Minden · Ruston · Longview · Bossier City
Gwen Almond McKellar has never been much for standing still.
Gwen grew up in Minden, Louisiana, in a big, close North Louisiana family. Records place her birth on September 19, 1932 with very high confidence. She met Billy McKellar at Louisiana Tech, married him on August 8, 1954, and stayed married for 65 years. Together they raised three children and built a life around family, church, and friends who stayed close across decades.
But the part of Gwen worth passing down is that she kept beginning again. After her kids were grown, she went back, got certified, and taught preschool. In her seventies, she ran 10K races beside her sister Jamie. She has a gift for starting something new long after most people decide they’re done.
If you know Gwen, you probably know something this page doesn’t. Share a story, a photograph, or one small detail that sounds like her.
The center of the story
Gwen stands at the center of two enduring families, the Almonds and the McKellars. What follows is built from the records, memories, and relationships that survive around her. Raised in Minden, she built a life shaped by education, family, faith, service, lifelong friendship, and a remarkable willingness to begin something new.
Gwendolyn “Gwen” Almond was the oldest known child of James Turner Almond Sr. and Lalia Smith Almond. Her younger siblings were Jamie Almond Gaither, born in Minden in 1935, and James Turner Almond Jr. Later records place Gwen in Bossier City and consistently connect her to both siblings and their children. [2]
Gwen attended Louisiana Tech in Ruston, then formally known as Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, where family history records that she met Billy Dougal McKellar. A Bossier Parish newspaper index documents their engagement on July 22, 1954, page 1, column b. They married on August 8, 1954, and remained married until Billy’s death in 2020. [1] [9] [22]
Their early married life took them to Longview, Texas, and then to Bossier City in 1966. Across those moves, Gwen built her own record of civic involvement, church life, volunteer service, teaching, close friendship, and sustained ties to the extended “Minden Family.”
Explicitly stated in a contemporary record, institutional source, publication, or race result.
Preserved through firsthand family knowledge and identified here as such when an outside record has not yet been found.
Multiple records align, but a primary document has not yet been located.
Plausible and worth pursuing, but not presented here as fact.
Her own chapters
College and marriage
Family history places Gwen at Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, now Louisiana Tech, where she belonged to Phi Mu and met Billy McKellar. Their engagement appears in a July 22, 1954 newspaper index, and they married on August 8. Gwen’s yearbook portrait and sorority page have not yet been found. [9] [22] [25]
Family-confirmedLifelong friendship
Peggy Holland Padgham, Genie Carson, and Gwen stayed connected through texts and regular calls into their nineties. The surviving record confirms the friendship, but not when the three women first met. [14]
DocumentedWhile Billy began private pediatric practice in Longview, Gwen became active in the Junior League of Longview. A digitized membership roster has not yet been located, so the site preserves this as family-confirmed history rather than an outside documentary claim.
Family-confirmedAfter the family moved in 1966, Gwen became deeply involved at First United Methodist Church of Bossier City and volunteered at Bossier General Hospital. A 2004 Methodist children’s-home donor record names Billy and Gwen together, and the church was still recognizing her birthday in 2025. [16] [12]
Family-confirmedA second chapter
After Bill, Diane, and Jim went to college, Gwen earned the certification needed to teach preschool. She then spent years teaching young children in the preschool program at First United Methodist Church of Bossier City. It was a new chapter, and a natural extension of a life already centered on family, church, and service.
Family-confirmedA glimpse of Gwen herself
In the 2005 Cajun Cup 10K, 73-year-old Gwen finished in 1:20:54.63. Her younger sister Jamie, age 70, finished two places ahead in 1:18:40.87. Three years later, they returned. Gwen, 76, finished in 1:30:19.9, and Jamie crossed four-tenths of a second later. The races both corroborate Gwen’s 1932 birth year and preserve a small, telling image of the sisters still moving through life together. [6] [7]
Relationships at a glance
Gwen is the point where the Almond, Smith, and McKellar lines meet. The tree also preserves an open place for Zuma Barnett McKellar’s parents, whose identities have not yet been confirmed.
1884–1962 · wife not yet identified
Harris Community near Homer, Louisiana
1868–1960 · 1873–1952 · strongly indicated
Zuma Barnett McKellar’s parents remain an open research question.
Likely 1910–1991 · 1911–1987
1894–1972 · 1897–1991
married Sandy Spohn
married Tim Wheelahan
partner Mark Weber
A life in motion
A few moments that show Gwen moving through family, friendship, service, teaching, and the occasional 10K.
September 19 is recorded in her church’s 2025 birthday list. Her age in the November 2005 Cajun Cup independently places the year at 1932, giving the date very high confidence.
Strong inferenceFamily history records that Gwen attended the school now known as Louisiana Tech, belonged to Phi Mu, and met Billy there. Her class year and major are not yet confirmed.
Family-confirmedThey marry less than three weeks after the indexed engagement announcement.
Family-confirmedThe move begins decades of church, volunteer, community, and family life for Gwen.
DocumentedAfter Bill, Diane, and Jim went to college, Gwen earned her preschool certification and began teaching young children at First Methodist Bossier.
Family-confirmedThe sisters finish two Cajun Cup 10Ks in their seventies, almost side by side in 2008.
DocumentedFirst Methodist Bossier still lists Gwen’s September 19 birthday, and her family’s connection to the church continues into the next generation.
DocumentedThe Minden household
Their records give the clearest outline of the home Gwen came from: locally connected, civically visible, and closely tied to Louisiana Tech.
Turner was not simply a name in a census. In 1962, he appears to have finished first in a citywide council election.
Fourteen candidates sought five Minden City Council seats. Turner Almond received 1,255 votes, the largest total in the field, and won outright in the first primary. Age and context make Gwen’s father, rather than his recently graduated son, the very likely officeholder. [4]
Father · civic life
Likely August 4, 1910 – June 29, 1991
Turner was the son of Vander Almond and a brother of Mary G. Almond Garrett and Ernest Almond. He and Lalia were in Minden by at least 1935. His 1962 council result points to an established local reputation. The new council included Turner Almond, Lonnie Cupples, Joe Hunter, Travis Taylor, and H. G. “Cy” Williams under Mayor Frank Norman. A separate 1976 funeral record also lists a Turner Almond among the pallbearers for a prominent Minden man.
His obituary, occupation, exact home address, marriage record, burial place, and a confirmed photograph.
Mother · Smith family
December 2, 1911 – April 1987
Lalia was a daughter of Joe and Mittie Smith. Her known siblings included Iru Wade Smith Daugherty, Theran Smith, Hazel Ezell, and Helen Smith. A contemporary 1956 obituary for Hazel identifies “Mrs. Turner Almond” among the sisters, while Iru’s 2025 obituary independently names Lalia, Turner Almond, and Gwendolyn McKellar. [3]
Iru’s obituary ties the Smith, Almond, and McKellar branches together across a century.
June 30, 1935 – January 17, 2015
Born in Minden, Jamie Carolyn Almond appears in the 1955 Louisiana Tech Lagniappe as a sophomore majoring in Secretarial Science and a member of Phi Mu. She married Robert Edward Gaither and became a longtime Lafayette resident, homemaker, active member of Asbury United Methodist Church, tennis player, and bridge player. Her sons were Kevin and Michael Gaither. [2] [13]
Turner Jr. married Yvonne and later lived in the Fort Worth area. At Louisiana Tech he served as president of the Student Senate and belonged to Omicron Delta Kappa, Beta Alpha Psi, Delta Sigma Pi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Who’s Who. He became a CPA and worked with Ernst & Young. Brian Almond of Houston and Brad Almond of Dallas are strongly indicated as his sons. [10]
Sixty-five years together
They built a life shaped by family, medicine, church, friendship, and a yearly trip to the beach.
Gwen and Billy built their life together across Louisiana and East Texas, raising Bill, Diane, and Jim while Billy practiced pediatrics and Gwen made homes, friendships, and communities in each place. His patients remembered his gentleness. At home, life also meant running, ping-pong, the Dallas Cowboys, bridge with Gwen, church, and yearly beach trips. [1] [24]
One mother remembered that her children liked their pediatrician so much they invented ailments just to visit him. It is a small story that says more than a job title could. [24]
Running, ping-pong, the Dallas Cowboys, bridge with Gwen, more than 50 years at First United Methodist Church, and the family’s yearly pilgrimage to the beach. [1]
Family after Gwen
The next generations show how Gwen’s family continues to grow and stay connected.
married Sandy Spohn
married Tim Wheelahan · December 6, 1986
partner Mark Weber
Jim and Mark are retired and live in Palm Springs, California.
Katie Beville · Kristen McKellar · Megan Descant · Mary Lauren Barcelona · Matt McKellar · Madeline Wheelahan
Anna Kate · Camille · James Garrett · GiGi · Maggie · Alice · Parks · Whit
Gwen’s granddaughter
Kristen graduated from Airline High School in 2001 after three years with the Blue Angels Danceline. She was an honor-roll student, served in several school organizations, and went on to Louisiana Tech. During her freshman year, Kristen was killed by a drunk driver. Her friends later created a scholarship in her name for members of Airline’s Blue Angels, carrying forward the dance, generosity, and friendship for which they remembered her. [28]
Webster Parish roots
“Minden Family” was not merely a geographic label. It described a network of siblings, cousins, homes, meals, trips, and reunions that remained active across generations.
01
Gwen’s paternal grandfather, Vander Almond, was born May 26, 1884, died October 9, 1962, and is recorded at Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Minden. His known children included Mary G. Almond Garrett, Ernest Almond, and Turner Almond Sr. Mary’s obituary independently identifies Gwendolyn McKellar, Jamie Gaither, and Turner Almond Jr. as her niece, niece, and nephew.
Mary, born in 1911, worked as a bookkeeper for Turner Lumber Co. and was a longtime member of Beech Springs Baptist Church. A 1956 oil-and-gas instrument lists Vander Almond as a party to a Webster Parish leasehold agreement. Transcribed Gilgal Church records also include Vander and other Almonds, among them J. J., H. M., Walter, Marvin, and Fate Almond. Their exact relationships are not yet assigned.
02
Vander Almond Road still exists outside Minden. Nearby roads include Almond Circle, Almond Road, Henry Almond Road, and Joe Almond Lane. The concentration points to a meaningful local footprint, but no ordinance has yet been found proving whom each road honors.
Was “the farm” remembered by later generations connected to Vander’s documented property interests? The idea is plausible, not proven.
Family stories and discoveries
Genealogy is strongest when the names and dates lead back to how people actually spent time together.
The “Minden Family” gathered around meals and games in Gwen’s childhood home, reunions at Toledo Bend and “the farm,” beach trips, and cousins visiting one another around the world. Gwen remained part of that close family culture for decades. [27]
The school then known as Louisiana Polytechnic Institute became a recurring family place. Gwen and Billy met there, according to family history, and Gwen’s Phi Mu membership is family-confirmed. The 1955 Lagniappe independently lists Jamie Carolyn Almond as both a sophomore in Secretarial Science and a Phi Mu member. Turner Jr. later led the Student Senate, and Kristen also enrolled at Tech. Gwen’s class year, major, portrait, and Phi Mu group page remain to be found. [13] [23] [25]
John Dougal McKellar is strongly indicated as William Narl’s father and Billy’s grandfather. From John to Billy’s grandson, the family line spans five generations. The name Dougal appears in four of them: John Dougal McKellar, Billy Dougal McKellar, William Dougal McKellar, and James Matthew Dougal McKellar.
In 2023, Brad Almond, Brian Almond, Diane Wheelahan, William McKellar, and James McKellar established the Dr. Robert Kevin Gaither ’96 Graduate Fellowship at Texas A&M. Each gave $5,000 toward a $25,000 endowment supporting graduate study in English or history. Brad described them as five cousins from Kevin’s maternal family in Minden. It is unusually clear modern evidence that the children of Gwen and Turner Jr. remained close to Jamie’s family. [5]
Plain Dealing line
The cemetery cluster is persuasive, but one final census, obituary, or birth record would make the older parent-child link conclusive.
August 24, 1868 – April 20, 1960
March 9, 1873 – November 20, 1952
May 25, 1894 – March 30, 1972
December 24, 1897 – January 18, 1991
July 27, 1931 – April 7, 2020
An archive designed to grow
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Sources and research notes
This is a research edition, not a claim of final genealogical proof. Records are listed so later discoveries can correct or deepen the story.
James Turner Almond Sr. and Jr. often appear simply as Turner Almond. Age, place, education, spouse, and context must be checked before assigning a record to either man. This site treats the 1962 councilman as Turner Sr. because he was about 51 and established in Minden, while Turner Jr. had only recently completed college.
Family knowledge is valuable evidence, but it is identified separately from outside documentation. September 19, 1932 is presented with very high confidence because the church birthday and 2005 race age independently align. Gwen’s college attendance, Phi Mu membership, meeting Billy there, Junior League work, hospital volunteering, preschool certification, and teaching are labeled family-confirmed until direct institutional records are located. The 1950 newspaper result is an OCR lead until the page is reviewed; a 1950 Minden High graduation and a childhood or classmate connection with Peggy Padgham remain research leads, not established facts.