East Texas Unit 225
ACBL District 16
ACBL Unit 225
East Texas
United States
acblunit
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- Painting Day in Pittsburg
- Bonnie Gorman's 95th Birthday Party
- 2017 Ace of Clubs & Mini-McKenney Award Winners
- 2016 Unit Life Master Awards
- 2016 Ace of Clubs and Mini-McKenney
- 2016 Miscellaneous
In Memoriam
Peggy Wright
Peggy Wright, a member of the Nacogdoches Duplicate Club since its inception in the 1950s, passed away on Nov. 26. She was a Silver Life Master. Peggy and I were partners for the last 10-12 years. She had an outstanding record of service to Stephen F. Austin State University, to Nacogdoches and to our duplicate club. Her passing was noted as front page news in the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel. (Her Obituary can be read at www.dailysentinel.com) She was ever gracious and willing to serve. She never fussed. I cannot count the number of times I had to lay down a hand I had bid with nothing and say to anyone who would listen, “She’s going to kill me!” Peggy never blinked an eye. With surgical precision, she went to work and, most of the time, she made the contract. The photo shown here is in celebration of her 95th birthday at the club.
--commentary and photo by Gay Roach
Emily Leake
Emily was born in Oklahoma City, OK, and
moved to Ft. Worth at a 
young age. She graduated from Arlington Heights High School and then went to the University of Texas where she graduated in just 3 years and met the love of her life, Wayne.
She was a member of Marvin United Methodist Church and loved the Friendly Class. She enjoyed going to Bridge tournaments and became a Life Master in her early twenties. Emily loved her husband, family and friends, Bridge, Bourbon, the Texas Longhorns and life. We will miss her wonderful sense of humor and honesty.
(Note: To read Emily's complete obituary, click here.)
Here are some tributes paid to Emily from friends in Unit 225:
Emily was my longtime bridge partner and friend through the years, and we went to many tournaments including as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia, Naples, Florida, and all of the major cities of Texas and were fortunate to win many points and awards. As all of you fellow bridge players know, she was an excellent bridge player and a vivacious, fun partner. I was indeed fortunate to have her as a partner for so many, many years and will always cherish the happy memories. -- Brenda Baker
She (Emily) was my teacher and my friend. I liked what was said in her obituary. "Emily loved her husband, family and friends, Bridge, Bourbon, the Texas Longhorns and life. We will miss her wonderful sense of humor and honesty." I think that sums up Emily quite nicely. I will miss her.
--Cheryl Landers, Cheyene WY
"I began duplicate lessons in 1999 with Emily. She was an excellent teacher very helpful and very funny. She created a love for the game in all her students. After several lessons she threw us into the lion’s den. It was tough, but it was said if you could play in Emily’s game you could play anywhere. It was the toughest game around. She will be greatly missed."
-- Nancy Green
"Emily was an excellent bridge instructor and mentor. She was always willing to answer questions and give tips to me as a novice. The best bridge lessons I ever received was when she allowed me to bring in hands that had given us trouble in various tournaments and she gave us guidance on how to bid and play them." --Sandra O’Bannon
"Emily was my first Duplicate Bridge Teacher in 2009 and got me “hooked on duplicate bridge”. I had played social bridge since my nursing school days and always enjoyed it. Once I understood the challenge of learning duplicate from Emily’s fast moving class, I was inspired to keep learning and keep playing. I appreciate so much Emily’s many contributions to Unit 225 and its players!" --Linda Harrison
"Emily was such a precious lady! Sue(Ritschel) and I would get to Tyler early on Wednesday and Emily would teach us new bids, work with us on our defense and play of the hand. We learned a lot from her. I will always remember her cute personality and her great laugh! She was a jewel! Loved that gal!!! --Noelene Hardy
"My favorite memory of Emily occurred at the Longview sectional tournament many years ago when she and I were partners. In the two session open pairs on Saturday there were a lot of strong Dallas players there including Hugh and Mary Joe Hillaker. After the first session the Hillakers were in first and Emily and I were in second. There were two sections and we didn’t play them the first session as they were in the opposite one. When the second session commenced, Emily & I started against the Hillakers. As the director gave his instructions, he said “pass your boards down two tables and E/W pairs move up one table. Emily was delighted, and we ended up first & the Hillakers second. Great fun!" --Mike Graham
"Emily was a good director of the bridge club in Tyler. She had her way of novices coming to the club, in educating them with the conventions and how to apply them. I understand she was a good teacher in explaining the bidding and playing of hands. We definitely will miss her presence in Tyler." --Rathnam
Barbara Williams passed away on Aug. 20th at the home of her daughter in Eustace after a brief illness. She was our director in Gun Barrel for over 10 years and a dear friend to so many. Barbara loved directing, but did get to play with her partners Jo Booth and Rachel Lee when she got a chance. She loved going to tournaments and had attained the Silver Life Master rank. We will truly miss her.
Mary Hinkle, Gold Life Master, passed away in June. A native of
Oklahoma, she not only played bridge but was an accomplished artist. She was honored by her hometown with an art exhibit several years ago. Her primary bridge partner was her husband, Dick, and, a number of years ago while playing at a church in Tyler, she partnered with Ed Stewart. Mary will be missed by all her bridge friends.
Paul March
M
embers of the Sheila Bell DBC in Texarkana said farewell to friend and fellow player Paul March, age 82, who died on 3/11. "An empty chair was turned down in his memory at our Club today. He was an avid Bridge player and a true gentleman. He will missed and he will live on in our hearts and our memories," stated Lisa Looney.
Rick Davis
Rick Davis passed away in the hospital on January 15th at the age of 72 with Karen, his wife of 49 years, at his side. He had serious medical problems these last few years, but he lived life to the fullest as he continued to be active in his church, duplicate bridge, travelling with friends and supporting various charity endeavors. Rick served on our Unit 225 Board several terms and he and Karen held committee positions on 2 of the Tournament of Stars regional events. His regular duplicate games were with Karen at Canton’s Monday night game and with Barry Daniels on Wednesdays in Gun Barrel. He and Karen were big supporters of ACBL’s “The Longest Day”, working hard to provide door prizes for the event and raising money for Alzheimer’s Assoc. We will miss Rick greatly.
Rick was a graduate of California State Polytechnic University in Pomona where he met Karen. He earned an MA in education at Chapman Univ. in CA, an MA in counseling from Pepperdine Univ. and did post graduate work at Univ. of Southern California in educational leadership. During his career with the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District in California, he was a high school math teacher, head coach for swimming and water polo, high school administrator and Director of Personnel. He was also Adjunct Professor for Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego.
Karen has asked that any gifts in memory of Rick be sent to “Celebrate Forever Families”, P O Box 216, Kaufman, Tx 75142. This local, non-profit organization is committed to reaching mothers and their children in crisis and maintains a facility in Kemp large enough to provide individual private living space for up to 12 families. To learn more, go to www.foreverfamiliesprogram.org.
- Christine L. Mock, Greenville
- Derry G. Gartig, Nacogdoches
- Abe Conner, Nacogdoches
2018
Richard Bryant, Silver Life Master, passed away this past weekend (11/9). Richard played regularly in Longview, monthly Unit games, and area tournaments. On Mondays in Longview and at Unit games, his regular partner was Tom Spradlin and he played with Mike Graham at LDBC's monthly Saturday game. Prior to moving to Henderson, TX, Richard was director of a bridge club in Michigan. He will be missed by all that knew him.
Chester Neel passed away on Tues., 9/21, at the age of 75.
(Note: The following was received from Jean Roach, Partnership Chair at The Bridge Studio at Cedar Creek.)
Chester Neel passed away on Tues., 9/21, in a Tyler hospital at the age of 75. He had serious health problems that he bravely faced, including hospitalizations, but he always came back to playing bridge as much as he could. He loved duplicate and Bonnie Magee was his regular partner for games on Wednesday & Friday at Gun Barrel City. As partnership person for our club, Chester was my favorite player to call. It happened more than once…Chester and a novice coming in first. Chester was always a gentleman at the table!
Bonnie’s regular partner was not able to play on Mon, 9/20, so she asked Chester to play. They came in first. Later that evening, his wife Suzanne took him to the hospital and Chester died the next afternoon at 2:30. Bonnie says there are 3 kinds of bridge: Standard American, Two Over One and Chester bridge.
Bobby May, aged 82, was a long time bridge player at Longview DBC. Bobby, born in Gilmer on March 13, 1936, retired from Texas Eastman Company after a long career. He died on Aug. 7, 2018.
Nancy Louise Peterson Strain
29 August 1926 - 13 July 2018
Nancy retired as a gift manufacturer representative from her own corporation on 5th Avenue in New York City. She was a strong, independent woman, with a feisty, but playful sense of humor. She loved attending church, caring for cats, solving crossword puzzles, and the camaraderie at the bridge studio. Nancy loved playing bridge so much she built a new home for the Dottie Pirkle’s DBC in downtown Athens, TX in January 2007. She always looked forward to her Monday’s and Thursday’s at the bridge club and never came without something for everyone to snack on. She will be missed by all her friends. (For the complete obituary, click here.)
ACBL Unit 225
East Texas
United States
acblunit