Community Life, Oct/Nov 2015

Community The magazine published by the Cleburne Times-Review for Johnson County October-November 2015 Vol. 10, No. 5

Also featuring:

Kathryn Fasci Tim & Elizabeth Whitlock The Midkiff Family

DEWEYJAMES Cleburne businessman continues family legacy PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 15

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Community Life

Community Life

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1

the

DEWEY system

Cleburne’s Dewey C. James Jr. builds on family legacy

page 6 on the cover

2

the

MAGIC of the Midkiffs

A family that performs together stays together

page 16

3

faithful

ENCOURAGERS Cleburne residents Tim and Elizabeth Whitlock focus on helping others

page 30

4

change of

PLANS

Kathryn Fasci’s twist of events leads to dedicating life to Johnson County’s veterans

page 44

page 42

TECH COLLY Preventing ID theft

page 38

CHAMBER Latest news

Publisher

Managing editor

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108 S. Anglin St. Cleburne, TX 76033 Phone: 817-558-2855 | Fax: 817-645-4020

Ashley Garey

Monica Faram Jessica Pounds Ashley Rose Matt Smith

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Community Life, the magazine for Johnson County © 2015 by the Cleburne Times-Review. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Community Life is delivered by mail and distributed around the county free of charge.

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the dewey system 6

Community Life

Cleburne’s Dewey C. James Jr. builds on family legacy

C

STORY BY Matt Smith

leburne resident Dewey C. James Jr.’s father, Dewey C. James Sr., left his mark on Johnson County and beyond and left big shoes for his son to fill. James, to his credit, met that challenge eagerly and early.

“I was named baby of the year,” James said. “Still got the blue ribbon they gave me. As you can see I was kind of heavy then. Well, not heavy. Healthy is what it is. That’s what we’ll call it.

“No brothers or sisters. I was an only child. But I was the best looking of all of them.”

Numerous achievements followed that early accolade. A mix of ambition, hard work, luck and faith inspired James to tackle new projects and civically contribute to the town he calls home to this day.

“Well, I lived so many places,” James said. “Amarillo, Fort Worth, Kansas City, the home office in Dallas where I worked, then back to Cleburne. But no, Cleburne’s my hometown and I’ll always prefer Cleburne. Even though it gets too hot in summer.”

Less prone to reflection or the philosophy behind doing the right thing, James instead focuses more on jumping in to get the job done with an eye on the next challenge upcoming.

James credits much of that attitude to his father and grandfather.

Photo by Monica Faram

Community Life

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John James, his great-grandfather, arrived in Johnson County from Illinois via a four-month trek in a covered wagon.

James said his grandfather grew up to serve as mayor of Alvarado, helped found the Johnson County Pioneers and Old Settlers Reunion, among other accomplishments.

James’ father, the oldest of 14 children, went on to run one of the largest farms in Johnson County, roughly 1,400 acres stretching from land now occupied by Sam Mann and the Cleburne Municipal Airport, and was twice named farmer of the year.

The family grew up on Texas 171, which James still calls the Godley Highway.

James described his father as strict but loving and well known throughout the community.

“Oh yeah, dad was well liked by everybody,” James said. “We would go to Cleburne on the Godley Highway, it was three miles. And I swear, I’d ride with him as a kid, it would take us an hour or two to get to town because he knew everybody and people would stop him on the road and stand by the side of the road talking to him. He was very friendly and helped a lot of people. In fact, he helped maybe too many. Gave them money and never got it back. But that was his character and he was very successful.”

James traveled a different route but became just as, if not arguably more, successful than his father.

Sports further bolstered James’ work ethic during his time at Cleburne High School where he participated in football, basketball, track and boxing.

James said he dreamed of becoming a football coach in those days.

“Athletics was my thing in high school and I played all the sports they had,” James said. “In fact, I went back [to CHS] an extra fall to play football. I withheld my history workbook, meaning I didn’t graduate and went back to play. After the season was over I turned my workbook in and then I had graduated.”

James said he remained dedicated to excellence in high school but also found time for high jinks.

“We used to have high school dances at the Brown Gym,” James said. “Anyway, we had a basketball game one night in Hillsboro and the captain of that team and me 8

Community Life

never got along. Some of the Hillsboro kids let the air out of our tires. So we got back to the Brown Gym around midnight and the Cleburne kids were telling us you can’t let those Hillsboro kids get away with that.

So four of us go back to Hillsboro and they had this 6- or 7-foot statue of an Indian, thing must have weighed 700 pounds.

Anyway, we bring it back to Cleburne and leave it at my house by the drive.”

James said his father was not amused and promptly contacted Cleburne ISD Superintendent Ernest Guinn to arrange for his son to make a public apology.

That aside, sports secured James’ college education.

“In those days it was pretty tough to get a scholarship, but I had two, three really, two at Baylor [University] and one at [Texas Christian University].”

football or track at Baylor also proved a no-brainer.

“I weighed 185 pounds as a running back,” James said. “You need that weight.

The track people wanted me to get down to 165, 170. My first couple of meals down there I was eating with the football boys.

We had gravy, steaks, biscuits and pie. I look over there at the track boys in the corner. They were drinking juice, eating dry toast. I made up my mind flat.”

James continued to play football and box during his time in the Navy.

Years later, James served as president of the Yellow Jackets Booster Club, received the Wall of Fame Award from the Cleburne High School Ex-Student’s Association and was proclaimed the Lifetime Captain of all CISD and Cleburne sports by the mayor and CISD superintendent.

Photo by Monica Faram

Dewey James, right, and his wife, Sharon, are both Cleburne High School graduates.

The choice between Baylor and TCU proved easy.

“I went to TCU to check it out,” James said. “I’d already signed my letter of intent with Baylor by that time. But TCU wasn’t what it is today. Those old dorms they had back then were terrible. Baylor wasn’t great then either, but it was nicer. And then, too, the chow. Boy we ate well down there at Baylor.”

The choice between signing on for

Post college and Navy, James went to work for the Texas Employers Insurance Association where he went on to oversee all worker’s compensation claims arising out of the Texas 24 District Office.

James went on to chair four major committees dealing with worker’s comp and other insurance matters.

“I represented over 200 companies,” James said. “Every company in the state of Texas authorized to write worker’s comp

claims. I did that for 18 full years from 1968-86 and spent most of my weekends down there in Austin before the legislature testifying for committees and subcommittees.�

James points out a picture of himself with former Texas House Speaker Gib Lewis and the presidents of several insurance companies. “They had remodeled the House of Representatives in Austin and Gib had invited a group of us down there,� James said. “Gib and I had a drink and we were all talking and laughing. Someone walked up and slapped me on the back. That drink went up, went down Gib’s front.�

The work, both legislative and insurance, was rewarding but exhausting at times, James said. So he decided to take on more.

Get involved

Moving back to Cleburne from Dallas in 1970, James soon found himself involved in the Kiwanis Club of Cleburne.

“Cleburne’s my hometown and I’ll always prefer Cleburne.� — Dewey James “O.C. Forrest, a good friend, told me the Cleburne club was going to have to close down after many years in business,�

James said. “The reason was that the Texas/ Oklahoma district was saying they were not meeting the attendance and membership requirements. “Well, O.C. asked me to attend a meeting to see if I could help out so I did. They were meeting at the old Liberty Hotel back then. This was before [Cleburne businessman Howard Dudley] bought the place and fixed it up. It was terrible. There were seven in attendance that night. Six of them were over 75 years old and the seventh was O.C.

“They talked me into helping out. I probably shouldn’t have done it. I was still in the middle of working with the Legislature and in charge of all claims for the largest company in Texas on worker’s comp. Boy I was busy. But, I felt sorry for them and O.C. was a good friend.�

Dewey first moved the meetings from the Liberty Hotel to the Nolan River Country Club, then he wrote the district requesting a 90-day reprieve. “They wanted, of course, to keep the club going,� James said. “To make a long story short, I came up with what they called the Dewey James Membership Drive, and it was worldwide. But worldwide nobody knows Dewey James so I talked them into making it the Cleburne Membership Drive. Within one year we were one of the largest clubs in Kiwanis International.�

Kiwanis International recognized both James and the Cleburne club with membership development awards. James went on to serve as president of the club, then lieutenant governor of the district and

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Community Life

9

ultimately district secretary. After the governor of the organization, Tom Duncan, died suddenly, James functioned as acting governor until the new governor could be brought up to speed.

About that time James was elected president of the Nolan River Country Club and moved on from Kiwanis.

On the campaign trail

Amongst other activities, James found time to run several political campaigns involving both candidates and causes.

“I did 17 of them,” James said. “Never lost one. That’s tough work.”

Nonetheless, he enjoyed the challenge.

“Yeah, of course that’s what I’d done for 18 years in the legislature,” James said.

could to get some kind of participation out of them. Tried to get some suggestions or recommendations, make them feel like they’re part of it. Then, you go to your yes people. The yes people are gonna be there.

But the no people can kill you.”

James managed campaigns for former Cleburne mayors Katherine Raines and Tom Hazlewood and several for Johnson County Judge Roger Harmon.

“Harmon was a tough one,” James said.

“One term he ran against the mayor, very popular mayor of Burleson. I mean he was popular, well liked. In fact, he thought he had it and Roger didn’t stand a chance. We worked the devil out of that committee and the other guy didn’t do a lot. We beat him by 12 votes. That was the closest one I ever had.

Courtesy photo

Dewey James, center, with his parents, Dewey C. James Sr. and Mary Agnes.

“That’s just another campaign really. What you’re doing is trying to sell legislation.

Campaigns are the same, no difference in it. You deal with people is what it is. You gotta get to know people and work with the right people.”

And, James added, know where to start.

“All my campaigns, especially the tough ones, I didn’t go to the yes people to start with,” James said. “What I did, I picked the toughest groups, the no groups and went to them first and tried the best I 10

Community Life

“Then, I had Hazlewood for three terms. The last term he ran I retired and he didn’t make it that time.”

Harmon ranks James among Cleburne and the Johnson County’s most outstanding residents.

“Personally, I truly think the world of Dewey James,” Harmon said. “You can ask anybody, Dewey has always been a man with a plan and the agenda to get it done.

But also a man who always has honorable motives in his heart. I can’t even begin to

remember all the people, organizations and community causes he’s jumped in to help out.”

Harmon recalled how James assisted on several of his campaigns for county judge, including bringing then-U.S. Rep. Pete Geren to Cleburne to speak on Harmon’s behalf.

“I tell you, I was glad to have Dewey in my corner,” Harmon said. “But I’ll say one thing. If Dewey agrees to help you be prepared to go to work because he’s ready to go and doesn’t give up until he gets it done. He liked to work me to death on that campaign.”

Hill College involvement

Hill College has had a presence in Cleburne since the 1970s, formerly leasing space where the Cleburne Conference Center now sits, former Hill College President Bill Auvenshine said.

“Businessmen and others in the community later approached me and said they wanted a real community college in Johnson County,” Auvenshine said.

That required voter approval of a property tax, a college maintenance tax, to fund construction and maintenance of a campus and buildings. The measure failed but James later approached Auvenshine offering to help.

“Dewey and that bunch were a godsend,” Auvenshine said. “What they brought was knowing the community and the grassroots support we couldn’t manage as well from Hillsboro. Some of the things he came up with that we hadn’t thought of were the placards, phone calls, going around to the area business leaders.

“His track record shows, give Dewey a job and he’ll get it done. We could not have established Hill College in Cleburne without that tax and we couldn’t have done that without the grassroots support Dewey and his team brought to the table. Because of that Hill College has blossomed in Cleburne and continues to grow.”

A strong proponent of education, James said he wanted to help, but admits it wasn’t easy.

“You have to get a whole bunch of signatures from people saying they want to pay tax and have a college,” James joked.

“That’s hard to do. I’m talking hundreds

and hundreds of signatures.

James credits Cleburne residents Eddie Saylors, Ed Carroll, Hazlewood and many others for making Hill College a reality.

“Tom got out walking the streets in Alvarado and Grandview getting signatures and things like that,” James said. “One of the things I’m proudest of is that Dr. Auvenshine and the board of regents later named me the founding father of the Johnson County campus.”

Creation of the 4B

Cleburne voters in 2002 approved the creation of the Cleburne 4B Economic Development Corporation, which funds and maintains quality of life projects such as Splash Station and the Booker T. Washington Community and Recreation Center.

Voters that year also approved a half cent sales tax to pay for those projects.

James chaired a 34-person committee tasked with selling 4B to the voters. The proposal had already failed several times by that point.

“I guess that was the toughest [campaign] I was involved with and they didn’t give us 2 cents for passing it,” James said.

“But I had a strong committee and, boy we worked the devil out of it. I had threehour workshops every week and, as we approached early voting, I doubled it to six hours. There were a lot of complaints there. I told them we were really underdogs but that it was possible, by early voting, that we could almost pull up even and, if we handled it appropriately, we could win it in regular voting, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Since then all the 4B projects, with the exception of the railroad museum, identified in the original proposal have been completed.

Education is key

A lifelong proponent of education, James said he remains so because it makes a difference.

“One requirement when I worked at the [Texas Employers Insurance Association]

was a degree,” James said. “Couldn’t go to work without a degree, and I guess I had something to do with that.

“I really believe that the people who prepare, education wise, are better prepared

“His track record shows, give Dewey a job and he’ll get it done.”

— Former Hill College President Bill Auvenshine

to handle all situations that come up. I saw so many back in my day who didn’t go to school, and I watched. Good friends of mine who worked all their lives at Santa Fe, you know, good salaries, hard workers.

Nothing wrong with that. But I also saw

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Community Life

13

the ones who went to college, got their degrees and what happened to them. And there’s a difference, quite a bit.”

That includes both college and technical school, James stressed, pointing out the son of a friend who went to the University of Oklahoma.

“For a couple of years,” James said.

“Wasn’t doing too good, passing, making Cs and all, but it just wasn’t for him.

He got involved in technical school after, A/C repair. And for years now he’s had his own business probably making a lot more money than he would have with a college degree. So it’s different for everyone.”

To that end, the Dewey James Scholarship has assisted local students hoping to tackle either educational path for the past several years. The $2,000 scholarship to Hill College is now in it’s 15th year.

Cleburne businessman Lowell “Stretch” Smith Jr. helped establish the scholarship.

“Dewey’s quite a character, but that’s OK,” Smith said. “He’s done so much for the community and education on just an awful lot of different projects that I wanted to set this up in his honor.”

In his free time, James loves hunting, cards and, especially golf. He picked the game up during his time in Amarillo and said that he’s since managed five holes-in-one, three of which occurred at the old Cleburne golf course. James answered the Colonial Country Club when asked what his favorite course is.

James was named the Times-Review’s first Man of the Year in 2001.

Hazlewood, at that time, didn’t see his friend slowing down anytime soon.

“He’s raw meat and gunpowder and talks 80 words a minute with gusts up to 150,” Hazlewood said. “He’s always got something going on. He’s not going to stop and sit in a rocking chair. He’s got too much to do.”

Fourteen years later, Hazlewood’s words still ring true.

All in the family

His list of achievements and honors aside, it’s about others, James said, first and foremost his family.

“I have a family who has really excelled in the things they’ve done and my family is who I’m most proud of in my life,” James said.

His wife Sharon James, also a CHS graduate, was voted Most Beautiful her senior 14

Community Life

year. James lost his first wife, Charlotte James, another CHS graduate, to cancer in 1986.

His children, Guy and Cyndi James, went on to have their share of success as well.

Guy James, a prominent banker, martial arts expert and musician, was profiled in the November/December 2012 issue of Community Life.

Mention his three grandchildren and James beams, the ever proud grandfather.

Neil James, Guy James’ son, won recognition for outstanding merit in architecture and

his visit to England — and Tom Cruise, Nutt landed a part in “Born on the Fourth of July.”

The admiration goes both ways.

“One thing to know about my father,” Guy James said. “I have never seen anyone work as hard on any project or undertaking he embarks on. To this day, he starts at 5 a.m. and work ethic is his mantra.”

James said his father for years served as head of the ushers and greeters committee at First United Methodist Church of Cleburne

Photo by Monica Faram

Dewey James’ office in his garage is like a time capsule, preserving memories of all his achievements over the years.

now works in that field.

“Most people have to go looking for a job after school,” Dewey James said. “Companies competed for him and paid him a bonus to work for him.”

Gavin James, Guy James’ other son, recently received world championship status as a drummer and was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as part of the team’s band.

James calls his other grandson, J.R. Nutt, the struggling actor.

“Not struggling so much now,” James said. “He’s doing commercials and all that.”

James shows off pictures of Nutt with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — she took a liking to him during

and that the members often joked about the pages from a yellow legal pad Dewey James distributed filled with instructions, diagrams and maps.

“Dad, with his sense of humor, caught plenty of flack for his highly specific yellow pad pages,” he said. “Several members even presented him with a package of yellow legal note pads as a joke.

“I told them to think nothing of it. I received yellow pad instructions each day in my youth. I would wake up and find to do’s orderly mapped for me on a yellow sheet.

“All jokes aside, to this day I carry my legal pad in my notebook and start my day by mapping out my to-do list.”

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The

Magic

A family that performs together stays together 16

Community Life

of The

STORY BY Ashley Rose you’ve ever been to a Plaza Theatre Co. or Greater Cleburne Carnegie Player production, chances are you’ve seen at least one — if not several — of the members of the Midkiff family.

The Grandview family includes Mark and

if

midkiffs The Midkiff family at a New Year’s party.

From left are Mark, David, Aaron, Hannah, Debra and Benjamin.

Not pictured are Markus and Caleb.

Courtesy photo

Debra Midkiff and their children, Markus, Hannah, Aaron, Benjamin and David. One son, Caleb, passed away at 13.

Each family member is unique, but each holds the same love for the theater.

“Before theater, we were a sports family,” Debra Midkiff said. “Markus, Hannah and Aaron all were in soccer.”

But the community theater life looked

promising.

“We’re making a difference in people’s lives,” 24-year-old Hannah Midkiff said. “They get to come and sit for a couple of hours to get away from their lives.”

Debra Midkiff said that some of the kid’s best friends are kids and adults that they have worked with during productions.

“The kids have learned incredible responsiCommunity Life

17

bility and work ethic and what it means to have commitment to something,” she said.

Benjamin Midkiff agrees.

“Growing up doing theater, we learned how to work properly,” he said. “Those skills will help us in the work force when we get jobs.”

Starting a family Mark Midkiff said it was love at first sight when he met his soon-to-be wife, Debra Midkiff, at Baylor University. The couple met through mutual friends in their psychology class.

“We were only friends at first, but halfway

he got a job in Tyler to work for William M. Steger with the U.S. District Court and worked there until 1989.

Mark Midkiff was a founding member of the Watson, Caraway, Midkiff and Luningham, L.L.P. in 1991, where he still works today.

Working for the firm takes many hours out of his work day, but he said he always finds times to watch his children perform on stage.

“He really takes his role as an audience member seriously,” Debra Midkiff said.

After watching his wife and children perform in productions over the years, he said he has a better appreciation of the amount of work that’s put into each show.

Now 26, Markus Midkiff performs in an indie-rock band called Kopecky with five other band members in Nashville, Tenn,.

The band was formed in 2007 by Kelsey Kopecky, vocals and keyboard, and Gabe Simon, vocals and guitar, while attending Belmont University in Nashville. They met lead guitarist Steven Holmes, bassist Corey Oxendine, drummer David Krohn and cellist Markus Midkiff a couple of months later, according to the band’s website.

Formerly known as the Kopecky Family Band, they released their debut album “Kids Raising Kids” in 2012.

“Our goal was to talk about all these very serious things we were dealing with, but in a

Courtesy photo

The Midkiff family poses with Mickey and Minnie Mouse during their 2012 family vacation at Disney World. Back row, from left, are Mark, Markus, Aaron, Benjamin and Debra. Front row, from left, are David, Caleb and Hannah.

through my undergraduate program, we started to date,” he said.

He was studying for a philosophy degree while Debra Midkiff was studying for a home economics degree.

After graduating in 1984, he stayed in Waco to earn his law degree at Baylor Law School. Halfway through law school and after Debra Midkiff graduated, they decided to get married.

After graduating from law school in 1987, 18

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“Any actor responds to the quality of the audience,” he said. “I get into it.”

While he has performed in about two shows, his wife has performed in several.

After they got married, they waited three years before they had their first child, Markus.

When he was 3 months old, the family moved to Arlington.

“Markus is a free spirit,” Mark Midkiff said.

way that felt nothing like wallowing and more like standing triumphantly, or even dancing our way through it,” their website reads.

Their new album “Drug for the Modern Age” is available on iTunes.

from one to two Hannah Midkiff said she has loved singing and performing for as long as she can remember.

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Courtesy photos

Above: Mark Midkiff, right, coached the Cleburne Christian Academy Lions football team. Aaron Midkiff was quarterback for the team. Below: Aaron Midkiff, right, played basketball for Cleburne Christian Academy. His brother Caleb Midkiff also played other sports and participated in theater productions before he died Nov. 22, 2012.

“It’s a black hole. It sucks you in,” she said.

In 2001, the Midkiffs performed in their first show. Markus, Hannah and Debra performed in the Greater Cleburne Carnegie Players’ production of “Oliver.”

“I like doing shows because it feels therapeutic,” Hannah Midkiff said. “We do shows when we like the stories.”

She said she has performed not only in Cleburne for the Carnegie Players, but also with Plaza and with the Granbury Theatre Co. Since 2009, she has been working at the Plaza Academy Fine Arts & Dance Studio as the assistant director of education. She said she helps kids register for classes and organize the summer camps.

“I love my job because I see kids who come in and are shy and who can’t talk to adults, and get to see the academy teach them how to grow,” she said. “I really feel like the theater and fine arts changes people’s lives.”

After graduating from high school, she went to college at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas. She had her first daughter, Piper, and moved back to Grandview to live with her parents and two of her brothers.

“I’m a single mom, but not really at the same time because I have the family’s support,” she said.

Two years later, Piper, who’s now 4, received a little sister, Sutton, who’s now 2.

She said they are two of the most beautiful blonde hair, blue-eyed girls in the world. Piper has already participated in dance lessons.

“It looks like performing might stay in the family,” she said.

the midkiffs and sports Nineteen-year-old Aaron Midkiff is the sports guy.

“Out of all of us, I would say he’s the most athletic,” Hannah Midkiff said.

During high school, he was the quarterback for the Cleburne Christian Academy Lions football team.

Mark Midkiff has worked as a coach for the Lions for a couple of seasons as well.

When not on the football field, Aaron Midkiff is on the stage.

He has performed at the Plaza, Carnegie Players, Casa Manana in Fort Worth and the Artisan Center Theater in Hurst.

Debra Midkiff said one of his most memorable roles was as Peter in “Prince Caspian” at 20

Community Life

After Caleb Midkiff died on Nov. 22, 2012, the Johnson County Lions Sports Association created an award in his honor. In May 2014, Branson Hardcastle, third from left, received the award.

From left are Debra Midkiff, Hannah Midkiff, Hardcastle, Mark Midkiff, David Midkiff and Aaron Midkiff.

Courtesy photo

the Artisan Theater.

“Theater has been a passion of mine because it forces you to get out of your comfort zone,” Aaron Midkiff said. “Doing sports and fine arts creates a chance to help kids be secure in themselves.”

He attends the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. He originally went to school to play football, but later decided to pursue something else, Debra Midkiff said.

He is now involved with the Young Life and Student Foundation programs.

“With Young Life, we go into high schools and try to get to know kids and love them

for who they are,” he said. “We want to show them God’s love by hanging out with them, go to their sporting events and even just studying with them. Not very many kids have older guys to look up to.”

Student Foundation is an organization that helps students connect the alumni back with the university.

“Whenever they are on campus we give them tours and help them feel at home.”

After college, he plans on becoming a youth pastor.

“I have a love for kids and want to show them how much God loves them,” he said. “I

also want to still do community theater on the side.”

costumes galore Benjamin Midkiff, 19, is the guy to talk to when it comes to fashion.

He has performed at the Plaza, Carnegie, “The Promise” in Glen Rose, Casa Manana and Granbury. He just finished his 54th production last summer.

Earlier this year, he won the Chita Rivera Dance Award-Male at the 16th Annual Column Awards. The Column awards are kind

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Caleb Midkiff

Benjamin Midkiff

of the local Tony Awards that are given to local actors who perform in productions, he said.

He won the award for his ballet dance scenes in the “King and I” at the Plaza.

“Dancing is my forte for theater,” Benjamin said. “I’ve been classically trained for five years now.”

He attends Baylor University, where he studies apparel merchandising, with a minor in business.

He said the theater is where he found his love for designing clothes.

Tina Barrus, a costume designer, producer and director of education at the Plaza, helped Benjamin Midkiff find his niche.

“I think that helping out with costuming will help him get more experience in the fashion world,” Barrus said.

The Plaza’s 2015 production of “Kiss and Tell” was Benjamin Midkiff ’s first production of being in charge of the costumes for the show.

Barrus said he has a good eye when it comes to clothes.

“History has a tendency to repeat itself,” Barrus said. “You just have to be ready and watch out for it.”

Barrus has known the Midkiffs for seven years and said that they are some of her favorite people.

“They are talented and really nice people,” Barrus said. “They are always willing to lend a hand.”

Barrus has also worked with Hannah Midkiff at the Plaza’s studio.

“She is my right hand man, well wom22

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an,” Barrus said “She interned for the Plaza while also performing and then became a full-time employee when she came back from college.”

Overcoming tragedy as a family On Nov. 22, 2012, tragedy struck when 13-year-old Caleb Midkiff passed away.

On the day before Thanksgiving, he died the afternoon before the CCA Lions were to play their state semi-final. He was on the junior varsity squad while Mark Midkiff coached the team. Mark Midkiff was taking him to theater rehearsal at Casa Manana when he went rigid and his eyes rolled back into his head.

“I didn’t know how such a healthy kid could have died,” Mark Midkiff said. “He didn’t even have any allergies.”

They were almost in front of Texas Health Huguley Hospital Fort Worth South when it happened, so medical treatment was immediate. The rest of the family came to the hospital shortly after they arrived.

If Caleb Midkiff was alive today, he would be starting his junior year in high school. It’s been about three years, but the family said they knew he wouldn’t want them to mope around doing nothing.

“It’s taken some time,” Mark Midkiff said. “We’ve always have had that sense that life keeps moving and we have to move on.

We’ve had massive amounts of support and love from the whole community. We’re all a product of our life and what happens to us.

Life has to move on.”

He said Caleb Midkiff enjoyed music and

theater so much that he even had dreams of being on Broadway one day.

He performed at Carnegie, “The Promise,” Casa Manana and the Plaza and was a member of Boy Scouts.

After the tragedy, the Column Awards named an award after him — the Caleb Midkiff Child Performer Award.

To receive the award, candidates must be in sixth through 10th grades. The candidate should have a background of working in both professional and nonprofessional theaters, according to the website. The candidate should also participate in extracurricular activities in school other than the theater.

The Plaza, for the past two years, has also raised money for a scholarship dedicated to him for Plaza members going to college.

Barrus said Caleb Midkiff was a kid that made sure that no kid was left out of anything.

“There was a big hole in everyone’s heart when he left,” Barrus said. “He’s in a better place now.”

Mark Midkiff agrees.

“He was such a fun kid,” he said. “We always wonder what he would be doing now if he were still alive.”

Following the family legacy The baby of the family is David Midkiff, 13, and his life is performing.

He has performed at Carnegie, “The Promise,” Casa Manana, Artisan, the Plaza and the Fort Worth Opera. He finished his 35th production in the Plaza’s “Shrek the Musical” this summer.

Debra Midkiff said his acting career start-

Hannah Midkiff

David Midkiff

ed early. When he was 7 or 8 months old, he was the baby in “A Christmas Carol.”

“Out of everyone in the family, David has had more lead roles,” Debra Midkiff said.

He acts, sings and dances.

“When it comes to theater, my forte is tap dancing,” he said.

Juggling performing and going to school is difficult, but that’s where home schooling comes in handy.

“We call it parent directed education because we do not sit at home and do school,” Debra Midkiff said.

Each Midkiff attended the Travis Academy of Fine Arts in Fort Worth. Markus, Hannah, Aaron and Benjamin all graduated from there.

“It’s been a blast,” Benjamin Midkiff said.

“We meet a lot of people because we’re not just contained to one group of friends or at one school.

“We’re given the freedom to choose the curriculum we are taught and the teachers we are taught by,” Benjamin Midkiff said. “Because of that freedom, you are in a learning environment and you learn to interact with adults, as well as kids, as people.”

In Cleburne, home schooling is offered one to two times a week from T.E.A.C.H. — To Encourage and Challenge Homeschoolers.

TEACH is a group of teachers offering classes under one roof for children who don’t have enough time for public school because they are involved in so many activities.

“A lot of the kids that do the shows, anywhere, are home-schooled,” Hannah Midkiff

said. “There’s a freedom in their schedules to rehearse.”

Even though each family member is different, their love for the theater is what brings them together.

As for the future, Hannah Midkiff wants to go back to college, Aaron Midkiff would like to be a youth pastor, Benjamin Midkiff wants to design clothes, David Midkiff would like to continue performing and Mark Midkiff and Debra Midkiff want to watch their children grow into the loving and caring adults they know they can be.

“One of the neat things of being in a big family, is that there are so many different personalities,” Mark Midkiff said. “We know that each of our kids will grow up to be the adults we raised them to be.”

Piper, left, and Sutton, right, are the daughters of Hannah Midkiff. She had Piper when she was attending college at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas.

“I’m a single mom, but not really at the same time because I have the family’s support,” she said. Also pictured are their grandparents, Mark and Debra Midkiff.

Courtesy photo

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23

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Visit our Website at www.burlesonchamber.com Advertise your business in our newsletter contact: Cleburne Times-Review 817-645-2441

OCTOBER EVENTS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 at Burleson Public Library (248 SW Johnson Ave, Burleson) LUNCH & LEARN - WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR A SMALL BUSINESS LOAN? (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.)

Presented by Jared Treesh, VP Commercial Lending, Northstar Bank **Free Small Business Workshop Bring Your Own Brown Bag Lunch Co-Hosted with the Burleson Public Library

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13 at Northstar Bank (201 W. Ellison St., Burleson) BUSINESS AFTER HOURS NETWORKING (5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.) **Free to Burleson Chamber Members Sponsor & Host: Northstar Bank & Orr & Associates Real Estate

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15 at Pathway Church FALL QUARTERLY MEETING: CEO FORECAST

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6 at Burleson Public Library (248 SW Johnson Ave., Burleson) LUNCH & LEARN – TOPIC TO BE DETERMINED (11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) **Free Small Business Workshop Bring Your Own Brown Bag Lunch Co-Hosted with the Burleson Public Library

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Faithful encouragers Cleburne residents Tim and Elizabeth Whitlock focus on helping others PHOTOS AND STORY BY Jessica Pounds

T

im and Elizabeth Whitlock remember the hard times. Throughout their 36 years of marriage they have experienced trials, periods of doubt, mountains and valleys and seasons of anger and depression.

Despite their darkest hours they have always been head over heels in love with each other and have remained committed to serving others.

The couple’s story begins early. As children they attended separate churches in the same neighborhood. She attended Field Street Baptist while he attended Saint Mark United Methodist Church.

“I met Elizabeth during a church youth activity between the two churches,” Tim Whitlock said. “Then, Pastor ??? Graham at Field Street Baptist baptized me.”

Although they shared the same faith, the two were quite the opposite. Elizabeth Whitlock was the oldest of four children while Tim Whitlock was the youngest of his siblings.

“I have three younger brothers and I was the queen,” she said. “My father was an only child and I was the first grandchild. My grandmother would fry me a chicken every day just for me because I loved fried chicken. My grandparents just spoiled me and loved me a lot.”

Tim Whitlock said although he was just the opposite of his

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Courtesy photo

Tim and Elizabeth Whitlock have three daughters — Jennifer, Mary and Melissa — and nine grandchildren, all who live locally.

wife growing up, he was spoiled as well.

“I have two older sisters,” he said. “Being the youngest was a good deal, too.”

As fate would have it, the two crossed paths once again and this time it was for good.

“We met back up in junior high when Elizabeth was a cheerleader,” Tim Whitlock said. “Elizabeth was a pretty little blonde and was very outgoing and nice, caught my eye of course.”

After a year or so of being friends, the two began to officially date in high school.

“We ended up on the tennis team together and that’s when we started dating and fell in love and never looked back,” he said.

In 1979 — the year after they graduated from Cleburne High School together — the

two wed on Oct. 5.

“I was a freshman in college and we were just kids but fell in love and it worked,” Tim Whitlock said. “We always have hope for those younger couples that want to get married early.”

Elizabeth Whitlock said their wedding day was perfect.

“Our wedding was out by the pool on the family property with family and friends on a pretty fall day,” she said.

The newlyweds moved into a house on Elizabeth Whitlock’s family property — the “Lee family compound” as she calls it — where her parents and siblings live in separate houses on the same land several miles apart from one another.

Tim Whitlock attended the University

of Texas at Arlington, Hill College’s Johnson County Campus and Texas Wesleyan University.

During college, Tim Whitlock worked at several different places around Cleburne to support he and his wife.

“A few friends and I did some roofing and during the summer I worked at Winn-Dixie,” he said. “Both of those were great motivation to continue going to college.”

By the time he graduated, the couple had already welcomed two children into their family.

“We loved parenthood, but during college and working — a lot of times two jobs — we decided quickly that we can sacrifice and cut corners and Elizabeth could stay home,” he said.

Preparing for the future, Tim Whitlock began applying for jobs right out of college. It wasn’t long before longtime Cleburne banker Jimmy Campbell hired him to work at his bank.

“I started at a bank on Ridgeway Drive, which at the time was Cleburne State Bank, but is now First Financial Bank,” Tim Whitlock said. “I started out in the note department as a teller in a training program. Within a year or two I was a loan officer and have mainly been doing lending since then.”

After 14 years at that location, he transferred to Pinnacle Bank, where he has worked since.

“My title is regional president of the six banks in Johnson County,” he said. “My main duties are being a loan officer and then overseeing the six branches; I have been there for 17 years now.”

Through his position, Tim Whitlock said he has been able to help people more than what his job calls for.

“I feel like you should grow where you are planted and use your God-given gifts and abilities,” he said. “Banking in a way is a ministry

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because you council people and give them little nuggets of wisdom. You look at their budget or situation and try to direct them and advise them. A lot of times we can make the loans and try to help them, but sometimes you can’t but you can still try to direct them and give them advice.”

Elizabeth Whitlock said her husband’s job has been an outlet for him to help people in a spiritual way.

“He’s been able to council so many customers who have been going through trials,” she said. “Tim tells people to give their best light to the Lord.”

The couple’s faith became stronger when they joined Cleburne Bible Church when it opened in 1980.

“Back then it was a storefront in downtown Cleburne,” Tim Whitlock said. “Now we’re out on Nolan River Road and they are blessing three generations of my family; us and our daughters and grandchildren.”

When the church began the AWANAS program, the couple served as leaders for the 3and 4-year-olds.

“It was great because the little kids just needed someone to hug and love on them,” she said. “Tim would come in from work and sit in a rocking chair and hold a kid and read to them.”

TRYING TIMES

While staying home with their now three children — Jennifer, Mary and Melissa — Elizabeth Whitlock decided she would work at night, cleaning the bank while her husband was home with the girls.

“I did that for six years until I got sick,” she said. “I was 29 years old when everything started

to happen.”

When she suddenly began speaking slower, dragging her foot and losing the function of her hands, Tim Whitlock took her to see several neurologists, including top doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“What happened was a virus settled on her cerebellum and caused permanent damage,” he said. “The doctor said even though the virus was gone, and that she most likely would never have that virus again, there wasn’t anything they could do to reverse the damage.”

The diagnosis sent the Whitlocks into a season of anger and depression as they struggled to understand and adjust to their new circumstances.

“I would lay there all day in bed and my mother would come get me and we would go pick up my girls up from school and that’s all I had the energy for,” Elizabeth Whitlock said.

“I remember having to pick and choose what I could do, but the girls were so little I had to keep going; I couldn’t just give up.”

She recited a Bible verse — Philippians 4:13 — whenever she felt like giving in to her disability.

“When I would try to do something I would just tell myself, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,’” she said.

“So many people in the community have prayed for me through the years.”

When something such as an illness puts pressure on a marriage, Elizabeth Whitlock said it can either throw you together or tear you apart.

“This threw us together,” she said. “Our faith is really what got us through this.”

MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE

If you work hard and are dependable, get

along with others and are helpful, Tim Whitlock said, you will go far in life.

“Whatever you do, do your work hardly as if it is for the Lord,” he said. “Apply that principle and do a good job as if the Lord were really your boss in whatever it is whether it is community service or with your family.”

Several years ago, Elizabeth Whitlock acquired co-ownership of Crown Molding Solutions in Cleburne, a company that offers inexpensive, flexible, crown moldings made from foam.

“My brother was going to buy the company and he decided not to so my other brother and I bought it from some local people a little over three years ago,” she said. “It’s really neat; the crown molding is made out of polystyrofoam.

The idea is the product is a little cheaper and it is lightweight and easy to install. Sometimes people will see it and say how nice it looks and they don’t know it’s just foam. It’s really easy to cut the corners whereas wood would just wear you out.”

Elizabeth Whitlock said by providing scraps of the foam molding, Dexter Baldwin was able to put crown molding inside the old Sante Fe Elementary School annex, which houses the East Cleburne Community Center.

“We have this molding that is perfectly fine, they just had some little marks in it,” she said.

“He got enough scraps to do a room just by digging in the trash. I think it is neat when we can help like that.”

Baldwin said this was just one example of how the Whitlocks have given back to ECCC. “They were our honorary chairmen at our 2014 banquet and they sent out letters to all of their contacts to get them to help support us,” Baldwin said.

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Photo by Monica Faram

From left: The Whitlocks at the 2015 Black & White Gala. The Whitlocks enjoy traveling together. Several years ago they visited Jerusalem and walked where Jesus walked. Elizabeth Whitlock is a co-owner of Crown Molding Solutions in Cleburne, a company that offers inexpensive, flexible, crown moldings made from foam.

Elizabeth Whitlock said her main focus with the company is marketing so she is able to do a lot of work from her computer at home.

“Our son-in-law runs it and Elizabeth is down there two or three days a week, but she worked it full time the first six months,” Tim Whitlock said.

The extra time at home has allowed Elizabeth Whitlock the chance to baby-sit several of their nine grandchildren.

“That is what keeps me young, as my mother says,” she said.

Tim Whitlock said they also have more time to continue traveling the world.

“We definitely have the travel bug,” he said.

“God has made some really amazing places and we both love to pick up and go every chance we get.”

They both agree their favorite place they have visited is Israel.

“I was able to walk where Jesus walked,” Elizabeth Whitlock said.

Her husband agreed.

“It was remarkable,” Tim Whitlock said.

“People always say you can’t imagine Israel until you go, and that is so true. We felt very safe there and it was amazing to be in the same places that Jesus was. I do hope that the Lord gives us a chance to go back some day.”

THE GIFT OF ENCOURAGEMENT

The most important thing in life, the Whitlocks said they believe, is having a personal relationship with Christ.

“People always struggle with the purpose and meaning of life and to me it’s obvious — God is our creator and he made us to honor and serve him. I think what that looks like is serving and loving others,” Tim Whitlock said. “I think finding that purpose is getting the focus off 34

Community Life

yourself and helping those who are less fortunate — the Bible tells us to help the widows and the orphans — and love others well.”

Following biblical direction, Elizabeth Whitlock serves on committees for King’s Daughters and the Black & White Gala.

“The gala is so important because it raises money to help provide free medical care through Shots for Tots, Mammograms are a Must! and Know Your PSA,” she said. “We just got back [Aug. 15] from this year’s gala and they raised more money than they ever have before.”

Tim Whitlock has served on numerous boards throughout the county, including United Way of Johnson County, The Father’s House Education Foundation, Spark Worldwide Ministries, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne, Hill College Johnson County Campus and the Johnson County Economic Development Commission.

“One I really enjoy being on is the United Way board,” he said. “I have been on the board for United Way for more than 20 years and I love it because people don’t realize that what we do here locally is all for the needy.”

Through work, Tim Whitlock also participates in a kid’s clothing program.

“Teachers see maybe a kid who has worn the same clothes for three days in a row and are being made fun of,” he said. “They will call us and tell us what size they wear and we’ll go buy them coats, jeans and clothes. We get some wonderful photos back of smiling kids.”

In addition to the boards and committees each are separately involved in, both have served as chairman for the ECCC and help with the Cleburne Pregnancy Center and Boy Scouts of America.

“We have been blessed to be encouragers because of the journey we’ve had,” Tim Whitlock said. “A lot of people go through much

more difficult journeys, but a lot of times we can encourage them. I fail often and have a long way to go, but if you try to focus on helping others with their needs you are usually more blessed in return from that experience.”

Elizabeth Whitlock said they want to help others and give back.

“That’s just part of who we are and our nature to not be a taker,” she said.

From where they first began 35 years ago to where they are now, the Whitlocks say God has truly blessed them.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Elizabeth Whitlock said.

“We’ve been through some trials and all. But through those trials we did not lose our focus that God was still No. 1. I think it is important to remember that when you go through something that you don’t curse God.” They made it through the hard times as a team.

“It was a long, long journey getting to where we are now and through the years people have said, ‘Oh ya’ll have done so great and are so amazing,’ but you know what? There were some dark, dark times; it was tough,” Tim Whitlock said. “We all go through our periods of doubt, trials and valleys, but when we are in our point of captivity there is always hope in the Lord.

There are always those bad seasons that will take some enduring.”

Elizabeth said she leans on Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

“If everyone has hope and chooses God’s will they can work to improve their situation whatever it will be,” she said. “And I just tell people, each day that you’re alive, thank God when you roll out of bed. If you have a bad day, stay in bed. Just get up and get going the next day. Don’t wallow in your grief.”

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37

Cleburne Chamber of Commerce

Shop Cleburne first at Business Expo

T

he Cleburne Chamber of Commerce presents the 17th annual Business Expo from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Cleburne Conference Center.

Lone Star Autoplex is the presenting sponsor of the Expo again this year. Thank you Lone Star Autoplex for your dedication to the chamber and the community.

“We want the opportunity for every business to come out and showcase their business,” Cleburne Chamber of Commerce President Cathy Marchel said.

The Business Expo is a chance for local businesses to showcase what they do to other businesses and to the community. We encourage the vendors to sell their products out of their booths so this can be a day of shopping all in one place. Vendor space starts at $200 for chamber members. This event is truly a one stop shop to experience all that Cleburne has to offer.

Plan to bring the whole family to the Business Expo on Oct. 3 because there will be plenty for the kids to do while the parents check out the businesses. Gateway Early Learning Center will host a Kids Zone full of fun games and arts and crafts activities. New this year, Cleburne ISD will take over the theater/performing arts center inside the conference center to showcase various student groups and programs unique to CISD. “The Cleburne ISD showcase will give schools all over the community a chance to show what their school 38

Community Life

Courtesy photo

Lone Star Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Autoplex is the presenting sponsor again for the 17th annual Business Expo on Oct. 3. From left are Commercial and Fleet Manager Bill Rice, Cleburne Chamber of Commerce President Cathy Marchel and Lone Star Autoplex Owner Dan Danley.

is all about,” Marchel said. “They will come out and give productions and show their art in the theater inside the conference center.”

Inside the lobby of the conference center Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne will have flu shots available, blood pressure screenings and lots of great information to make Cleburne a healthier community.

Like last year, the Business Expo will expand outside in the west parking lot of the conference center with a showcase of cars, lawn/garden equipment, Moncrief Cancer Institute Mobile Clinic, food trucks and more.

For businesses wanting to have a booth or general questions about the Business Expo, call the chamber at 817-645-2455.

Whistle Stop 2015 schedule of events All activities are held at Hulen Park unless otherwise noted.

Thursday-Saturday and Monday Dec. 3-23 Final performance Dec. 23

Lights on every evening Nov. 23 through Dec. 31

Greater Cleburne Carnegie Players present “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” Cleburne Conference Center www.carnegieplayers.org Dec. 4-13

Lighting ceremony 7 p.m. Nov. 23 Over 3.5 million lights lit at Hulen Park. Performance by Texas Tradition Chorus at 6:30 p.m.

Children’s train rides 6 p.m. Nov. 23 5-8 p.m. Dec. 4, 11, 18 4-9 p.m. Dec. 5, 12, 19, 26 Horse-drawn wagon rides 6-9 p;.m. Nov. 27 through Dec. 26 Plaza Theatre Co. presents “Sanders Family Christmas” 111 S. Main St. | www.plaza-theatre.com Friday and Saturday Nov. 20-28

DEC. 15 Brazos Chamber Orchestra Christmas Concert 7:30 p.m. First Baptist Church

DEC. 4 Lighted Christmas parade 6:30 p.m. downtown Cleburne Vendors at Hulen Park 5-9 p.m. Hillsboro Street After parade until 9 p.m.

Pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus — Park Gazebo ($5 per picture) 3417 Train Engine Whistle Blowing (Free) Horse-drawn carriage rides ($5 per person) Children train rides ($2 per child, 1 adult free)

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39

Cleburne Chamber of Commerce

YPC offers opportunities for young

Y

oung Professionals of Cleburne is geared towards 21- to 40-year-olds. As an extension of the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce, Executive Vice President Tara Janszen leads the program.

“This is another way to get young people involved in a group that is a purposeful group looking for business development and leadership development,” Janszen said.

YPC’s mission is to connect, develop and engage young professionals in Cleburne to have a positive impact on the future of the community.

Chamber President Cathy Marchel said that she is excited to have this younger group because they have a new vision of how the world is changing that could be beneficial for business owners that have been in the community for a longer period of time.

“We can learn from them about what the latest trends are and what are the best business practices that relate to those trends,” Marchel said. “This is the generation that invented Facebook and know how to run a business by using just an iPhone or Android.

They know the latest technology and the needs and wants of the new consumer.”

Another aspect of the program is that participants will also have the opportunity to be mentored by professionals already in the community.

“As much as we can learn from them, they can also learn from those who have been in the business longer,” Marchel said. “When I was a young professional being mentored by someone with more experience was so 40

Community Life

beneficial to me, and I think it’s something that is important to incorporate within YPC.” Other then participating in monthly breakfasts, the group will have community outreach events throughout the year, Janszen said.

“We’re providing an outlet for

annual Christmas party, participation in community service projects, access to quarterly luncheon socials, behindthe-scene tours of local businesses and industries, one business spotlight, opportunity to use the YPC Facebook page to promote your business, opportunity to serve on YPC leadership team

Courtesy photo

Young Professionals of Cleburne offers young business professionals the opportunity to connect with each other during lunch or breakfast meetings once a month, among other activities.

young professionals to connect with other young professionals,” Janszen said. “This is an opportunity to network and grow their business.”

Membership, which costs $96 for a year, includes eight meals at educational/networking meetings, an

and special rates to community events and attractions.

YPC meets for breakfast or lunch meetings the third Wednesday of the month.

For more information on how to be part of YPC, call 817-645-2455.

2015 CALENDAR 1-3 3-31 3 9-31 TBA 28

OCTOBER Plaza Theatre Co. presents â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pollyannaâ&#x20AC;?

Songbird Live!

Chamber Business Expo Plaza Theatre Co. presents â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Addams Familyâ&#x20AC;?

Brazos Chamber Orchestra fall concert Chamber quarterly luncheon

5-13 7-28 20-21 20-28 23

NOVEMBER Plaza Theatre Co. presents â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Addams Familyâ&#x20AC;?

Songbird Live!

Pioneer Days Plaza Theatre Co. presents â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sanders Family Christmasâ&#x20AC;?

Whistle Stop Christmas lighting

1-31 3-23 4 4 5-26 4-13 15

DECEMBER Whistle Stop Christmas lights in the park Plaza Theatre Co. presents â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sanders Family Christmasâ&#x20AC;?

Christmas parade Whistle Stop Christmas in the Park Songbird Live!

Carnegie Players present Christmas play Brazos Chamber Orchestra Christmas concert

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Cleburne native and country musician Randy Rogers signs a guitar at the Liberty Event Center. Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain announced during the Aug. 26 Cleburne Chamber of Commerce luncheon that Rogers is one of the owners the reconstituted Cleburne Railroaders baseball team. The minor league team won the league championship in 1906, their sole year in Cleburne, before relocating to Houston.

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Community Life

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I

Easy tips for avoiding identity theft

magine this. You’re enjoying lunch out with a friend. You give your card to the waiter to pay. They bring it back and tell you it was declined.

Puzzled, you call the credit card company only to be told you’re over your limit.

How is that possible?

Someone else — using your name — has been racking up debt. Identity theft is all too common nowadays.

ID theft, according to usa.gov, is a crime where a thief steals your personal information, such as your full name or Social Security number, to commit fraud.

The identity thief can use your information to fraudulently apply for credit, file taxes or get medical services. These acts can damage your credit status and cost you time and money to restore your good name. You may not know that you are the victim of ID theft until you experience a financial consequence (mystery bills, credit collections, denied loans) down the road from actions that the thief has taken with your stolen identity.

There are several types of ID theft — child, tax, medical, senior and social. All carry serious consequences.

So how can you prevent it? There are several steps to take to protect yourself from ID theft.

F Secure your Social Security number.

Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet or write your number on your checks. Only give out your Social Security number when absolutely necessary.

F Don’t respond to unsolicited requests for personal information (your name, birth date, Social Security number or bank account number) by phone, mail or online.

F Watch out for “shoulder surfers.”

Shield the keypad when typing your passwords on computers and at ATMs. F Collect mail promptly. Ask the post office to put your mail on hold when you are away from home.

F Pay attention to your billing cycles.

If bills or financial statements are late, contact the sender.

F Review your receipts. Ask for carbon copies and incorrect charge slips as well.

Promptly compare receipts with account 42

Community Life

statements. Watch for unauthorized transactions.

F Shred receipts, credit offers, account statements and expired cards, to prevent

a victim of ID theft? The Federal Trade Commission has a website, identitytheft. gov. It lists several steps to cleaning up the damage.

F Call the companies where you know fraud occurred. Ask them to close or freeze your accounts. Change your logins, PINs and passwords immediately.

F Place a fraud alert and get your credit report. Several companies offer free credit reports. Make note of all transactions you didn’t approve.

F Report your identity theft to the FTC. Complete their online complaint

“dumpster divers” from getting your personal information.

F Store personal information in a safe place at home and at work.

F Install firewalls and virus-detection software on your home computer.

F Create complex passwords that identity thieves cannot guess easily. Change your passwords if a company that you do business with has a breach of its databases F Order your credit report once a year and review to be certain that it doesn’t include accounts that you have not opened.

Check it more frequently if you suspect someone has gained access to your account information.

So what do you do if you find yourself

form or call 877-438-4338 to file your report.

F File a report with your local police department. Take a copy of your FTC complaint, a government-issued photo ID, proof of your address and any other proof you have such as bills or notices.

F Close all open accounts you have and open new ones.

Identity theft is a serious problem affecting more people every day. That’s why learning how to prevent it is so important.

Knowing how to prevent identity theft makes your identity more secure. The more people who know how to prevent identity theft, the less inclined others may be to commit the crime.

By Monica Faram Technology

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43

Change plans Kathryn Fasci’s twist of events leads to dedicating life to Johnson County’s veterans PHOTOS AND STORY BY Jessica Pounds

W

hen Kathryn Fasci was in high school her teacher asked her to make a fiveyear plan. The project was an easy one since she had already made a 20-year plan she proudly hung on her bedroom wall. She said she knew just exactly what she was going to do in life and when another teacher asked her to write an essay about the things that could possibly redirect her in her education, her answer was simple: death.

“She wanted this long paper, but that’s all I had to say,” Fasci said. “She called me and said, ‘I think you misunderstood,’ and I told her, ‘No, that’s accurate.’ I told her I know where I’m going to be and what I’m going to have for my education by then.”

Fasci was living in Boston then and was determined to reach each milestone she set for herself; she would not be flexible.

“My dad owned an engineering firm which was how I started in engineering and my

44

Community Life

mom stayed home and took care of the family and the home,” Fasci said. “I’ve got one older sibling and one younger so I am right smack in the middle.”

After high school, Fasci obtained a job in ultrasonic engineering and began college. Several degrees later she branched out to structural engineering and began traveling with her job.

“At nuclear power plants you kind of go where the work is,” Fasci said. “I went up for a very short stint in New York and I thought I would only be there a few months. Three years later as I tumbled out of the second story, I realized it was too cold so I moved back to Boston.”

Fasci said she came down to Texas for a visit and felt strongly like the Lord said to stay.

“I thought it was going to be a couple extra days because I had only packed for less than a week,” Fasci said. “I didn’t even pack anything from inside my house. But I stayed down here and I thought, ‘I know I’ll be going back shortly.’”

Fasci said she prayed daily, but the message was still clear: Texas is where she would stay.

“I still kept the house up there for a few years and didn’t even go back to pack up the house,” Fasci said.

“It was so nice to warm up and see sunshine every day, but it was a hot adjustment and I’ve been here for a little over 20 years.”

During her time in engineering, Fasci met a man named Gilbert while she was teaching a class.

“He was in my class and I thought he was a brilliant engineer,” Fasci said. “He was licensed in five different disciplines, which I’ve never met anyone who had that knowledge. It just flowed with him.”

ommunity Life CCommunity Life

45 45

File photo

U.S. Army veteran Jimmy Ray Machicek displays a grant check awarding him 10 bus passes for Cletran. Also pictured are Johnson County Veterans Service Officer Kathryn Fasci, left, and Cleburne Transportation Manager Julie Floyd.

A change of plans

Since she was working a lot and going to school at night, Fasci said she didn’t really have time to date.

“When Gilbert asked me out I said, ‘No, I have a busy life, but thank you anyway,’” Fasci said. “I liked my life and I really didn’t want to complicate it. I couldn’t see anything I’d want to change so I had kind of written off getting married and I was content about it.”

Although she wasn’t a dater, Fasci said she knew Gilbert was a good man.

“He had a sense of humor and we ended up going to lunch and hit it off,” Fasci said. “We got

46

Community Life

to know one another and he said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who didn’t push to get married.’”

Gilbert charmed Fasci into marrying him in May 1980 and the two soon began having children.

“We had a tremendous amount in common, but I had no inclination to have children,” Fasci said. “I thought they were so fragile and it really wasn’t anything I could do. I would see parents coming into work exhausted and explaining how expensive braces were. I wasn’t really hearing any of the positive.”

Fasci said she thought she was sick so she

went to the doctor.

“She told me I was pregnant and I told her, ‘No, no, no, you’ve got the wrong person,’” Fasci said. “I made her do the test three times and I was in such shock I left my car there and walked all the way home.”

When she told her husband the news, Fasci said he was ecstatic.

“My husband was like, ‘Oh, I’m so excited, but where is the car?’” Fasci said. “I said, ‘My goodness it’s back at the doctors.’ He said, ‘You walked home?’ I said, ‘I was in such shock I guess I did.’”

Fasci said expecting a baby was such a paradigm shift from the life she expected to have.

“I just couldn’t imagine being a mom,” Fasci said. “But when she was born, one look at her and my goodness, she just grabbed my heart.”

“I looked at her and I told my husband I wasn’t going back to work,” Fasci said. “He said, ‘No, wait until you take your maternity leave is over and see.’ I told him, ‘If God thought enough of me, when I was not even heading this direction, to give me this child, I’m not handing this child over to someone else — end of story.’”

While reading a book for new moms, Fasci said she realized everyone except for her seemed to know how to do stuff as a new mom.

“I had no clue what I was doing,” Fasci said.

“I bought some clothes but I didn’t really know what to get and they all turned out to be too big; I had gotten all size 18 months. I hadn’t even thought about the different sizes.”

The two had six children; three who live locally and three who live out of state — Christine, Jessica, Roxane, Deborah, Michael and Danny.

“Oh, they’re great kids,” Fasci said. “They are all on their own and doing well.”

Not in the plans, either

Fasci said if her husband would have lived longer they would have had more children.

“At 7 years old, Gilbert was put in a military school year round,” Fasci said. “In the snow they were marching with guns. He just lived and breathed it.”

When he got out of school, he joined the Merchant Marines.

“He thought he would have more of a chance to see the world and do more, but unlike the other branches of the service, they sign on by assignment and when it is over they are out unless they want to sign on again,” Fasci said.

After nine years, Fasci said her husband decided to join the U.S. Navy instead of signing back on with the Merchant Marines.

“He just loved it,” Fasci said.

Unfortunately, while Gilbert was in the service he was exposed to many chemicals that later caused him to develop a rare cancer.

“He was sick for several years and when we applied for benefits it was complicated,” Fasci said. “You had to get statements from people that served with you and by then a lot of them had already passed away.”

Fasci said with this type of chemical exposure you are fine for a long time with absolutely no symptoms until about 20-30 years later.

“He had been playing adult soccer and coaching the kids and was just very active,” Fasci said. “He was a health fanatic, but when it hit him — that was it.”

Fasci said the first doctor who looked at him said he must have been in the military,” Fasci said. “We thought, because the doctor was identifying it so quickly ... we discovered there was nothing easy about filing a claim through the [Department of Veterans Affairs].”

His claim, Fasci said, was denied.

“It was heartbreaking,” Fasci said. “They couldn’t find records for some of his service but I wrote and found them. I thought it was amazing that I could find them.”

Fasci said her life changed very quickly as her husband’s cancer spread rapidly. He was soon on hospice care at home.

“God just raised up the help that was needed and I got good at regulating medicines and hooking up machines and carrying him where he needed to go,” Fasci said. “I learned how to do things like shampooing in bed; you just get really creative and do things you’ve never even thought of before.”

Fasci said as a wife, it was just one of those things she could relish in.

“I hated to see him suffer, but for me it was really fulfilling taking care of him,” Fasci said.

“Even though to him it was very difficult, there was a lot of joy in the season, other than the sadness from watching him get sicker and sicker.”

When the cancer began to affect his mind, Fasci said it was really hard.

“The last year and a half was difficult,” Fasci said. “He was brilliant — oh, we had some intelligent conversations — and then it changed to him not knowing who I was sometimes. He’d think I was a stranger and I broke into the house.

And sometimes he wouldn’t recognize the kids so I’d put huge pictures of them together on the walls.”

Fasci said her husband was never bitter or lived with regrets.

“Even when he was really ill and suffering a lot while he was heading towards death, I asked him if he was sorry he went into the Navy,” Fasci said. “I couldn’t believe it; he said, ‘I’d do it again even now.’”

Adjusting to change

Fasci said it was hard maintaining a balance between taking care of her husband and the kids.

“People don’t really line up to help with a lot of kids,” Fasci said. “But we had a really great church and they came and helped.

“Then, one day I looked out the window and there was someone mowing the lawn,” Fasci said. “We didn’t have any money and I told him I couldn’t pay him. He said he was from the American Legion and was there to take care of the yard for the veteran who lived there. And every week they mowed my lawn — front and back — weed-eated and everything and didn’t expect anything in return. Gilbert wasn’t even a member of the legion. They were just happy to do it for them.”

“Then, at Christmastime the same thing happened. I was concerned about the kids not being able to have presents and that is really hard to explain to the little ones. My daughter had just planted flowers in the front and was in that weeping one moment and laughing one moment. She was showing us the flowers and saw that one had started wilting so she began crying.

“Then, somebody drove by and threw a garbage bag on the lawn. She was so upset, ‘Someone almost hit my flowers,’ and she began crying again. She was so mad she tried to chase the car to find out who it was.”

Fasci said the garbage bag was full of Christmas presents.

“There was one for each of the kids with their names on it,” Fasci said. “They were sweats for the kids — tops and bottoms — and they fit.

We never found out who dropped them off, but years later I found out one of the hospice nurses had mentioned us to a gentleman who owned a funeral parlor who wanted to help some kids

Community Life

47

Photo by Jessica Pounds

Kathryn Fasci began helping veterans work through their Veterans Affairs claims after her husband, Gilbert, passed away from a service-connected illness. Fasci said if the VA helped while her husband was submitting a claim, life would have been much easier. Fasci now serves as a Johnson County veterans service officer in a county with more than 14,000 veterans.

for Christmas. God just moved in people’s hearts and they did things like that for us.”

Fasci said walking her kids — some of them were little — through an illness to death was a challenge.

“At different ages they perceived death so differently and none of them were on the same page,” Fasci said. “With little ones they can’t even understand the concept of death, although you can try to explain it 20 different ways.

“As they watched their dad get sicker it was a challenge. And then afterwards their responses were all so different. My teen was like, ‘I can’t believe you are doing this to me,’ and one of my little ones went to kindergarten and said, ‘What a rip-off; everyone’s got two or three dads.’ They just all experienced it differently.”

Fasci said she is thankful the Lord is strong in her children’s lives.

48

Community Life

“If I did nothing else in my life I would be pleased with that,” Fasci said. “I couldn’t imagine going before the Lord and having to make an excuse why I didn’t bring my kids with me. It’s been hard to survive without a dad — that is a lot taken from you but you know the Lord steps in and just carries you. He really just walked each one of my kids through it.”

A new sense of purpose

“I was very frustrated that the VA wouldn’t acknowledge Gilbert and I wasn’t getting clear answers throughout the claim,” Fasci said. “I was trying to do as much as I could.”

Fasci said she joined the American Legion as she was thankful for the help they had given her while she was taking care of her husband.

“I found out there were other veterans going through the same thing,” Fasci said. “The more

veterans I spoke to, the more I realized there was a lot who were having difficult times with claims so I began studying more about it.”

Fasci said she began helping the veterans at the legion and also joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars so she could help there.

“Pretty soon I had a lot of people coming to me for help which kind of surprised me,” Fasci said. “[Hood] County called me and asked if I would like to come work for them since I was taking all of their veterans.”

Fasci said she leapt at the chance to work for the veterans in an official capacity.

“My intent was to go find a place I could be supported so all my efforts could be concentrated on helping veterans,” Fasci said. “Because if they’re not, who will take care of them.

Certainly not the federal government.”

It wasn’t much later that Fasci came to work at the Johnson County Veterans Service Office.

“This is the first county I’ve ever worked in that they’ve stood behind veterans and been proactive about helping them,” Fasci said. “It’s not even difficult to have negotiations about getting help back and forth between [the JCVSO] and the county. We can reach so many more veterans doing so much more because you don’t have to spend time trying to argue or look elsewhere for what you need — that makes a world of a difference.

Fasci said there are more than 14,000 veterans in Johnson County; her office helped secure $72 million in earned benefits for those veterans last year.

“In other counties I’d have to flip the bill or find other offices who could help me which has not been an issue here,” Fasci said. “We have been able to expand our office here and have an additional one in Burleson. What that means is

the amount of veterans weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been able to help have grown exponentially.â&#x20AC;?

Johnson County Judge Roger Harmon said Fasci has been directly involved with Johnson County veterans for almost a decade. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kathryn goes the extra mile to get things done,â&#x20AC;? Harmon said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Her work load has been pretty high, but we get a lot of good comments about her from the veterans about helping them get their benefits.â&#x20AC;?

Harmon said Fasci is part of a team that helps make Johnson County successful. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sometimes I think our federal government they push it down on local government,â&#x20AC;? Harmon said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The navigation of getting benefits is rather difficult, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up to Kathryn to help them out. Kathryn helps them navigate them through the bumpy waters.â&#x20AC;?

Fasci said when she began working in Johnson County, there were only four people working in her office. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We definitely work as a team so we can always be on top of the game,â&#x20AC;?

Fasci said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When there are questions or decisions to be made, we work it out as a team.â&#x20AC;?

Johnson County Assistant Veterans Service Officer Genevieve Dunn said she couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ask for a better employer to work with. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kathryn is a good leader and a great advocate for the veterans,â&#x20AC;? Dunn said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She is very knowledgeable about the VA and is up on the law which helps guide the veterans and widows to get their benefits.â&#x20AC;?

Dunn served in Vietnam as a sergeant in the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Army Cops â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and later the U.S. Army â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and was turned down for benefits after completing her service. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had been going to the VA since 1976,â&#x20AC;? Dunn said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I came to work here as a student worker when I was going to Hill College and I asked Kathryn if she could advise me.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;When she looked at my packet she saw it was greatly lacking in evidence and follow through on the VAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part. She gave me a list of things to do and I submitted the documentation she suggested. Then, the VA finally gave me a successful outcome on my claim after 38 years of trying to get one.â&#x20AC;?

Dunn said she and Fasci see a lot of stories like that here. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To work with veterans you really have to have a caring heart,â&#x20AC;? Dunn said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is an honor to be working with somebody like Kathryn.â&#x20AC;?

The whole idea, Fasci said, is to honor the veterans and see what they can do for them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you get good people together who have a good heart and want to do the right thing and put them together as a team it is exponential, the success youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to have,â&#x20AC;? Fasci said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It makes all the world of a difference and the result is the veterans get served better and they get what they deserve instead of a portion of it.â&#x20AC;?

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Community Life

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Located in Keene, Southwestern Adventist University is offering the perfect MBA program for the working professional in Johnson County.

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TEXAS ONCOLOGY IS HOW TEXANS FIGHT CANCER, RIGHT HERE IN CLEBURNE’S ONLY FULL-SERVICE CANCER CENTER Together with Texas Oncology, Dr. Bejjanki and Dr. Nguyen bring world-class cancer care to your community. Featuring Cleburne’s only full-service cancer center providing chemotherapy and radiation therapy, we are able to offer the expertise of a nationwide network of cancer specialists, with the compassionate support of a neighbor. That’s how Texans fight cancer.

Community Life

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Don’t let joint pain get you d i s jo i nt ed.

Advanced Joint Replacement At Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne, we believe joint pain shouldn’t keep you from enjoying your everyday experiences. That’s why we offer a full range of joint-replacement services including hip, knee, elbow, shoulder and ankle. We also offer Joint Camp, a class designed to assist you with your preparation and recovery. Our minimally invasive procedures leave you with less pain, less scarring, less recovery time and more range of motion. So you don’t miss another moment.

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