Hubert G. Derrick Papers

Hubert G. Derrick was born in Texas in approximately 1907, and lived in Denison and Wichita Falls, Texas. Derrick's father was a railroad engineer, and he had several younger siblings. He became friends with Hugh M. Tiner (the second president of George Pepperdine College) while attending classes at Abilene Christian College. After receiving his B.A. degree from Abilene Christian College, he pursued an M.A. at Baylor University while also preaching at local churches. He briefly had a job in London,Texas, for the 1931 to 1932 school year, as a high school administrator and teacher, but was fired from administrative work after the first year for poor performance. The next school year, he taught Spanish and history, and coached all sports at the school in Eden, Texas. Soon after, he met and married his wife, Julia Mozelle. The Derricks had two children (Jacquelyn and Foy) by 1935, when they were recommended to move to Riverside, California by Hugh Tiner.

After moving to Riverside, Derrick started preaching at a local church. George and Helen Pepperdine happened to visit the church one Sunday, and offered to donate money for construction of a baptistry in the church. Derrick accepted, and learned that Mr. Pepperdine planned to found a college with Hugh Tiner's persuasion. Eventually, the family moved closer to Pepperdine College, and Derrick taught Spanish, tennis, basketball, and religion courses. Hubert and Julia Mozelle later had two more children (Linda and Carla). Derrick became Pepperdine's first tennis coach when the program was started in 1940. He coached the team to victory at the inaugural NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Championship in Abilene, Texas, and the team also won the CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association) league title. The family retired to Huntington Beach, California.