If you take a drive down County Road 125 and go beyond the mouth-watering aromas coming from La Casita, you will eventually come across a white stucco house sitting on a large plot of land. That house was custom built in 1979, right before the devastating flood, by Anna Felts and her late-husband Herman. It is the house where she planted her roots in Friendswood, the house that saw her son Rusty and daughter Susan blossom into adulthood, the house that occasionally serves as host to four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, the house that has many stories to tell from decades-worth of life. However great that house has been to Mrs. Felts, her home extends to all of Friendswood; her family continues beyond blood.
Anna Felts has played a pivotal role in Friendswood ISD since she began working for Friendswood School in 1963. The job came just a few years after the Felts family settled down in Friendswood following their stationing in California for the Navy.
“My mother passed away in 1960 and my husband said, ‘We really need to be closer to your sister and dad,’” Anna said. “So, that’s when we moved to Friendswood.”
Herman had been born and raised in Friendswood with his family living off Choate Road. Just one town over, Anna was raised in Alvin, graduating from Alvin High School in 1949. Immediately, Friendswood became home to them.
“When I first got into Friendswood, I loved it. I really did,” Anna said. “We started going to the Friends Church and grew with the community.”
Before long, a friend she made at church, Viola, approached Anna will a question.
“Viola asked me if I was interested in going back to work,” Anna said. “She was the secretary to Mr. Grizzle who was the Superintendent. She was also the tax collector and assessor, so she said she needed help. She asked me if I was interested in working for the school, and I said yes. I came up to the school to talk to [administrators] and they asked, ‘How soon can you start?’”
Anna was hired immediately and began her new role as secretary upon the students’ return from Winter Break. Amongst many other things, Anna was tasked with updating the attendance records.
“We had to keep them in a great, big book and so the teachers would fill out their slips and I would log it in these great big books,” she said. “At the end of every nine weeks, I had to tally everything and make sure it all balanced out so we could send a report to the State. That was all done by hand.”
With the school being so small at the time, there was no school nurse or counselor, so Anna would often handle instances where students were not feeling well. It was in those moments, she said, that she created the greatest bonds with the kids.
“Some of the kids would come in the office and say, ‘I just feel so bad. Can I come in here and stay for a while?’ So, I would let them sit with me for a little, some would even sit on my lap, and I would ask, ‘Do you think you feel better?’ and they would say, ‘I think so, I think I can go back to class now,’” Anna said. “There were lots of times they would come in afraid or nervous and I always tried to listen to them. If they came in and they were needing something or upset about something, I just sat down with them, talked with them and tried to get them calmed down.”
She continued.
“It may not be a big thing to some people, but to whoever is having that problem, it is big,” Anna said. “I just sat with [our students] lots of times, listened to them and let them pour their hearts out.”
One of the students who visited Anna on occasion was now-Superintendent Thad Roher.
“When I started as a freshman at FHS, I was brand new to the District,” Roher said. “Mrs. Felts went to church with me and shared with me and my family that if there was ever anything that was needed that I was to come to her office, and she would help me out. She cared for me and I knew I could count on her for what I needed.”
This caring, compassionate nature remained throughout all the growth and changes Anna experienced during her time in FISD. It did not matter how many new students started school, how many new hires were brought on, or how much classrooms and technology changed, one thing was certain: Anna felt called to love everyone she met.
“I hope everyone has felt comfortable, cared for and loved by us,” Anna said. “It’s important that they feel loved, they feel wanted, they feel worth something.”
Roher said he believes the impact made by Anna Felts is immeasurable.
“Her kindness and her dedication to FISD has left a legacy,” Roher said. “Recognizing that is important because so much of what she did was behind the scenes -- no one knew the impact she made. To recognize it now brings it into light for all to see and hear about. She is a model for caring for all of us.”
Though Mrs. Felts has been retired since 1994, her roots are still strong in FISD. She continues to volunteer with the Friendswood Schools Museum, still meets up for lunch with former students and even has three great-grandchildren who are currently in the District. She is a wonderful woman who has touched so many hearts and continues to leave a legacy of love and kindness.