• by Paul Slocumb •

An endowment from Margie Reynolds of Granbury has created The Eddie Sandoval Industrial Technology Excellence Fund at Sul Ross.  The Fund will provide financial assistance for students and continue the development of Sul Ross’ industrial technology program.

Eddie Sandoval, the Fund’s honoree, is a three-time Sul Ross graduate who holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in industrial technology as well as a master’s degree in educational counseling.

After teaching and coaching for five years in San Antonio, Sandoval spent nearly 40 years at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, retiring in 2011 as head of counseling.

Alongside his education and counseling careers, Sandoval, who has ancestors in the Mescalero and Chiricahua Apache tribes of Geronimo, has become well known as a Native American preservationist and historian.  He also became a Sun Dancer at Pine Ridge, South Dakota in the early 1990s, a distinction enabling him to carry out numerous ceremonies and blessings.

For his decades of work advocating for the people of Tribal Nations and representing and preserving Native American heritage, Sandoval was inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame on May 14.  The Trail of Fame honor comes with a bronze marker inlaid at the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.

The Eddie Sandoval Industrial Technology Excellence Fund will assist Sul Ross students through scholarships, graduate assistantships, research projects, equipment, and supplies.

Reynolds, with members of her family, previously endowed the Baird Livestock Judging and Showing Excellence Fund at Sul Ross.