Through guidance and leadership, Nancy Sandefur paved the way to open new doors and expand available opportunities for the men, women and children of Texarkana.
Sandefur, who died Thursday in Texarkana while under hospice care, used her caring, compassion and forethought to positively change the community. She was 80.
"Nancy was on the Texarkana Independent School District Board of Trustees when I was hired in 1994," James Henry Russell, former TISD superintendent and current Texarkana College president, said.
"She is someone who was on just about every board for a good cause throughout the Texarkana area."
Sandefur was a founding board member of the predecessor of what is now Opportunities Inc., was president of the Junior League of Texarkana, was active in the United Way and served as campaign chairwoman in 1977, the same year she was named Woman of the Year by the Jaycees.
In 1979, she began the Leadership Texarkana program, serving as coordinator. In 1980, she was the first woman elected to the TISD board of directors and served several terms as its first female president. She was the second winner of the Christine Nelson Award in 1985, and she and her husband, Ben, were jointly honored with the C.E. Palmer Award in 1988. Nancy Sandefur also had leadership roles in fundraising for the Ace of Clubs House, Discovery Place Children's Museum, the CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital campus and the Bunch-Woodview Alzheimer's Center at Cornerstone Retirement Community.
"She was one of the strongest women leaders from the 70s on and was somebody I would say was a pioneer in opening up leadership roles for women in the community," Russell said. "Nancy was a hard worker."
He added that she worked well with the boards and causes she represented to create positive change in the community. Russell said the way she handled getting things done was part of her signature leadership style.
"It was the way she got the results," he said. "Not by a power play. She set the tone by hard work and being a great leader."
In 1988, while Sandefur was a member of the Texarkana Historical Museums' Board of Trustees, she gave a speech titled "The Role of the President." In that speech, she compared the top leader's role with that of a chef who plans the entire dish, adds seasoning and various ingredients to the base, or fundamentals of the recipe, and who knows when to stir it together for cohesion and completion.
A copy of the speech provided to the Gazette reads in part: "In all seriousness, there is a considerable orchestration involved in smoothly fine-tuning a successful volunteer organization. Often volunteers are so intent on their individual assignments and busy with details that they will miss the Big Picture-the purpose and goals of what they are volunteering their time for. Try to develop plans to increase their awareness of the total overall picture. As they begin to understand how their volunteer jobs contribute to the success of the mission, attitudes will brighten. You will have more faithful, dedicated troops who will realize how meaningful and important their duties are. You will also have a larger army of public relations agents simmering in the community."
She was successful in creating that successful army of public relations agents when she created Leadership Texarkana, which is part of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.
Linda Crawford, who worked as the chamber's interim president and vice president of economic development, said Sandefur was a ray of light that shone on each project she touched.
"She was an absolutely lovely lady's lady," she said. "She always made everyone feel they were the most special person The best word I can use is gracious. We worked in adjoining offices and she was just pure grace. She always had the most beautiful smile on her face and she was just a wonderful person to be around."
Sandefur was instrumental in fundraising during the 1990s for St. Michael Hospital's move from downtown Texarkana to its present location north of Interstate 30.
"Nancy was a role model, leader and dear friend. She was the executive director of the capital campaign to build CHRISTUS St. Michael in the early 90s. Nancy was a joy to be around daily and I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with her," said Susan Landreaux, executive director of CHRISTUS St. Michael Foundation. "Nancy had a positive influence on everyone she met and will be dearly missed."
Patty Smith, who has known Sandefur since the 1960s and worked with her to create Opportunities Inc., said she was instrumental in organizing it and developing its mission.
"She really understood the need for children and adults with special needs to have quality programs and she understood that it was necessary to have a place in which these services could be provided," said Smith, who recently retired from Opportunities.
Sandefur began on the organization's board in its formative years, served as secretary, chairwoman of the building committee, president of the board and was founding president of Opportunities Inc.'s Foundation Board of Directors.
"She was absolutely a community leader," Smith said. "She was a wonderful friend who I think has always devoted herself to doing things in our community. Opportunities was something she loved and supported and I think Opportunities has lost a true friend."
A private family interment will be held at Hillcrest Memorial Park and a Celebration of Life will be held in a few weeks.