• This dollar bill has been in this Baylor family for three generations

    This is no ordinary dollar bill.

    This is a prized possession of Jada Stockemer, new Baylor freshman, who will finally move into her dorm this week with thousands of others in the Class of 2022. When she does, that dollar bill will be back where it first started.

    In the fall of 1952, Gwen Beard — Jada’s grandmother — was walking by an old café called the Greasy Spoon, near the then-brand-new Kokernot Hall. She spotted something on the ground: a crisp dollar bill. Back then, $1 was the equivalent of $10 today — certainly something no college student would pass up! Gwen held onto the dollar for the rest of her time at Baylor, saving it for a rainy day.

    Gwen Beard, 1954 senior photo, and the note she gave to Marcia Burlison.

    Ten years later, Gwen’s niece, Marcia Burlison, had grown up and wanted to attend Baylor like her aunt. When the time came, Gwen gave Marcia the dollar bill, along with a special note: “I always knew I could spend this $1.00 if I really had to, but for 10 years I have had it and haven’t had to. May you never be so broke as to have to spend it, but you can!” Throughout her four years at Baylor, Marcia was lucky enough to never have to spend the dollar, and kept it for 15 long years.

    Marcia Burlison, a Baylor student from 1962-66

    Then in 1981, Ralph Stockemer — Gwen’s son — came to Baylor to play football under head coach Grant Teaff. Marcia knew the dollar bill should be in his possession, but before she passed it, on she framed it to make sure her younger cousin wouldn’t spend it. Ralph took the dollar everywhere he went; by this point, it was becoming a good luck charm instead of an “in case of emergency” plan.

    Ralph Stockemer, a Baylor student from 1981-85

    Now, more than 60 years after this dollar bill was first found, Ralph’s daughter Jada is bringing it back to campus. With at least three relatives on her father’s side having attended Baylor, plus her mother and mother’s mother, Jada has been raised a Baylor Bear since birth. Ralph had the dollar reframed to combine the notes from his mother, his cousin and himself. The original writing around the edges of the dollar reads: “This dollar bill contains no germs. After all, what can live on a dollar these days?”

    Jada Stockemer, Baylor Class of 2022

    Ralph’s note to his daughter ends with this: “May your days be blessed with God’s guidance and the Good Old Baylor Line!”

    Sic ’em, Baylor family!

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