Friends Of LBJ National Historical Park: Board Member Profiles

DANNY R. RICHARDSON:

Danny attended schools in Port Arthur and earned a degree from Lamar University in Beaumont. He worked in the offshore oil service business for 30 years principally with Zapata Corporation. Danny retired in 2000 as a Sr. Vice President.

Danny and his wife Mary Beth have three children. They have lived in Fredericksburg since 1997.

In Fredericksburg he has served on the board of the Good Samaritan Center as treasurer as well as worked for Habitat for Humanity. He currently volunteers at the Needs Council.

An amateur historian, Danny enjoys reading, sports and playing with grandchildren.

TONI REYES:

Toni Reyes was born in Beaumont and graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a bachelor's degree in Advertising.

Since joining Pedernales Electric in 1986, she has managed several departments and is currently Community Relations Manager. Prior to PEC, she worked in communications at Gulf States Utilities in Beaumont.

She is married to Dana Norman, who teaches at Dripping Springs Middle School, and they have one daughter, Meredith. They have lived in Dripping Springs since 1994.

KAREN WEBER:

Karen grew up in Abilene, Texas, and earned a BS in Education degree from the University of Texas at Austin. After teaching three years in Austin, she and her husband, Jim, moved to Beaumont, Texas. While Jim practiced law, Karen spent time raising three children and working on church and volunteer activities. They purchased Pedernales River property in Blanco County in 1979, and moved permanently to their Texas Hill Country ranch in 1993.

Currently she is involved in the community of Johnson City as a board member of the Woman's Club, Blanco County North Library District and the LBJ National Historical Park. In Austin, she is involved with her church as a ministry leader and a board member for the Austin Graduate School of Theology, and the Championship Heart Foundation. She is also on the leadership team with Community Bible Study as a children's leader.

In addition, she has her three children, their spouses and five grandchildren who are in close proximity for her enjoyment on a regular basis. Hobbies include memberships in The Garden Club of America, Johnson City Garden Club, Book Club and the "Dreamers," a special program of the Johnson City Library for outreach to the community. She spends a good deal of pleasurable time reading, traveling with friends, gardening and cooking for large crowds.

GEORGE H. CULP:

George was born in Gainesville, Texas, and has degrees from Texas Tech University, West Virginia University and The University of Texas at Austin. After being involved with academic computing at UT-Austin for 33 years, he retired in 2001 as Director of the Center for Instructional Technologies and Senior Lecturer, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education. He and his wife, Kay, live on 30 acres outside of Johnson City, where their three children, Buck Culp, Karyn Schaubhut and Tracy Clark, and their families are frequent visitors from Austin.

He has served as board member and treasurer for the Blanco County North Library District and as secretary/treasurer, vice-president and president of the Johnson City Lions Club International. He is a member of the Johnson City Townscape Task Force, and a founding member of the Johnson City Community Education Foundation.

CAROLYN KENNEDY:

Carolyn and her husband Jack Kennedy moved to Meadow Lakes in 2006 from Lubbock, where she grew up. Carolyn works for Texas Tech University, the Division of Off-Campus Sites, having transferred here from TTU in Lubbock. From the location in Gateway Center at Marble Falls, she helps to coordinate programs and activities at the 5 TTU sites outside of Lubbock.

Prior to Tech, Carolyn was a Regional Director for the American Heart Association for 12 years. Before her children were born, she taught high school English in New Mexico and in Lubbock. She was active with the West Texas Library System and the Junior League of Lubbock.

Carolyn has two sons and Jack has two children and two grandchildren. Carolyn and Jack are active members of First United Methodist Church in Marble Falls. Their hobby is sightseeing in the Hill Country. She is a member of the Friends of the Burnet County Library-Marble Falls. Carolyn is active in TTU Highland Lakes Alum Chapter and enjoys monthly lunches with Pi Beta Phi alums. She volunteers with Kairos Prison Ministry. Carolyn holds a BA and an MA in English from Texas Tech University.

SHIRLEY JAMES:

Shirley James was born in Memphis, Tennessee and lived in Florida, California and Kentucky before moving to Austin in 1968. She is the mother of four sons and one daughter and the grandmother of four grandsons and one granddaughter.

Shirley began her career with the Johnsons in 1974 as Luci Johnson's assistant. She had been a member of Volunteers for Vision, an organization begun by Luci to test the vision of Head Start children. She also was involved with Mrs. Lyndon Johnson's activities at the LBJ Ranch - and thus began her love of the Ranch.

Shirley refers to herself as "an old family retainer." She later went to work for Mrs. Johnson, and in 1988, Mrs. J sent her to Washington, D.C. to work on the planning of her Jubilee Celebration to benefit the Wildflower Center.

In 1992, Mrs. Johnson asked her to return as her executive assistant and she remained until the day Mrs. J died. She says it was an honor and a privilege to work for her dear friend. During those years, Shirley wore many hats, but most people recognize her for the innumerable events she planned for Mrs. Johnson at the LBJ Ranch and her Austin home. Shirley was always very "hands-on."

In the interim, she worked for the University of Texas System Development Office where she provided staff support for the selection committees charged with hiring presidents of universities in the U.T. System. She managed public relations for the Austin office of DBG&H as well as for software developer Syscorp International.

Shirley also worked for Liz Carpenter. She helped Liz with her weekly syndicated newspaper column and her book, "Getting Better All the Time," and arranged the book's promotion tour of 17 cities. When President Carter appointed Liz to Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of Education, Shirley went to Washington as her assistant. She says working for Liz "stretched her" - an understatement!

Upon her return from Washington, she worked in Attorney General (later Governor) Mark White's press office. When Bob Hardesty was named president of Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University at San Marcos), he asked her to be Director of Special Projects - as with all her jobs, it was very diverse.

Among her volunteer activities are the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the LBJ National Historical Park.

VALERIE SCHAFER:

Valerie was born in Fredericksburg, Texas, and followed her Navy Dad from California to Texas numerous times, along with a short stint in Yokosuka, Japan. Ending up as a teenager in Johnson City, Texas, and later in Stonewall, Valerie stumbled into the perfect job. Valerie worked for 20 years for Western National Parks Association (WNPA) as the bookstore manager at the Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park, as well serving as the WNPA Regional Manager for Texas for eighteen of those years.

Living and working in Stonewall, Valerie was a member of the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce Board, President of the Stonewall Elementary School Community Club and a constant volunteer at the school and with 4-H. Valerie has two girls, Sandra and Cindy Jacoby, who are both currently attending Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi.

Valerie currently lives in Topeka, Kansas, with her husband, Dave, and all the animals they inherited when the girls left for college. She stills works for WNPA as a Field Operations Specialist from her home. With the girls and her family in Texas, Valerie makes frequent trips back and will continue to support the Park through her active involvement in the Friends organization.

NOLAN KUEHN:

Nolan is a native Texan, born and raised in South Texas. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from Texas A&M University, with graduate work in Business Administration at Sam Houston State University and the University of Houston.

Project management roles in his professional career took him around the globe, but he was always glad to come back to his native soil, and take in the majesties of the great State of Texas. After his career in the engineering design/construction field with a major international firm, volunteerism became a greater part of his life, including a period as Executive Director of an interfaith-based disaster relief group.

Nolan and his wife Elayne have always been avid tennis players, and this interest sparked a desire to relocate to the tennis-active community of Fair Oaks Ranch in the Texas Hill Country in 2003. Nolan has served terms on the Board of Directors of the Houston Tennis Association and the San Antonio Tennis Association.

Cycling is Nolan's other passionate interest, which peaked in 2005. He was part of an international group on a self-contained tour with Adventure Cycling across the U.S.A. - from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL. He describes it as "an experience of a lifetime." He is a past President of the Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club, and still serves on the Board. He is also a member of the San Antonio Wheelmen cycle club, and served on the Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee, part of the San Antonio/Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Nolan enjoys being a member of the team that produces the LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour - arguably the premier bike ride in the State of Texas.