Sheila has been involved in the Service League of Port Arthur and serves on boards of Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital, Land Manor and the Julie Rogers Gift of Life program.
Umphrey’s design talents are reflected across the Southeast Texas landscape. “I’ve done all of the Community Banks (now Texas State Banks) in town, the ones we started from scratch as well as the ones that just had to be renovated,” she said. “And we’re opening banks again now—we’ve got four of them to build, decorate and buy furniture for.”
And, she adds, “I helped design Cowboy Harley Davidson and then decorated it,” referring to the Umphreys’ business venture with Morris Moore. “I do both commercial and residential,” Umphrey said, and the homes she decorates include her own.
A sense of adventure permeates other aspects of the Umphreys’ lives, including an interest in the outdoors, natural resources and wildlife. “We’re both big hunters. My father was an avid hunter, and so I grew up going hunting with him.”
They love the outdoors and time spent at their Timberline Ranch, near Woodville, as well as their latest retreat, Southern Star Ranch, near Uvalde.
Sheila’s sense of adventure really took wing when she joined Walter on the open road as a motorcycle enthusiast, soon after he took up the pursuit. A friend talked him into going on a motorcycle trip through Colorado. Walter bought a motorcycle, took riding lessons and went on the trip.
“The first time they passed a car, they gave each other a hi-five. They were scared to death,” said Sheila. “After he got to Telluride and I thought he could do it, I told him I’d ride behind him.” Though she does ride solo at times—and is skilled at doing so —she enjoys most of the scenery from the back of Walter’s cycle.
Sheila and Walter have had an exciting and eventful life together. “We’ve had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures,” she said. “And living off $250 a month in the very beginning when we were in law school was always a challenge. But that was fun too. You look back and always think those were some of the best years of your life.”
