Carleen E. Bright

Carleen Bright, 100, of Woodway passed away Thursday, October 21. 2015, at St. Catherine Center. Services will be 11 o'clock Monday, October 26, at the Pavilion at the Carleen Bright Arboretum with the Rev. Ron Durham officiating. Burial will follow at Waco Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Sunday, October 25, at Wilkirson Hatch Bailey Garden Room. Carleen Bright was born March 15, 1915, on a farm west of Waco in the Whitehall community which is now the City of Woodway, the only child of Carl C. and Luella K. Bright. She attended Waco Public Schools, Waco High Class of 1932 and continued her education at Baylor University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in math and history, Class of 1936. Carleen was a teacher by profession, having taught at A&M Consolidated Elementary School, then located on the campus of A&M University. She taught mathematics at both junior and high school levels at Alamo Heights in San Antonio for a total of 30 years of teaching. Her superintendent said of her, she was a good teacher from the first. The children liked her, parents expressed their complete satisfaction with her work. She had no trouble with discipline and her personality was pleasing. He considered her one of the finest characters he had ever known. She took early retirement after her father's death, and returned to Woodway to be near her mother. She soon saw an ad in the newspaper advertising the need for volunteers with time and a love for flowers and old houses. She attended a meeting and joined the newly formed East Terrace Guild which began her legacy of community volunteerism spanning five decades. She was elected to the Historic Waco Foundation Board and held every office in the organization and served as General Chairman of the Brazos River Festival in 1970 and 1971. Carleen described those early formative years as having few volunteers who did all the work. In 1974 she was a member of the Waco Bicentennial Commission and was General Chairman of Festival U.S.A. Division 3. When President Gerald Ford attended the Waco Suspension Bridge Restoration Ceremony she was one of six commission members to welcome him. She was elected by the citizens of Woodway as the only woman to serve on a fifteen member Charter Commission to write the original charter for the City of Woodway. She was later to be elected to the Woodway City Council and served unopposed for 30 years, 20 years as Mayor Pro Tern and was a co­ founder of the Woodway Foundation. Carleen felt great satisfaction to have been a part of the successful evolvement of a farming community to a small village to a well-planned growing city. She also felt she had opened the doors to a field that had not always been easy for women to enter. She was never a "token" member on any board, but earned the respect of the other members as well as the citizenry. She authored many articles chronicling the history of Woodway. Governor Bill Clements appointed Carleen to the State Block Grant Review Committee. She served on the Providence Hospital Advisory Board, Providence Foundation, the Friends of the Moody Texas Ranger Library, and the Waco Chamber Council for the Arts Commission. The Carleen Bright Arboretum, was named in her honor as a tribute to her community volunteerism. In 1991, Carleen was chosen as Altrusa Club's Woman of the Year and in 1998 she was named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scout Council. Carleen's commitment to Baylor University was strong. She was quoted as saying she and Pat Neff arrived at Baylor at the same time he to save it, and she to type her way through in the registrar's office. She was a member of Baylor Development Council, Heritage Club and Strecker Associates, Old Main Society, the President's Club and the Endowed Scholarship Program. Carleen was a Baptist and a member of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church where she served on the Finance Committee and was the first woman to take up collections on Sunday. She was known to pass the plate more than once if she deemed it was necessary. She was a member of the Sanctuary Class. In Virginia Plunkett's book "Around Again" Carleen was described as one of those rare individuals encircled by an aura of serenity interlocked with power and endowed with wit and wisdom. She was preceded in death by her parents, her cousin M.A. Taylor and many other aunts and cousins. She is survived by Virginia Taylor and special friends Bob and Mary Chambers, Terry and Elaine Stevens and her friends, associates and admirers. The family would like to thank Dr. John W. Speckmiear, the entire staff of St. Catherine Center and the nurses in Neighborhood One for their loving care. Memorials may be made to Columbus Avenue Baptist Church, the Carleen Bright Arboretum or charity of choice. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our "Memorial Guestbook" at www.WHBfamily.com.