Carol Haire

Carol Diane Haire, formerly of Abilene and Muleshoe, went to her eternal home on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, in Pearland, Texas. Recognized for trailblazing programs to diagnose and treat speech and learning disabilities, she leaves a legacy of accomplishment and outstanding service to communities across Texas. Memorial services will be Friday, November 7, 2025, at 2:00 pm at Elmwood Funeral Home Chapel, 5750 Highway 277 South in Abilene, with burial to follow at Elmwood Memorial Park.

Carol was born June 24, 1949 in Littlefield, the first of three daughters of Lloyd Fredrick Haire and Martha Vera Smith Haire. The family first lived on a farm in the Spade community. In 1956, they moved to a farm near Muleshoe where all three girls grew up, attending the Muleshoe schools.

After graduation from Muleshoe High School in 1967, Carol went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in Speech Pathology from Texas Tech University in 1971. She obtained her Master of Arts degree, also in Speech Pathology, from North Texas State University in 1972. Carol was the first speech and hearing therapist for the Cooke County Schools.

Wanting to spend time with family, in particular her little sister, Sue, Carol moved back to Muleshoe and worked as a speech and hearing therapist in Muleshoe ISD from January 1973 until she returned to Texas Tech in June 1974 where she remarkably completed her Doctor of Education degree in only two years, graduating in May 1976. During her doctoral studies, she was a part-time instructor and supervisor of student teaching in speech and hearing therapy. As a graduate student, she was inducted into the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Dr. Haire was the first person in Texas licensed and certified as a speech-language pathologist, counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, and educational diagnostician, in addition to holding eight certificates from the Texas Education Agency. Dr. Haire served as supervisor of the Communicative Disorders Center at Howard Payne University in Brownwood for one year before moving to Abilene where she was professor and director of clinical speech-language pathology at Hardin-Simmons University. While at Hardin-Simmons she pioneered a consortium between the university training program and privately owned clinic, the first of its type in Texas.

In 1986, Dr. Haire and her sister, Barbara Haire, jointly opened Haire Speech, Language, and Learning Center in Abilene, working with and advocating for children, adults, and the elderly. Also, Dr. Haire served as liaison between families and the school districts, even testifying in front of the University Interscholastic League in Austin on a client's behalf. In addition to providing speech pathology services, she worked with learning problems such as dyslexia, attention-deficit disorders and hyperactivity, and behavior problems. She was also a consultant and assessment specialist for West Texas Rehabilitation Center and consultant and speech pathologist for home health agencies serving patients throughout the Big Country.

In 1983, Dr. Haire was selected as Jaycee Women's Outstanding Young Woman of Abilene. Ten years later, she was again recognized for her service to the Abilene area with the Pathfinders Award given to women considered trailblazers in their field. The Pathfinders Award is co-sponsored by the Young Women's Christian Association, The Abilene Reporter-News, and KRBC-TV. Among her community contributions, she served on the board of directors for the local chapter of the Head Injury Foundation, the Food Bank of Abilene, and chaired Taylor County American Heart Association's youth education task force. Dr. Haire was also the 1979-1980 president of the Big Country Speech & Hearing Association. She was a Diplomate of American Board of Disability Analysts, a member of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (certified), American Psychological Association, and American College Forensic Examiners.

Due to declining health, Carol sold her Abilene clinic in late 2000. After their mother's death from Alzheimer's in 2016, both Carol and Barbara moved to Pearland to be near their youngest sister, Sue, and her family. Arriving in Pearland, Carol actively embraced her favorite title of them all, "Aunt Carol". Dr. Haire adored her two nephews, Michael and Daniel, and they adored her!

Carol was preceded in death by her father in 1982 and her mother in 2016. Her sister Barbara died in 2022 in Houston. Those left to cherish Carol's memory are her younger sister, Sue, and husband Robert C. Lombardi, their two sons, Michael Lloyd Lombardi and Daniel Charles Lombardi, all of Pearland. She is also survived by her maternal uncle, C.P. "Pac" Smith, and his wife, Joyce, of Hale Center, as well as numerous first cousins and their families.

After a lifetime of arthritis, lupus, and other autoimmune diseases, Dr. Haire succumbed to kidney failure after living for more than 15 years with one-third of one kidney following bilateral kidney cancer. The family would like to thank Fairmont Hospice and Michelle Novosad, RN, for their love and care during Carol's last three months of life. In lieu of flowers, Carol requested donations be made to Shriners Hospitals for Children at shrinerschildrens.org.