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June Frost Leland, a 1940 HSU graduate, Six White Horses rider, Cowgirl, Abilene socialite, and philanthropist, lived her life working with and supporting the organizations, causes, and associations she held most dear. It was not until after her passing, on Sept. 1, 2005, that the fullness of her love for two Abilene institutions became known.
It is with a tremendous sense of gratitude that Hardin-Simmons University and the West Texas Rehabilitation Center announce the bequest of an estimated $20 million from Mrs. Leland’s estate. The gift is to be shared equally by the two organizations. HSU President Dr. Craig Turner says, “While we knew HSU was to be a recipient of Mrs. Leland’s generosity in her will, we had no idea the bequest would be of this magnitude. The HSU family is humbled and grateful, because Mrs. Leland’s largesse will have a profound impact on the University and its students from now on. I am amazed at the love so many former students demonstrate for Hardin-Simmons!” This legacy represents the largest single gift ever received by HSU.
Born June Sloan Frost, in Breckenridge, Texas, Mrs. Leland attended high school in Abilene, and later, Hardin-Simmons University. A secondary education and English double-major, she traveled extensively with the University’s Six White Horses and Cowgirls. She moved to Ruidoso in the early 1950s and maintained a home there until 1967. She returned to Abilene in the early 1970s where she met and married Cy Leland, Jr. before eventually settling in Estes Park, Colorado. Upon her husband’s death in 1990, she returned to Ruidoso.
Her love of horses followed her throughout her life, and she remained an avid rider and member of the inner circles of the horse community in Ruidoso. She endowed the dressing room for the Six White Horses riders, contributed generously to all manner of local and national charities, and established the June Frost Wildlife Foundation in Cochran County.
University trustees placed the bequest in a special committee to decide how it might best further HSU’s mission and service.
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