By Ryan Vasquez I Reporter
Baylor’s history is captured in its alumni and their stories, and Sarah Erwin is no exception. The 100-year-old alumna created a network of friends and family through the Baylor community, starting when she attended Baylor for her undergrad during World War II.
Born in Shandong, China, Erwin was raised by American missionaries and attended a British boarding school until she was 15. Erwin learned of Baylor from Minister Charles Culpepper, a coworker of her father. Erwin recalled the pride her family friends had for the school.
“They had a Baylor pillow in their living room,” Erwin said.
By 1938, the Japanese occupied the Shandong Province, and Erwin’s family was forced back to America. Erwin’s family moved to Waco because her older siblings attended Baylor at the time. She attended Waco High School for one term in the spring, then began at Baylor in the fall of 1942 when she was 15.
“I was eager to go to Baylor,” Erwin said. “I knew so little about life.”
At the time, Ewrin didn’t even know how to count dollars and cents and was excited to learn more about America and the culture.
Erwin studied English under Dr. A.J. Armstrong and contributed to the Browning Armstrong Library with a biography of her life titled “ A Goodly Heritage,” which is available online.
The majority of Erwin’s undergrad experience was greatly affected by World War II, including her relationship with her late husband, Baylor alumnus and football player James Erwin, when the majority of the men were drafted.
The Erwin’s wrote to each other every day until James returned and proposed to Erwin with a platinum ring with diamonds bought at the Baylor Bookstore. They were married Sept. 29, 1945.
“The impact that Baylor has had is largely because Baylor is where I met my husband, and that being in a christian atmosphere, we were like-minded,” Erwin said. “Jimmy loved Baylor.”
Their daughter and Baylor alumna Sally Wilgus said her father cherished being a Baylor Bear until the end of his life.
“Baylor was part of his thinking,” Wilgus said.
Even though James was stationed in many places, there was always a connection to his wife’s family. When he was stationed in Georgia, he was about an hour away from one of Erwin’s cousins.
“God put them together,” Wilgus said.
Baylor is a core aspect of the Erwin family. Wilgus said her earliest memories were playing in the nursery in the Seventh and James Baptist Church during football games as a child. All four of the Erwin siblings attended Baylor, three of whom met their spouses while there.
“We went to every homecoming game and had season tickets to all the football games, and this was integral in forming our family traditions,” Erwin said.
Wilgus said Baylor has never lost its identity. The friendships and community she built there has carried on and never waned, she said. Erwin and Wilgus now live on a ranch in Celeste, but Wilgus has made lifelong friends at Baylor and drives down to attend Baylor football games as often as she can.
“The friendship of Baylor people is valuable,” Erwin said.
