Willie Finch Window

The Willie J. Finch Window

author:  Margaret Hughston



The Willie J. Finch window was given in memory of their eldest child by Henry A. and Fanny Shipe Finch.  The beautiful window is in shades of green, brown, and gold.  At the top, on a blue ground, is a cluster of grapes, symbolizing the communion of Jesus with the company of believers.


Willie Joseph Finch died when he was six years of age.  He was a bright, happy, and affectionate child, a great joy to his family.  Throughout the years a large portrait of this handsome little boy hung in the Finch home.


Dr. and Mrs. William Finch, with their son, Henry, moved to McKinney from Brandon, Mississippi.  They were early members of this church, in which Henry served as a deacon.  He often recalled his duty of pumping the organ during the worship services.


Dr. Finch was an intellectual and cultured man, a skilled musician and woodcarver.


Henry A. Finch was an attorney who was prominent in government affairs, serving both as a Representative and a Senator.  For many years he was mayor of McKinney.  When he resigned his position on the McKinney School Board, upon being elected Mayor, his wife was named to the school board to fill his place.  So it was that Fanny Finch became one of the first women in Texas to serve as a member of a school board.  The South Ward school was named in her honor.  McKinney’s beautiful Finch Park was given to the city by the Finch family in memory of Dr. and Mrs. William Joseph Finch and Willie J. Finch.

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