Hometown: Stafford, Kansas
Present City: Dallas
Education: Southwestern College, University of Kansas
Tell us about your family.
Born in 1946, I grew up on a farm in Kansas. Our family was very active in our country North American Baptist Church. My Canadian mother, Helen Bertha Weisser, met and married my father, Otto Kurt Mueller, while visiting her brother, the minister of our church. The farming families were all of German heritage. I attended a two-room schoolhouse for the first seven grades and then went “to town,” which had a population of 1,800 people and one stop light. In 1966, I became a flight attendant for Braniff International. I was based in Kansas City and later in Houston. I met my husband, Chuck Willingham, in 1974, and we married and moved to Dallas. We have two sons, Travis and Carson. Travis, 43, wife Laura and my grandson Ronin live in Los Angeles, and Carson, 39, lives in Dallas. My husband passed away in 1995 when the boys were 10 and 14. I will always be grateful to John Braisher and Darren DeMent, their youth ministers.
How about your work and volunteer life?
I flew with Braniff for 16 years until they went bankrupt in 1982. During my children’s school years I volunteered in PTA, Lakewood Service League and for the musical and theatre arts of J.L. Long and Woodrow. Afterward I worked at law firms for 20 years.
What are your favorite places to travel?
As a child I listened to the sound of a train in the distance and wondered where it was going. On vacations as a flight attendant, I was able to visit many foreign countries, satisfying my yearning to see the world. The past few years I have so loved the Wilshire Adventurers trips.
What brought you to Wilshire and when?
Chuck and I attended First United Methodist Church in Dallas for many years and appreciated the traditional service, preaching, music and friends we made there. We recognized and found the same things when we returned to my Baptist roots and came to Wilshire in the ’90s.
Where are you engaged at Wilshire?
In the past I sang in Sanctuary Choir, served on the New Member Committee and served as preschool teacher, volunteer receptionist and wedding coordinator. Currently I’m part of Discovery Class, the Brown Bag Book Club and the Lord’s Supper Ministry Team.
What adjectives best describe you?
I asked my sons, and they replied “feisty and courageous” and “gives the best hugs on the planet.” I am blessed.
What is something interesting most people would not know about you?
I can plow a field, but Dad used to say my corners were never square.