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JACQUE HILBURN
Feature Writer

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once offered a humorous take on the tenacious spirit of a woman.

"I've got a woman's ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it," she said.

Some of the persistent women who made historic strides in Tyler will be honored March 20 during the 2008 Women in Tyler Day at the Rose Garden Center, 420 Rose Park Dr.

Doors of the annual awards luncheon, first launched in 1999 to highlight the achievements of outstanding female achievers, are scheduled to open at 11 a.m.; the program begins at noon.

Wendy Minix, who is co-chairing the event alongside Kathy Willingham, said attendees can expect the gathering to be both eye-opening and inspiring.

"This year we're focusing on women who did things in the city that made history. They broke new ground," said Ms. Minix. "To me, it's important to see ladies who would not be recognized at any other time, be honored in this way."

This year's list of award-winners features women who dared to dream big and pursue their ambitions. They include:

Linda Adams is co-chair of the H.M. Morgan Museum in Tyler, which was established in July 2007 to honor the first black barber school in Tyler. She is president of the Tyler Barber's Association and active in many community service projects in Tyler.

Gracie Bazan: Following her husband's death, she continued to run Chez Bazan, the family business, kept her family together and worked in the successful business that was her husband's dream.

Dorothy Franks is the first African American woman to manage an engineering project for AT&T, as well as the first African American woman to serve on the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce Board and Executive Committee, United Way, American Red Cross, American Heart Association and the Tyler Economic Development Council. She is retired from AT&T, but active in Black History Month in Tyler, as well as many other community activities such as Tyler 21 Committee.

Rosa Ferguson is the first Hispanic woman to become part of Smith County's judiciary as Justice of the Peace in Precinct 3. She serves as courtroom deputy for Federal Judge Leonard Davis. She is a first-generation Texan and first U.S. citizen in her family, which emigrated from Mexico in 1955.

Janie Menegay was executive director of Historic Tyler from 1989-2006, and the first to work successfully to preserve Tyler's history by achieving the listing of more than 2,500 properties in Tyler in the National Register of Historic Places. She also advocated the preservation of the Lewis Hotel (former 1880 Smith County Jail), Tyler's brick streets, the PATH building and the Liberty House. She has been active in community service through a long list of organizations in Tyler.

Flora Nauls was the first black counselor at John Tyler High School, the first black president of the Tyler Council of Church Women, and the first black to serve on the board of the Texas Association for Counseling. She was very involved in community service through a wide variety of area and state organizations.

Jill Ramey, former queen of the Texas Rose Festival, was instrumental in keeping the history of the annual festival alive by developing a program describing the history of an event that put Tyler on the map and made the city recognizable to people all over the world. She remains active in many community service projects through many Tyler area organizations.

Margaret Wallender was one of the original workers on the preservation of McClendon House, and chair of the Historic Preservation Board. She wrote the first Historic Landmark ordinance and served as president of Historic Tyler, Inc., as well as a member of the Tyler Landmark Commission.

Women of Tyler began at the urging of Dr. Carolyn Harvey, who had just spoken to the “Women in Longview Day.” She thought it was a wonderful idea to honor, in Tyler, women who had contributed to the quality of life in our community, said Ms. Minix.

Last year’s event “Women Who Have Triumphed” focused on women who beat the odds to triumph over adversity.

Advance tickets are $20 each. No tickets will be sold at the door. To reserve your place, call Cindy Klein at 903-535-9242 or write to P.O. Box 1432, Tyler 75710.

Women In Tyler Day is a founder and supporter of the Women’s Fund of East Texas, a component fund of the East Texas Communities Foundation, established to support causes that benefit women and girls in East Texas.

For more information about The Women’s Fund of East Texas.