Kilgore College Mourning Loss of Rangerettes’ Second Director, Deana Bolton Covin

KILGORE — The Kilgore College Rangerettes organization lost one of its pioneers June 28 with the passing of the Rangerettes’ second director, Deana Bolton Covin, at age 94. According to a news release from the college, Covin joined the KC faculty in 1966 as cheerleader sponsor and physical education instructor, teaching golf and bowling. She became assistant director of the Rangerettes in 1972, a position she held for seven years. In 1979, she took over the Rangerette director position from Gussie Nell Davis – the group’s founder – and led the organization for 14 years. Dana Blair, the Rangerettes’ current director, took over for Covin in 1993. Blair said as director of the Rangerettes, Covin brought the organization to “new heights of perfection and performance.”

While director of the Rangerettes, Covin met four U.S. presidents and traveled the world with the Rangerette organization. Covin also created the very successful Rangerette mini-camp program that continues to generate scholarships for Rangerettes, raising more than $1 million to date. The Rangerette gymnasium was renamed the Deana Bolton Covin Rangerette Gymnasium and dedicated in her honor in 2001. Covin was married to J.W. (Cotton) Bolton, a former coach at KC, who died in 1976. In 1991, she married Dr. Larry Covin who died in 2012. Visitation for Covin is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at Rader Funeral Home in Kilgore. Funeral services will be at 4 p.m. Friday, July 1, at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Kilgore.