Sondra Hernandez Staff writer August 19, 2024

Before campus renovations are complete at Conroe High School in late 2025, the Grady Spikes Memorial Tiger bronze statue on Texas 105 will be moved to a spot on Wilson Road. 

Over the summer, the school’s main entrance moved to Wilson Road from Texas 105, where the main entrance had been since the school opened in 1964.

The renovation, part of a Conroe ISD 2019 bond, began on the campus in 2021 to reduce the number of entry points to the school for student safety and to reduce traffic on Texas 105. 

The change left many Conroe alumni wondering what would happen to the Grady Spikes tiger. Also in question was the location of the taxidermy tiger “Apache” at the former front entrance. 

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Future plans for the bronze tiger 

“With regard to the items, district and campus administration are very mindful of the long and treasured legacy of them,” said Sarah Blakelock, 
executive director of communications for Conroe ISD. “The tiger statue will be moved to a location between the new entrance and the new gym.”

Conroe High’s new “The Pit” gym opened in August 2023. 

The tiger statue honors beloved Conroe High coach, teacher and later elected official Grady Spikes. Spikes died suddenly in September 1999. 

The class of 1967 sponsored the large bronze tiger statue and hosted fundraisers for it. It was dedicated in 2002. 

Conroe ISD officials worked with Spike’s widow, Annette, and their sons Trey and Barkley, to determine that the statue would have better visibility at a spot between the new gym and new entrance.

The tiger statue will not be moved until construction is nearing completion, Blakelock said. 

About Grady Spikes 

Grady and Annette Spikes arrived in Conroe in June 1964. Grady wanted to learn coaching from the best of the best and Coach “CD” York was a state championship coach in Conroe.

After coaching and teaching, he spent time in other business ventures in Conroe before he was elected Justice of the Peace in 1990. 

In whatever he did, Grady always gave 110 percent, Annette said. 

“Regardless of what it was, from fishing to playing with the boys to being a good husband to me, he put his heart into everything,” she said. 

The evolution of the statue 

Conroe High graduate and artist Bill McGlaun sculpted the life-size, two-ton bronze beast that is 13 feet long and 9 feet high. It was dedicated on homecoming weekend in October 2002 and has long had a place in front of the Conroe High library. 

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More visibility

Annette believes it’s a fitting tribute to her late husband that the statue will be placed close to the gym and football field because coaching meant so  much to him. 

“We appreciate them (Conroe High leaders) letting us have a voice in where it would be placed,” Annette said. “That meant a lot to us. I don’t have any misgivings about the move and the boys don’t either.” 

Her granddaughter’s Conroe High volleyball team took pictures with the statue in front of the library in recent years, which made her very proud.

Apache and Mac 

Blakelock confirmed that “Apache” the taxidermy tiger, located adjacent to the auditorium in a glass case, will remain in that location as renovations take place this school year in the auditorium. 

Conroe High grad Mike Simpson was a taxidermist and prepared “Apache,” which was a gift to the school from the 1998-99 student council. At that time, he knew of a tiger that had died at the Cincinnati Zoo and was able to get that pelt to make a new tiger for the front of the school.

The original tiger “Mac” named for J. L. “Mac” McCullough, 50-year coach, teacher, principal and superintendent for Conroe ISD was at Conroe High’s previous career and technology building. When that building was torn down in 2023, Mac was taken in by Conroe taxidermist Martin Worley who now has “Mac” in storage. 

When the time is right, Blakelock said there are many places at the refurbished Conroe High that could make a good home for “Mac.” 

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