District Deputy         Heidi Abshire

Once upon a time (a long time ago), I was born in a then sleepy town called Fredericksburg, Texas.  Seriously, a long time ago, there were no shops and a teenager’s goal with a license was to drive through town without hitting a red light.

So, what does the above have to do with me being District Deputy – absolutely nothing!  I was born and raised in Fredericksburg, went to school in a two-room schoolhouse called Rocky Hill (now a winery), joined the Air Force after school and then became a civil servant.  I attended church at St Mary’s.  St Mary’s had a CDA court but I never knew this – now this is important.  Honestly, I never heard anything about the Catholic Daughters until about eight years ago when Gloria Villanueva stopped me after church.  I’m just going to say that no one has the ability to say no to Gloria.

Gloria stopped me after church and told me she was starting a court at St Peter’s and asked me if I would be regent and asked me to pray about it before giving her an answer.  Well, I not only prayed but I also researched two things:  first, what is a Catholic daughter and second, what is a regent.  And that is how a roomful of ladies who didn’t know me elected me as the charter regent for court 2690. I was regent for three years in which I continued my research on Catholic Daughters but also on running a court, writing bylaws, creating agendas, creating budgets, learning Robert’s rules and coming up with fundraisers. 

Seven years after I said yes to being a regent, I get a call from a lady while shopping with Jim at H-E-B.  This lady asks me if I would consider being a District Deputy.  Of course, my response was, “who are you?”  She kindly responded with, I’m Becky Brown.  I had no idea who Becky was so imagine my surprise when I learned she was the state regent.  Obviously, I said yes and so here I am. 

Earlier, I mentioned that I had no idea who or what Catholic Daughters are or do.  Why is this important?  Who else doesn’t know what we do or what we represent?  The Daughters are an amazing and powerful group of women that believe in Christ and helping those that need help.  When you have over 400 women in your district that are united in a cause, you can do anything.  My job as a district deputy is to support them.  So ladies, wear your purple shirts with pride and let everyone know that you are a daughter.  You don’t need experience; you just need to be a team member in a wonderful organization and help wherever you can.

Heidi Abshire  DD#42