Montein Cleek

Montein Cleek, Las Cruces resident since 1960, passed from this life April 21, 2008, at the age of 91. She was born March 4, 1917, to Benjamin Oscar and Belle Victoria McClaren in Springfield, Arkansas. She and her husband, Nathan H. Cleek, were married in Pampa, Texas, in 1938. They moved to Roswell, New Mexico, in 1944 and to Hagerman, New Mexico, in 1945. They have lived in Las Cruces for the last 48 years. She attended Beebe Agricultural College and Harding College in Arkansas and earned a B.S. in Education from Western New Mexico State University in Silver City. She was a member of the Las Cruces Education Association and a charter member of Alpha Delta Kappa. Many Las Crucens remember Mrs. Cleek as an elementary school teacher. Her teaching career actually began at age 17 in Guy, Arkansas, when she taught for two years at Guy-Perkins High School. Some of her students were older than she was. Fifteen years later she resumed her teaching career in the Hagerman Public Schools. In Las Cruces she taught third grade at Mesilla Park Elementary School from 1960-1964 and first grade at University Hills Elementary School from 1964-1977. During that time she conducted numerous workshops and co-authored various educational materials. She was named the 1968-69 Las Cruces Public Schools Teacher of the Year. In 1981 she was inducted into the National Education Association Hall of Fame for New Mexico's Southwest District. Mrs. Cleek treasured her membership in the church of Christ. For more than four decades she was a member of the University Church of Christ, where she was known for her service to other people. She was often the first person to greet visitors, writing down their names and telephone numbers in the notebook she carried. She was the epitome of a "people person" who enjoyed the friendship of people of all ages. She is survived by Nathan Cleek, her husband of 69