The ladies of three North Texas chapters of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution have the perfect recipe to get things done: a bit of research, a pinch of girl power, a dash of tenacity and a heaping spoonful of passion.
When six women – Brenda Moeller, Pat Pitts Thibodeau, Dorinda Lovell, Linda Dillard, Linda “Chick” Sullivan and Lucretia Hardin – all DAR members who comprise the WWI committee, discovered North Texas had no World War I memorials, they got to work right away to honor all who served in the war. The granite monument, which was installed Friday morning, stands on the Collin County Courthouse grounds next to the stone tablets bearing the Declaration of Independence. It was crafted by Arlington-based Memorial Monuments.
On Saturday, the members gathered alongside Collin County Commissioners to celebrate the memorial’s placement, to be followed in November by a community wide dedication ceremony. The event is planned for 11:11 a.m. Nov. 11, marking Armistice Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.
During the DAR’s Texas Fall Forum in September, Thibodeau started asking around to see if the group could fill the need for a memorial in the area and was told she could get moving.
“I found Brenda and Linda and Linda Sullivan, Lucretia and Mindy Lovell, and I said, ‘Just the people I need,’” she said. “I said, ‘What do you think?’ Well, within 45 days we had the funding. We already had the design, we already had it ordered, we already decided everything we needed.”
The quick funding was made possible by contributions from the Dallas Area Regents Council. Dillard, who serves as regent of the John F. Greer Chapter in Anna, presented the project to the Collin County Commissioners Court in November for approval. The proposal was unanimously approved.
The smooth process has prompted the members to work toward the new goal of a World War II monument in the space next to the WWI marker and eventually memorials to service people from the Vietnam and Korean Wars.
