The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THE LIFE OF CHARLENE LEONARD
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HON. BRIAN BABIN
of texas
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Charlene Matthews Leonard, who passed away on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, after a brief illness. She was born on March 3, 1933, in Mexia, Texas, to parents Z.S. and Jewel Matthews.
Charlene and her family moved to Beaumont, Texas, in the early 1940s, where she graduated from Beaumont High School in 1951. During her formative years, Charlene encountered and befriended Mrs. Eloise Milam, founder of the Melody Maids. This singing group of young women performed with the goal of expressing their gratitude to the men and women serving in uniform during WWII. Without hesitation, Charlene quickly joined the group. Traveling for 30 years as ``Ambassadors of Goodwill,'' the Melody Maids brought joy to American military bases around the world.
Charlene met the love of her life, William S. ``Bud'' Leonard, while attending Lamar College, which is now known as Lamar University. They shared a wonderful marriage for nearly 67 years until Bud's death in 2020. During their marriage, the couple was blessed with two children. Their eldest daughter, Joni Marie, was born on March 14, 1956, in San Diego, California, while Bud was stationed there in the Navy. Joni was born with severe mental and physical disabilities, but that did not prevent her from living a full life at home with her parents for the last 65 years. Their son Will, equally the apple of the couple's eyes, was born in Beaumont two years later in 1958.
With a song always in her heart, Charlene could be heard faithfully sharing her love of music with the church choir at Calder Baptist Church, the Interfaith Choral Society, Beaumont Junior League Follies, and Lullaby of Broadway which supported the music program at Lamar University. She routinely attended her alma mater's functions, cheering on the Cardinals at athletic events, while her husband Bud served as Vice Chancellor for Development. Those attending productions at the Julie Rogers Theatre in Beaumont regularly found Charlene in the Melody Maids' Museum sharing the countless mementos and scrapbooks from their decades of travel that are housed there.
Charlene was strong in her faith and her love for her husband Bud, her son Will and his wife, Michelle, of Beaumont, and her twin granddaughters, Anne Kellam Leonard of Los Angeles, California, and Claire Matthews Leonard of Birmingham, Alabama. Similarly, one cannot say enough about Charlene's devotion and selfless adoration for her special daughter, Joni. She never relented in her resolve to personally care for Joni as long as she could and never complained or regretted one moment of that decision.
Madam Speaker, until he passed away in 2020, Bud and Charlene Leonard were an inseparable pair, a Beaumont institution that defined community service and a zest for life. Charlene genuinely loved and cared for people and valued making new friends to add to the many cherished old friends she was dedicated to her whole life. I am privileged to have known her.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(1), Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(2)
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