2020

We pay tribute to Sharon Whatley, former Unit 225 member and director of the Ore City Duplicate Bridge Club, who died on June 6, 2020. Sharon, a life master, loved bridge and played regularly while living in Longview. A friend to all who knew her, Sharon had a kind and gentle spirit even while beating you at the bridge table. Her thoughtfulness was especially felt by new players as she kindly taught them the intracacies of bridge etiquette. Sharon lost her long battle with cancer while living close to her family in North Carolina. If you would like to read her complete obituary, click here.

 

 

 2019

 

 

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 95^th 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