Clyde and Melanie McMinn aren’t sure why they were chosen for induction into the Wylie Hall of Honor, but ask anyone who knows them, and they can tell you why. Melanie left her mark on thousands of children and parents over 25 years as secretary at several Wylie campuses. Together, the McMinns helped start Wylie Little League, and they have been active members of Wylie Baptist Church for more than 20 years.
They are perfect examples of the type of “Wylie people” who make the community so special, and they have easily accomplished the “significant contributions to school and community” that Wylie looks for in its Hall of Honor inductees.
“Melanie is one of the finest people I ever had the privilege of working with,” said Debbie Lambert, former Wylie Elementary principal. “I am glad she is going to get this honor.”
A Special Secretary
Melanie and Clyde met in 4H in grade school, even though she went to Abilene schools and he went to Wylie.
“We say we met on the square dance floor,” Melanie said.
They married in 1974 and lived on property in Potosi that had been in Clyde’s family for hundreds of years. They had two sons and when the youngest started kindergarten at Wylie, Melanie applied for a job at the school.
She got a job offer from Gary Hosch, who had taught and coached Clyde when he was in school.
“He said, ‘If your boys are anything like their daddy, I am going to need you around,’” Melanie remembers. She spent three years as a music and PE aid, until Hosch’s secretary retired. Then Melanie took her place.
She started on the original campus at Buffalo Gap and Antilley but when the school district built a new campus on Hardwick (now the Elementary), Hosch was sent to be principal. He took Melanie with him.
Melanie worked with Hosch until he died and then worked for three other principals. The last one was Lambert, who said Melanie was amazing at her job.
“Melanie ran things,” Lambert said, “She was the most efficient person that I ever worked with. She knew the parents. She knew the children. She knew how to diffuse a difficult situation. She was the heart of the elementary.”
Lambert said Mr. Hosch always spoke highly of Melanie.
“Gary used to say that when he drove up to the school in the morning if Melanie wasn’t there, he would drive around until she was,” Lambert laughed.
One reason that Melanie was so good at her job was because she truly loved it, Lambert said.
“She loved her job,” Mrs. Lambert said. “I think that is what made her so good. She was always a step ahead. She was that efficient.”
Melanie said she did love her job.
“It was always something new every day,” she said. “You never new what was going to happen that day. I loved my job. I didn’t like getting up at 6 a.m. every morning. But there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about Wylie. Wylie was such a good place to work.”
A Family Affair
Clyde grew up in the Potosi hills on land right on the border of the Wylie ISD boundaries.
“It was a very small farming and ranching community, and now it’s a suburb,” he said.
He was part of a group of students dubbed the “Potosi Brats” in a class that was very close.
“It was a small little school,” he said of Wylie. “But there was a large number that we went all 12 years together. We still see each other.”
His mother ran a little store in Potosi for a while and his father, O.C. McMinn served on the Wylie school board.
Clyde played football and basketball. Once his own kids started school, they went to his alma mater, and Clyde and Melanie became typical Wylie parents. They volunteered with the Booster Club (Clyde was president in 1999) and they were involved with Little League.
Clyde and Melanie were one of four couples who created Wylie Little League in 1992.
Prior to that, Wylie students were part of Southern Little League and games were played at a field on Antilley, where Clyde played when he was a boy.
But when the city began developing Red Bud Park in the 80s, Southern moved to new fields there. Clyde was on the Southern board in the early 90s.
“Southern got so big that we needed to split, and Wylie had so many kids at that time,” he said. “It had just gotten so big. It was time.”
So the Wylie parents formed Wylie Little League, and the city built fields at Kirby Lake. But the McMinns remember doing most of the work.
“We ran the concession stand; we cleaned the bathrooms,” Melanie said. “We built fields. They laid the turf. Every Sunday we were always there working.”
The McMinns also worked with the Booster Club, painting paw prints or putting signs in athlete’s yards, or serving ice cream at Meet The Bulldogs.
They have been members of Wylie Baptist Church for more than 20 years. Melanie is on the Missions Committee, and Clyde works with the church’s disaster relief team and is a deacon.
Time To Retire:
Clyde worked for Southwestern Bell (AT&T) for 35 years, before retiring in 2010. He now works for his son at Stone, Fire and Water. He is a motorcycle enthusiast and enjoys taking long motorcycle trips with several good friends. He has been to every state and Canada and Mexico on a motorcycle.
Melanie also retired, although she thought twice about it.
“It was a real hard decision to retire,” she said. “I went back and forth, so many times. It was just the way God moved in our lives at the time. I miss it.”
The McMinns will be inducted into the Hall of Honor by their two sons Greg, a ’97 Wylie grad, and Brad, a ’00 Wylie grad.
Going into the Hall of Honor is very special, they said.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Melanie said. “I thought why in the world would someone nominate us. I was very humbled. It’s a big honor.”