EUNICE, La. ( KLFY ) — A longtime Acadia Parish educator is the last finalist in our remarkable women campaign.

Dr. Ezora Proctor, much like the women in the movie “Hidden figures”, based on their real-life accomplishments, grew up during segregation, was educated and sophisticated. These women not only looked the part, they were the part, most coming from humble beginnings, just like Proctor.

“We were very, very poor. But we didn’t know we were poor. We didn’t know we were poor because we always had a lot to eat and we always had a lot of love in the family,” Proctor said. “My dad worked at a sawmill, my brothers sawmill and my mother was a cook in a cafe. And we were nine in the family.”

Proctor says her parents did everything in their power to help their children succeed and she would learn even more from the community that surrounded her like a village raising the children.

“However, I went to school over there in Eunice, elementary and high school. I went to Charleston High School and when I started in the 12th grade, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do in life after high school. However, one of my teachers told my mother that I was too smart just to hang around Eunice. I needed to go to college.”

Tough as it was, her parents found a way to send them all to college. When Proctor graduated from high school, her mother knew exactly what to do.

“And so, my mother say, college, you don’t have any money to send her to college. So, my mother took me to the bank and told the banker there that I needed to go to college and she needed to borrow some money for me to go to college. And so he said, well all right Ms. Smiley, how much do you need,” said Proctor.

Proctor says she had to live with a family and work as a nanny because her parents could only pay for her education at Grambling State University. It became an experience that reenforced lessons of perseverance from her parents, teachers and community. It was an arduous schedule.

“I was the nanny and the housekeeper for those individuals. And I had to schedule all of my classes around those people. That is what time the children got out of nursery school. I had to be done with my classes because I had to pick those kids up, and we walked home and then I had to cook,” Proctor explained.

The longtime Acadia Parish educator did that and more. She holds several degrees, served on numerous boards and continues to give generously. She attributes her success to the greatness she around her, including one of the most memorable moments in her life.

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“I did a march with Dr. King and Jesse Jackson and all. And then, you know, that fear subsided for a while. And then as I talked to them and was surrounding myself with them in Chicago, they just put a lot of confidence in me that we were going to overcome this,” Proctor said.

And much like the light that emanates from leaders like Dr. King, many say Proctor is that same light for her community.

Tune in to Acadiana live at 4:30 on Tuesday April 2 as we announce our winner who will go on to compete in Nexstar’s national competition being held in Las Vegas this spring.

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