Even after a degenerative vision disease left her legally blind, the first female editor in chief of the TCU Daily Skiff never stopped being interested in the news or in life, her daughter said Monday night.Pauline Barnes Prescott, former student and editor in chief for the Skiff, died Saturday night at the age of 97.
In 1929, Prescott was elected as editor for the Skiff, graduated in 1930, and instead of taking an offer from The Washington Post in 1933, Prescott chose to have a family and write articles for various publications, according to an article in the 2002 TCU Magazine.
Having spent most of her life in Fort Worth, Prescott spent the last two and a half years in assisted living and always considered it her happy home, said her daughter, Paula Prescott Cioffi, of Fort Worth.
“She loved the food, she loved the people and they loved her,” Cioffi said. “She was just very positive, a great role model and never complained, and she loved TCU.”
An active member at the University Christian Church on South University Drive and a TCU football fan, Prescott was born Oct. 3, 1908, in Fort Worth. She and her husband, Luther Prescott, lived in Washington, D.C. for 13 years. She worked as a researcher and junior economic analyst for the State Department in the foreign trade treaty division, writing articles on U.S. product manufacturing and exports, according to the article.
She also founded Colonial Columns, which is a newsletter for the Colonial Country Club, according to the article.
She returned to take writing classes at TCU in the 1970s. When her eyesight weakened, she listened to books on tape and was always interested in current events, Cioffi said.
“She did as much as she could, as long as she could,” Cioffi said.
Cioffi said her mother never complained about her health situation and was a positive person who made the most out of everything.
A memorial service for Prescott will be at 1:30 p.m. today in the Good Shepherd Chapel at University Christian Church, said Alan Lobaugh, the church’s senior associate minister.
