A.M. Pate Elementary School is one of several schools Fort Worth ISD will close over the next three years.
In May 2025, the Fort Worth school board voted 8-0 to approve a plan to shutter 16 schools between 2026 and 2029. Previously, the district voted to close two schools in June 2025.
These closures are part of the district’s facilities master plan, which is intended to help Fort Worth ISD manage revenue loss from declining enrollment.
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A.M. Pate Elementary (3800 Anglin Drive) is closing in June 2027. The school is named after a Fort Worth businessman and philanthropist.
Here’s what to know about the man behind the name.
Adlai McMillan Pate Sr.’s obituary in the Nov. 7, 1947, edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
A Fort Worth businessman
Adlai McMillan Pate Sr. was born on Nov. 9, 1894 in Gainesboro, Tenn.
Pate came to Fort Worth in 1922 and founded the Panther Oil and Grease Manufacturing Company, which is now called the Texas Refinery Corporation. The company is still located in Fort Worth and run by the Pate family.
Before he arrived in Cowtown, Pate served in France during World War I, according to his obituary in the Star-Telegram. He also served as the director of the Southwestern Petroleum Company and president of the American Lubricants Company.
Pate died on Nov. 6, 1947. He was 52.
According to Find a Grave, Pate is buried at Laurel Land–Rose Hill Memorial Park in east Fort Worth.
A.M. Pate Elementary School is photographed on Aug. 2, 2025.
Naming dedication
Pate’s wife, Marie, donated the land for A.M. Pate Elementary.
The school was completed in September 1958, but did not open until February 1959 because of unfinished streets around the building. The school had a dedication for its namesake in April 1959, according to the Star-Telegram archives.
In 1968, Fort Worth’s parks and recreation board accepted a five-acre tract next to the school from A.M. Pate Jr. and his brother Siebert Pate. The land was developed into Marie F. Pate Park.