THE CLASSROOM
Math teacher
He joined Tyler ISD at Douglas Elementary School, beginning six years of teaching and a career defined by high expectations for students.
A LIFE OF EDUCATION · BUILDING · FAITH · SERVICE
Therelee
Washington Sr.
1934—2020
Educator. Principal. Trustee. Builder. Church leader. A life devoted to creating opportunity and strengthening communities across East Texas.
HIS STORY
A servant leader whose influence moved from the classroom to the boardroom—and far beyond both.
Therelee Washington Sr. spent more than four decades serving public education in Tyler, Texas. His work was grounded in a simple but demanding conviction: every child deserved adults who believed in their potential and institutions willing to prepare them for a meaningful future.
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
Seventeen years as a principal
He led Bonner Elementary School for six years and W.A. Peete Elementary School for eleven, shaping school communities as both an administrator and educator.
PUBLIC SERVICE
Nineteen years as a trustee
As the District 3 representative on the Tyler ISD Board of Trustees, he advocated for children, unity, fiscal responsibility, academic progress, and the needs of families throughout the Tyler community.
COLLECTIVE IMPACT
Region VII Board of the Year
During his tenure, the board earned regional recognition after advancing a $96 million bond for elementary campuses, stronger fiscal stewardship, and performance measures for student progress.
OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY STUDENT
He understood that a strong education system must prepare students for more than one kind of future.
His advocacy helped sustain attention on career and technical education—and on students whose path might not begin with a four-year college.
A LIVING HONOR
TYLER ISD · CAREER & TECHNOLOGY CENTER
Therelee
Washington Hall
In 2014, a wing of Tyler ISD’s Career and Technology Center was named in his honor. The distinction recognizes a leader who championed technical education, skilled trades, and meaningful career pathways for students whose futures might not follow a traditional four-year-college route.
For his son, Therelee D. Washington II, the honor carries an especially personal meaning. His father saw what technology made possible in his life—and understood that the same kind of access, preparation, and belief could open doors for generations of young people.
Read the public record ↗A SHARED EDUCATIONAL VISION
He helped turn a vision for opportunity into an institution.
Therelee Washington Sr. played a foundational role in Texas Premier Technology Institute. As its sole founding financial backer and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, he helped protect the institution’s educational mission from its earliest days.
He was a visionary who insisted on quality in academic standards and instructional delivery—and on ensuring every student received a fair opportunity to learn, succeed, and build a meaningful future.
Through TPTI, his lifelong commitment to education, technical preparation, and human potential became part of an institution built to carry that work forward.
A BUILDER IN EVERY SENSE
He did not only build institutions.
He built homes, churches, and community.
Beyond education, Therelee Washington Sr. was a skilled carpenter and general contractor. Across East Texas, he helped develop affordable housing and designed and built dream homes for families from many backgrounds—turning hard-earned aspirations into places of dignity, stability, and belonging.
His craftsmanship also became part of Tyler’s spiritual landscape. He designed and engineered the construction of the building that is now College Hill Missionary Baptist Church, creating a lasting home for worship, fellowship, and service.
CHURCH & COMMUNITY
Service was not a position.
It was a way of life.
Mr. Washington was a faithful member of College Hill Missionary Baptist Church, where he served on the church’s Board of Trustees. His relationship with the church joined spiritual commitment with the practical gifts of a builder who helped create its physical home.
His public leadership also included involvement with the Texas Caucus of Black School Board Members, an organization he helped shape and support. Colleagues remembered a man who could bring people together, keep them focused during difficult decisions, and still make room for warmth and laughter.
THE LEGACY CONTINUES
A name carried forward.
For Therelee D. Washington II, honoring his father means more than preserving a biography. It means carrying forward a responsibility—to build institutions, widen opportunity, serve with faith, and leave something of value for the people who come next.
Explore Therelee D. Washington II’s StoryPUBLIC RECORD
This tribute draws from public reporting and institutional remembrances.
Tyler ISD remembrance ↗Tyler Morning Telegraph legacy profile ↗Tyler Morning Telegraph board-service profile ↗KLTV career-education coverage ↗