Alta was born Oct. 17, 1921 in Perryton, Texas. Her parents were M.R. and Blanche ( Lovett) Todd. Her father was a carpenter and had the distinction of building the first home in Perryton. Her mother was a homemaker. Alta had four sisters, Mary Essa, Mildred, Blanche, and Lois. She had two brothers, Jack & Milton.

Her childhood was spent mostly in Perryton, but she went to high school in Oklahoma City.

Perryton was a much smaller town during her childhood. There were no paved roads and you could go to the show for 10 cents.

She married Neil McGarraugh, who farmed south of town. Together they had two sons, Cliff and Scott. In 1958, when their sons were only 12 and 10 years old Neil was killed in a tragic tractor accident, when he was only 35 years old and this left Alta to raise their two sons alone.

With Neils’s death, she took over the business of farming and ranching . She hired men to work on the ranch and accepted the offer of a family friend to help her go to market and select cattle that first year. She continued managing the farm and ranching until her sons were old enough to take over. . Both Cliff and Scott continue to farm and ranch today.

After her children were raised she married a local dentist, Manse Wood. He passed away two years later in 1969.

Alta decided she would take some time to travel and see the world. Since then, she has had many adventures overseas.

During one visit to Hong Kong, she and a friend met the Dalai Lama over coffee in their hotel. On one of several trips to Egypt, she rode a river boat down the Nile to visit the Valley of the Kings and King Tut’s tomb . She has also toured Europe on the Orient Express and flown over Mount Everest on her way to Nepal.

On a visit to Tanzania, she stayed in the Mount Kenya Safari Lodge, which overlooked Kilimanjaro. While there , she visited the Ngora Ngora Crater. She also enjoyed a trip to the Holy Land one Christmas.

Along with the Braniff Jet Setters, she toured South America, Mexico, and Europe.

She visited Iceland, which she found to have some of the most unique and interesting terrain in the world. Another destination she found fascinating is China. She was able to visit there prior to the United States having relations with China. At that time, the hotel rooms had no heat and there were no cars on the road.

In addition to her visits to many countries, she enjoyed a wonderful trip around the world. In her travels state-wide, she has spent a great deal of time in Louisiana, visiting with her dear sister, Blanche and her family there. On more than one of her visits, she has attended meals at the Governor’s mansion.

At home in Perryton, she was the founder of the Hospital Auxillary, and she served on the state board for several years.

She has served as President of the Women’s Advisory Group at the Perryton National Bank. This group, of exclusively women, brought in speakers to discuss financial topics.

Alta nurtures a love of the Stock Market. For many years, she has enjoyed investing and following the companies that interested her. The love of the market and investing was shared with students at Perryton High School when she gave guest lectures in Economics classes.

Alta has enjoyed dividing her time between Perryton and Amarillo for many years where she has homes in both locations. She sees many of her Perryton friends while in Amarillo particularly as they visit the hospital there.

She has five grandchildren: Kris Wooten, Drew McGarraugh, Neil McGarraugh, Cody McGarraugh and Mary Alexander. She has 15 great grandchildren and 5 great- great grandchildren.

Alta celebrated her 90^th birthday at the Museum of the Plains with her sons, nieces and granddaughter hosting the Event. Between 75 and 80 people attended.

Comments:

I would like to thank Chris McGarraugh for providing this Biography for me. As usual I added a few things but not many. She did a terrific job. Alta is a lovely lady. She is very supportive of the Senior Citizens even though she divides her time between here and Amarillo.

Thank you for being one of us.

Louise McLain/ Editor Larry McLain Producer

2/16/2012