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HFCW Membership Links
HFCW Membership Links
HFCW Membership Links

Our Organization

Dynamic professional group comprised of those actively engaged in business, retired from an active career and still pursuing their education. Diversity is our greatest asset as membership is open to all professions.

We are proud to have members representing a wide variety of businesses and professions including entrepreneurs, real estate professionals, financial consultants, published authors, counselors, artists, accountants, and executives in transportation, publishing,  media, travel, and others. We exchange ideas, network and provide a supportive sounding board for our members.

 

Mary Abshier
Mary Abshier is a retired interior decorator.  She developed personalized color schemes and created decorating plans reflective of her clients’ individual lifestyles and tastes. Mary provided direction for renovation completion. Her background includes 29 years of experience as a state registered interior designer.

Mary also manages Made in the Family, featuring vintage collectibles and hand-crafted items curated by Mary. The booth, located in Alvin Antique Center & Marketplace, is a family enterprise with Mary and her husband, and cousin collecting, transforming, and creating unique and one-of-a-kind pieces. Custom items can be crocheted, sewn, or created upon request. Plus she provides insightful vision and recommendations for those seeking appropriate gifts for all occasions.

Vilma Allen
Vilma Allen
Rosemary Behrens, M.A., LPC-S
Rosemary Behrens, PhD., LPC-S

Helping others has been Rosemary Behren’s mantra for as long as she can remember. In working with counseling issues, she enjoys helping others to learn coping skills, move past relationship issues, and see their full potential. She sees significant value in assisting clients coping with chronic pain as they increase their understanding of the difference between acute pain and chronic pain. Rosemary enjoys working with individuals, couples, children and adolescents. She utilizes Cognitive-Behavioral, Adlerian, Family Systems, and Existential theories, and she believes in addressing the whole person encompassing body, mind and spirit. As a licensed professional counselor-supervisor, Rosemary assists counseling interns in accomplishing their goal of becoming counselors.

Sharon Dotson
Sharon Dotson decided she wanted to be a writer when she was ten years old. That was when Stephen Brown, who went al-l-l-l the way through school with her bragged—as he held up a library book—"I’m going to be a writer when I grow up.” Sharon was astounded that anyone of her age and lack of sophistication could wish for anything like being a real writers. She decided that if Stephen Brown could be a writer so could she. Today she wishes she could find him and say thank you and tell him he was her guiding light.

Sharon attended Stephens College, University of Missouri, and University of Houston, and finally got a degree in journalism at UH. She’s retired now, but that degree led her down a crooked career path. Her first job was as a substitute teacher, which has nothing to do with writing.

After that, she can’t remember them all, so here are a few: copywriter for Skaggs Drug Company, Kansas City, features editor for Ultra magazine in Houston, assistant women’s news editor at the Temple Daily Telegram, women’s feature writer at the Galveston Daily News and the Bellaire Texan. Also, a freelance writer for The Houston Business Journal and The Houston Chronicle. She spent twenty years in public relations, and for three of those wonderful years she freelanced for Leigh Owen when Leigh was a director of marketing with the  Vickie Milazzo Institute. Those are only a few of her jobs. She has finished her first novel (90,000 words), Jack Dare’s Great American Freefall (inspired by a true story). The book isn’t published yet, but if she is extremely lucky, maybe someday it will be.

Gale Johnson
Gale Johnson is an Associate Actuary with 20+ years experience, working in the areas of Life Insurance and Retirement Benefits. With degrees in mathematics and physics, she currently enjoys consulting as a Data Scientist for select clients.

Gale is an active member of Sugar Land Baptist Church and the National Alliance for Mental Health where she volunteers. She was born in Jamaica and lived on Long Island, NY before moving to Sugar Land, Texas in 2004 where she now resides.

Jo Rosenblum King
Jo Rosenblum King
Lindsey McCrory
Lindsey McCrory is a second generation Galvestonian. That makes her an official B.O.I. (Born on the Island). In the late 80s, she moved to Houston and graduated from Memorial High School. Then it was on to the University of Texas at Austin where she graduated with a B.S. in communications and enjoyed her membership in Kappa Alpha Theta.

Returning to Houston after her graduation, she pursued a career in sales management. An account executive with ExecuTeam Staffing, Lindsey is soon to celebrate her 20th work anniversary with the company. In May 2021, she was awarded “Employee of the Month” from TRN Staffing, the parent company who acquired ExecuTeam Staffing in October 2019.

Her husband Blake McCrory started college at Texas A&M at College Station and ended with graduation from UCLA. He owns his own marketing company, Ideology. The couple lives in Bellaire with their son and daughter: Brady 16 and Blakely 4 in 2021. Another family member is a black Pomeranian, Paco, who they adopted from Pomeranian Pet Rescue in 2016.

Lindsey has two sisters, two stepsisters, one brother, and lots of nieces and nephews. Even her father and husband come from large families, and that adds many cousins to the mix. They enjoy spending time with all this family, traveling to Galveston to see her father and stepmother plus the family drives to Millican, near Bryan, to visit Blake’s father.

Lindsey’s mother and grandmother were both members of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). In searching the Internet for DAR and women’s groups, she discovered HFCW was hosting a Zoom meeting with guest speaker DAR Regent Anthony Startz of Lady Washington Chapter. Lindsey realized that these two organizations had nice members and topics of interest, which fueled her desire to join both organizations. She became a member of HFCW in July 2021. Her Revolutionary War patriot lineage was confirmed and she became a member of DAR in August 2021.

She loves anything outdoors (swimming, hiking, beach, etc.). Other favorite activities, of which there are too many to list, include: genealogy, cooking, gardening, traveling, true crime/documentaries, live music, and more.

Carolyn Tucker Myers
Carolyn Tucker Myers is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. Her family moved to a suburb of Detroit, Michigan where her father worked with General Motors. After five years of snow and ice, he moved the family south. Texas was chosen because of an uncle in Dallas and friends in Houston. In 1951, her parents opened a hardware store in Pasadena, where they both worked.

Carolyn graduated from Pasadena High School in 1955 and the University of Texas, Austin, in 1959, and married shortly thereafter. The newlyweds were stationed in Morocco where her husband spent two years in the Air Force. They returned to Coleman in central West Texas where she taught elementary school for six years.
In 1977, she moved back to Pasadena with her only child, a son, and joined the family business. After the death of her parents and 60 years later, Tucker Hardware was closed in 2011 and thus, closed a chapter in the family's history.

A previous member and international secretary of Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority, Carolyn also served as president of Soroptimist International of Pasadena, a service organization. Soropitmist International honored her as Woman of Excellence at the 2000 Federationof Houston Professional Women Gala.

She became interested in presidential libraries when she attended the annual hardware market in Atlanta, Georgia with her mother. They toured the library of President James E. "Jimmy" Carter. Thus began her mother's collection of presidential plates, which Carolyn now proudly possesses. The other presidential libraries she has visited include: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, George H.W. Busy, and George W. Bush and found each different and intriguing.

Shelia Neale
Shelia Neale is a native Texan. She started creating unique clothes from antique fabrics and quilts. Her creativity continued at The Frame in Galveston with her husband Rob.

Quite a change from her Texas surrounding, the couple moved to Indonesia. There she worked with ex-pats to establish a Christmas bazaar supporting the national school. Texas drew her home again, and with a friend, she developed the Sterling Rose. It specialized in sterling jewelry and unique stone-bead jewelry.

Her next move was to Navasota, where she became involved with the Navasota Theatre Alliance. Shelia served on the board and even helped design sets. She excelled at designing and making costumes.

After moving to Georgetown, Texas with another friend they developed the Cotton Candy Cowgirls.

Now retired, Shelia is heavily involved in pulling together her new home’s custom interior and her bountiful garden in Dayton, Texas.

Leigh Owen
Leigh Owen is a connector. She is passionate about matching people with other people, organizations, and resources. She is a past president of the Federation of Houston Professional Women, Houston Focus on Concerns for Women, and the FHPW Educational Foundation. She served 20 years on the UH Friends of Women’s Studies board. Leigh is honored to be a member of the UH Libraries Dean’s Cabinet and is a zealous supporter the UH Rare Books Collections.

Leigh is a member of the Houston Book Arts Guild, Houston Calligraphy Guild, and the Houston Visual Journalers. She is a lifetime member of Women in the Visual and Literary Arts and chaired their advisory board. She loves collage, journals daily, and writes personal essays and haiku.

She is a member of the Lady Washington chapter, the largest DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) chapter in the world. Her genealogy studies revealed that her great, great, great uncle William E. Summers fought and died at the Alamo.

A graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, her first real job was in book publishing and it became her lifelong career. Leigh has three decades of book publishing and marketing experience. She began by designing books and handling their production and printing for Gulf Publishing Company then focused on marketing books and educational training for Vickie Milazzo Institute.

Leigh and Tim, both native Texans, live in a brick bungalow in the Houston Heights. Avid birders, they love traveling Texas back roads. Their marriage has been celebrated together at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio for 42 years in an unbroken line.

Leigh is often told, “You know things!”

Linda Percell
After retiring in 2016, I now devote time to my art focusing on nature. I work with two disparate mediums: graphite and clay. Using graphite, most of my drawings are of animals. I especially love producing portraits of pets (Pet Portraits by Percell). My studies with clay feature subjects in nature (Natures Art of Texas). I hand build or sculpt myriad animals and the natural objects that catch my eye.

In 2010, after almost 35 years as a dental hygienist, I left private practice and became a full-time educator. I was instrumental in assisting the formation of the Dental Hygiene Program at Houston Community College, Coleman Campus. My role was in development in both didactic and clinical areas. While teaching full-time at HCC, I challenged myself to work toward a master’s degree in Health Sciences with a concentration on Education. After achieving this accomplishment in 2012, I took a less stressful role as adjunct faculty in the Dental Hygiene Department at Lone Star College in Kingwood.

I am actively seeking new relationships in new areas where I can use my skills and learn new things.

 

Jeanne M. Perdue
Jeanne M. Perdue is a Technical Writer at Occidental Petroleum. After earning a BS in Chemistry at SUNY at Albany, she worked in the Texaco research labs for 14 years before becoming an oilfield journalist for Hart’s E&P magazine. A Distinguished Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Jeanne served as Chair of the SPE Gulf Coast Section. After being elected to the Alief ISD school board and serving as President of the Alief Education Foundation, she now serves on the Houston Community College Foundation Board and the Univ. of Houston Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board. She is developing an Oil Patch Writing course based on her blog, which has had nearly 900,000 hits since 2012.
Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers is a Texas novelist whose stories cover an array of genres, including mystery, suspense, paranormal and science fiction. As a ghostwriter, she has co-authored nonfiction, has published books ChrisRogersBooks.com on writing, such as Goosing the Write Brain: A Storyteller’s Toolkit, and speaks often at writing seminars. Her work has been included in Writer’s Digest Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, A Taste of Murder, various anthologies and, most recently, a Writer’s Digest book – Crafting Dynamic Dialogue.Also an artist of abstract-expressionist paintings, Chris’s work can be found at various Texas galleries and online.  She conducts abstract painting workshops that attract participants from beginner to professional. Her work can be seen at chrisrogers.com.

Before moving to the countryside, Chris was president of the National Association of Women Business Owners - Houston Chapter, Mystery Writers of America – Houston Chapter and Houston Focus on Concerns for Women. She also served on the board of the Greater Houston Speakers Association.

Lisa Slappey
Lisa Slappey, Ph.D., has been in the handwoven rug business in Houston for more than 25 years. After years of training in the art of traditional Persian rugs, she now specializes in contemporary rugs, particularly those handwoven in Nepal. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Rice University, where she also taught for two decades. Dr. Slappey writes articles for interior design and rug industry publications and teaches courses on rugs. She has won multiple awards from the American Society of Interior Designers for Product Design, Textiles, Flooring, and Industry Partner/Designer Collaboration. With partner Mehdi Abedi, she owns and operates Pride of Persia Rug Company and Postmodern Traditions Custom and Contemporary Rug Gallery.

For more information, visit: www.prideofpersia.com and www.postmoderntraditions.com.

Janice M. Stooksberry
Janice Stooksberry retired from banking in 2015 as a Senior Vice President and Relationship Manager in Private Client Services with over 30 years of experience in financial services in Houston, TX, including private client, commercial real estate, corporate, international, and private mortgage lending, as well as personal lines insurance sales.  During her banking career, she was associated with Cadence Bank, Whitney Bank, Bank One, and MBank, and she has a BBA-Finance from the University of Houston.

Janice is a long-term community volunteer and is passionate about empowering women and girls to control their bodies and their finances, and most of her volunteer activities over the past 30 years reflect that passion:

  • She is an active volunteer with Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast (“PPGC”) and has served since 2013 on its Finance Committee and since 2014 as a member of its Board of Directors and Treasurer.  Additionally she serves on PPGC’s Development Committee, Executive Compensation Committee and other committees;
  • Janice is a member of the Advisory Board of The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston (“TWR”), which provides financial literacy training for women and girls and leadership training for at-risk teen girls, and she has been a volunteer there since 1996.  She served on TWR’s Finance Committee for a number of years, was its Vice President of Finance for several years and was the President of its Board of Trustees in 2004 and 2005;
  • She has been a member of the Rotary Club of West U, an international philanthropic organization, since 2000, and she served as the Secretary of the Club’s Board of Directors from 2002 to 2005 and on the Board of Trustees of the Club’s Foundation as its President in 2008.  Mostly recently, she served as a member of the Club’s Harvey Relief Committee;
  • She is a member of Houston Focus on the Concerns of Women formerly known as the Houston Financial Council for Women (“ HFCW”) of which she was a member from 1986 to 2007 and which she rejoined in 2018, and she is a past President of HFCW; and
  • Janice is a member of several other women’s social and networking groups and the 70-year old Piney Woods Garden Club.

Her past volunteer activities include serving on the Boards of Directors or Trustees of the St. Cecilia Chamber Music Society, the Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, the Houston Area Women’s Center, and the Federation of Houston Professional Women, and she served as a volunteer at the Houston Area Audubon Society as a docent and at the Houston R.E.A.D. Commission as a literacy tutor.  Additionally she was appointed to by the former Mayor of Houston, Kathryn Whitmire, to the Board of Directors of the City of Houston Health Facilities Development Corporation 1991 to 1994.

Janice was a Federation of Houston Professional Women “Women of Excellence” in 1994, was named TWR’s “Volunteer of the Year” in 2006, and was presented the Rotary Club of West U’s Vocational Service Award (Rotarian) in 2016.

Janice was born in Commerce, Texas, moved to Dallas at the age of six, and has lived in Houston since 1980. She’s married to Jack Hardin, a Houston attorney, and her interests include (not in any particular order) traveling, lazy gardening, hiking, bird watching (less so now with Rocky, a barky Cairn Terrier), music, cooking, and politics.

Beth Szescila, ISA CAPP
Before retiring in 2013, Beth Szescila, owner of Szescila Appraisal Service, was a member of the appraiser panel on the PBS television series, Antiques Roadshow for 18 years. She was also featured on Antiques Roadshow FYI, A & E’s show The Incurable Collector, and on the Houston PBS series, Bayou City Treasures.

She was a contributing editor of the reference book Antiquing for Dummies. Beth was lead instructor for the International Society of Appraiser’s “Antiques and Residential Contents Specialty Course” taught to appraisers nationwide and later taught “Appraisal Tips for the Savvy Collector” at Rice University, a class for antique enthusiasts.

Beth was a double certified member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), being certified in Fine Art, as well as in Antiques and Residential Contents. She has served as the corporate vice president and secretary of the ISA, which is headquartered in Chicago. She was the president of the ISA’s Houston chapter. She also served as president of the Foundation for Appraisal Education, a non-profit organization, which awarded scholarships to individuals hoping to become appraisers.

Ms. Szescila received a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Mississippi and worked for years in the field of art, both as a commercial artist and teacher.  Her interests during retirement include wildlife photography, painting, gardening, and helping wildlife rehabbers by crocheting yarn nests for orphaned baby animals.

 

Carol Hays Teufel
Born in Paducah, Kentucky, Carol Hays Teufel at age six moved with her family to Missouri for her father’s optometry practice. She graduated from Helias High Catholic School in Jefferson City, MO. Musically inclined, Carol played the organ in her church, was the school pianist, dreamed of being a female Liberace, and appeared on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour three times. A senior scout, she also served as a staff sergeant in the Civil Air Patrol. At 14, Carol trained and became a lab technician for two years.

The family moved to Houston when she was 17. She worked as a clerk typist in a clinical lab. She next worked as a secretary to an architect who built schools and churches in Hawaii, and later for a Chief Engineer at Dresser Industries. She worked for attorneys in various sectors of law, including becoming office manager for a criminal/tax attorney as his office manager.  She attended night school at the University of Houston for three years, majoring in liberal arts.

Carol enjoyed working as a legal assistant in intellectual property law, her preferred field of law, for more than 25 years. She married twice and both husbands are deceased. She has traveled to 17 countries, sung with several Sweet Adelines choruses, the Memphis City Sound Chorus in 1956 and '57, Port of Harmony, and the Houston Horizon Chorus. She has competed in quartets in regional competitions and has coached quartets. In addition to singing and playing piano, she spends time playing duplicate bridge, collecting art, and listening to new pop and modern jazz.

Marilyn Turner (Memorial)
Marilyn Turner
b. October 12, 1940  d. April 4, 2022  Marilyn Janet Turner was a member of Houston Focus on Concerns for Women (HFCW) since 1981. She served on the board for many years as secretary, treasurer, and president. HFCW honored her as a Women of Excellence through the Federation of Houston Professional Women. Her leadership was a blessing to HFCW. Of Newcastle, Oklahoma, she passed away on Monday, April 4, 2022, in Wichita, Kansas at the age of 81. Marilyn was attending the Region 25 Sweet Adeline Convention, and was getting ready to compete with her chorus, when she had a heart attack. She was doing the thing she loved best…singing. Born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Marilyn graduated from Norman High School. She attended the University of Oklahoma, receiving a BA in business marketing in 1962. She remained active in the OU Club of Houston, serving several years on the board of directors and as president. Marilyn owned and operated For Good Measure, a kitchen-gourmet store, with three Houston locations. She later inherited Splash Magazine, the trade journal for the waterpark industry, and, acted as editor and publisher. Her experience in the travel industry (airline employee, wholesale tour operator, and travel agent) gave her the opportunity to visit many parts of the globe. A member of Sweet Adelines International, she was a charter member of the Houston Horizon Chorus, as well as events coordinator for the Great Gulf Coast Region 10. She received her 50-year pin from Sweet Adelines in 2017. Marilyn was a beloved member of the Houston Horizon Chorus for over 38 years. Marilyn was an active member of the Sooner Sensations Chorus in Oklahoma City. After living in Houston for over 50 years, Marilyn returned to Newcastle in 2019, yet maintained her HFCW membership via Zoom.
Linda L. Walker (Memorial)
Linda Walker
b. June 23, 1943  d. November 1, 2022Linda Lee Walker was a member of Houston Focus on Concerns for Women (HFCW) since 2007. She devoted several terms on the board of directors and served as secretary and as treasurer.HFCW honored her as a Women of Excellence through the Federation of Houston Professional Women. Her positive attitude and helpful nature was her gift to HFCW.A Houston native, Linda passed at the age of 79. She graduated from Austin High School in 1962. She met Jim, the love of her life, in 1963. She graduated with honors from Houston Community College in computer science. First she worked for the City of Houston and the Houston Convention Center. She then focused on her role as mother to two daughters, Tiffany and Brandis. Finally she worked with Jim at Emmott-Walker Printing for 11 years.A woman of many talents, she took flying lessons to spend more time with Jim, who was also a pilot. She loved crafting, decorating, and making bracelets. Linda enjoyed deer hunting as well as weekends at the beach house and going offshore fishing. She was an avid sports fan and was known for bringing her cowbell to her grandchildren's sporting events.Linda was involved in the local community volunteering for the Rotary Club of Houston and The Printing Museum. She served on the San Jacinto Girl Scout Council and sponsored two Girl Scout troops for a time.