This week the Kiwanis Club of Brownwood had the honor of presenting Mrs. Nancy King with the award of Women in Kiwanis.
Nancy is someone who never sought recognition but always enjoyed just serving quietly in the background. She loves helping others and especially young people. Her entire adult life has been spent impacting the lives of children and youth.
She is a 1963 graduate of Brownwood High School and her first job in high school was as a waitress at the Post Office café—a job she says she loved and wishes she could do again.
She is a 1972 graduate of Howard Payne University and received her Master’s in Education from Tarleton State University.
She is married and has two sons, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
She retired from public education in 1998 after 27 years of service, going from being an aide in the head start program to elementary teacher, special education teacher and then educational diagnostician. As a diagnostician, she worked with hundreds of students who had learning difficulties, analyzing their abilities and designing a program specific to each one’s particular challenges, then coordinating with parents, teachers and administrators to implement and monitor the program.
During her brief retirement, she spent time caring for her preschool grandchildren, volunteering with the Early Church of Christ Tuesday Sonshine School and serving as Early Chamber Ambassador, being named as Ambassador of the Year in 2004.
In 2005 she took on a new career as program specialist for the Girl Scouts of Central Texas. This got her back in the classroom of area schools where she loved to present programs on bullying, developing self-esteem and maintaining health and nutrition. She also helped lead the Girl Scout troops at LatchKey and Boys and Girls Club.
During her years as a teacher, she often spent her summers volunteering with vacation bible school and the Red Cross swim program. She also managed the ‘learn to swim’ program at Brownwood Country Club for several years. So, if you were a kid learning to swim in the 1980’s, she might have been there helping you.
She is an active member of the Early Church of Christ, Brownwood Kiwanis Club, and helps with the annual kid fish program at Lake Brownwood.
She has always been one to step up when someone needs help. She is always ready to give her time, energy or money to help those in need.
She had planned to retire from Girl Scouts in December of last year. However, 1 week prior to her retirement, on December 12, she had a major medical event that most would not have survived. After brain surgery, thirteen days in a coma, several weeks in ICU, she was told she had no rehab potential. They obviously did not know who they were dealing with because after three weeks in a rehab facility, she returned home on February 8. Blessed with the prayers and encouragement of hundreds of friends and her own determination and extremely hard work in therapy, she is making amazing progress in her recovery. Someday, someone will use her comeback story as an inspiration to keep fighting. Through the grace of God, she is here with us tonight looking forward to seeing what He has planned for her next.
