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There wasn’t a day we didn’t talk multiple times; most of every weekend was spent together, & we went on some great trips. She could fix anything, Charles Stokley & I often said, if you can’t figure out how to do it, call Donna. She took wonderful care of her mom, loved all her family, & she took good care of me through some illness, surgeries, & a few injuries, and a super #70 birthday celebration! Donna loved playing bridge, bunco & she was so thankful for her wonderful neighbors. Loved her dogs, & her immaculately kept yard.
But I felt the highest & best way to honor her was through God’s Word, & I hope you will see Donna’s attributes, as I do, in these verses I picked out.
Proverbs 31:10, Who can find a virtuous woman. A woman with strength, valiant, strong, and courageous, efficient, and I submit, demonstrates the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22,23… For her worth is far above rubies or precious stones.
V. 13 She willingly works with her hands. Donna was one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever known. Her comment many times during the week to me was..are you going to sell something today? Laziness was not part of her spirit!
V. 16 She considers a field-“I added investment properties”-and buys them, & from the fruit of her profits she plants a vineyard. In the Word of God, the harvest time was a period of hard work and great rejoicing. The enjoyment of the “vineyard” was a blessing of God: When we understand the vineyard and what it symbolizes in God’s Word, we can see it even more in Donna’s life.
V. 17 She girds & clothes herself with strength, and she strengthens her arms. Donna was one of the strongest people I’ve known, and that was in spirit, soul, & mind.
V. 20 She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. Just a few-Mission Arl. Various Church outreach programs, and many other individuals whom Donna helped. Key word-GENEROUS
V. 25 Strength, honor, glory, and dignity are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come. I submit that even though Donna lived and exhibited this here on earth, her fullness of rejoicing came when she was ushered into the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus!
V. 26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, & on her tongue is the law of kindness or, “strength,” “steadfastness,” and “love.”
V. 27 She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. David Stout said about Donna regarding how she was never idle, she’s my hero!
V. 30 Charm is deceitful, & beauty passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
V. 31 Give her the fruit of her hands & let her own works praise her in the gates.
Donna prayed, of course, for her family, but also for her many friends, that you all would come to know Jesus as your Lord and savior & that you would come to have a “personal relationship” with Jesus. I hope that you do!
I was always glad Donna and Cara got to know each other before Cara passed away, but now I know they have eternity to know each other. I miss them so much & I look forward to seeing them both again. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Jody Kautz
12:04 PM on February 24, 2026 Permalink
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Steve, I shared this on our Connect the Dots. I wish there was more I could say or do to help you through this difficult time. I pray for you – for healing, peace and comfort. I have been where you are and I understand the hole this leaves in your heart. Trust God, Steve, he’s got this.
Thank you so much. Been through this with all my family, Cara being the last, but this one has been very hard in many different ways. As you mentioned, you sure have been there and we must fill any and all holes in oour heart with Jesus, the living and abiding Word of God!
Thank you Dan, I’ll take “redundant”. I know it’s using more words than needed but I like what Websters 1828 says-In music, a redundant chord is one which contains a greater number of tones, semitones or lesser intervals, than it does in its natural state, or me playing drums!
Dan Stafford
9:34 AM on February 25, 2026 Permalink
The more tones the better!!
Sharon Carman
11:42 AM on February 26, 2026 Permalink
| Reply
I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. The hole our loved ones leave when they go, never quite heals, but it reminds us of the love we shared. I hope you’re feeling love surround you by friends you hold dear. You will be in my prayers.
In a black-and-white photograph, a young man wears a steel pot helmet with looped string tucked into a band wrapped around the shell. He gazes past the camera with a grin on his face.
The year is 1966. The young man is Cpl. Joe Beaver Jr., United States Marine Corps. He is about 19 or 20 years old and fighting a war in Vietnam.
The photograph was taken by Bob Schieffer, then a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. One of the first Texan journalists to do boots-on-the-ground reporting in Vietnam, Schieffer’s mission was to find, interview and photograph locals fighting in the war.
Marine Corps and Army veteran Joe Beaver Jr. stands for applause at the “Our Man in Viet Nam” exhibition Feb. 7 in the Central Library at University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections. Beaver was one of the soldiers photographed by Bob Schieffer, former Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
That picture, along with other photos, paintings and letters, is on display at University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections in an exhibition of Schieffer’s work titled “Our Man in Viet Nam.”
The exhibit has a special significance to the community and to a journalist who went on to have a storied career that included anchoring a national television news show and moderating presidential debates.
“I covered a lot of stories, but I never felt the way I did — I never got the response that I got — when I would ask kids, ‘Hi. I’m Bob Schieffer from the Star-Telegram, and your mother asked me to find out how you’re doing.’” Schieffer said at an opening dinner Saturday night. “I remember kids, they would absolutely break into sobbing tears.”
Bob Schieffer, former Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter, holds the “Our Man in Viet Nam” exhibition pamphlet Feb. 7 in the Central Library at University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections. Schieffer’s photographs, paintings and artifacts are on display. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
The collection began when Schieffer reached out to university archivist Sarah Pezzoni.
He wanted to know if the UTA library, which holds the Star-Telegram’s entire photo collection, had the negatives of the photographs he took in Vietnam.
The library didn’t, but the two started talking. Schieffer ended up donating letters, notebooks, prints and negatives he’d held on to all those years.
Bob Schieffer, former Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter, right, and his wife, Pat, center, talk to Walter Clerihew’s son James at the “Our Man in Viet Nam” exhibition Feb. 7 in the Central Library at University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections. Schieffer photographed U.S. Air Force Capt. Walter Clerihew in 1937 during the Vietnam War. James said Schieffer and his father made big impressions on each other. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
“From there, Bob proposed an exhibit of his photographs, naturally, and at this point, I was kind of pinching myself on a regular basis,” Pezzoni said. “I could not have been more excited by this idea.”
Schieffer proposed that he paint portraits of a few of the men as a gift to their families. Those paintings are included in the exhibit, hung side by side with the men’s photographs.
In the center of the wall, a painting by Schieffer uses brushstrokes of black, white and shades of gray to form an oil paint facsimile of the photo he took of Beaver.
During the planning of the exhibition, Pezzoni reached out to Beaver’s wife, Dee, and shared some of the photographs, including the one of a grinning young man with string in his helmet.
“Is this you?” Dee asked him.
It was. Beaver had never seen the photograph before.
Paintings line the wall during the “Our Man in Viet Nam” exhibition Feb. 7 in the Central Library at University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections. Bob Schieffer, former Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter, proposed painting portraits of a few of the men as a gift to their families.
Beaver, who was wounded three times in Vietnam, joined his family during Saturday night’s events. He shared a detail from nearly 60 years earlier.
He recalled that the string tucked into his helmet was used to rig booby traps from hand grenades.
“I hadn’t ever noticed it, until tonight,” Beaver said. “It brings back memories.”
For those too young to remember Vietnam or who learned about it through textbooks and films, the exhibit offers a more personal look into history and the people who lived it, said John Wang, dean of UTA Libraries.
Bob Schieffer, former Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter, right, and his wife, Pat, explore his “Our Man in Viet Nam” exhibition Feb. 7 in the Central Library at University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections. Schieffer hopes that visitors to the exhibit will understand the sacrifice made by those portrayed. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
Instead of focusing on politics or a national perspective, it focuses on individuals, he said.
“This is not about dogma,” Wang told attendees. “It is about humanity.”
Schieffer hopes visitors to the exhibit will understand the sacrifice made by those portrayed. Knowing them changed him and made him proud to know them, he said.
His time in Vietnam was also the beginning of a philosophy he would carry with him in how he approached journalism, and one he insisted be reflected in the exhibit.
The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Monday, December 8th @ 7:30 PM The Brazos Chamber Orchestra, along with the Field Street Baptist Choir, will perform Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith and David Hamilton at the Field Street Baptist Church. Sunday, December 14th @ 7:30 PM
The Brazos Chamber Orchestra, along with the Pathway Sanctuary Choir, will perform Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith and David Hamilton at the Center @ Pathway Church in Burleson.
Monday, December 15 @ 7:30 PM The Brazos Chamber Orchestra, along with the Brazos Chorus, will perform Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith and David Hamilton at the Granbury First United Methodist Church.
These BCO Christmas concerts will be filled with songs of worship and praise! Come out and enjoy a Christmas celebration together.
Attached below are posters for all three venues. Please share via email with friends and family. Free Admission. Donations are appreciated.
This story was originally published by the Fort Worth Report. You may read the original version here.
Free parking in downtown Fort Worth garages will be in your rearview mirror next year
by Bob Francis, Fort Worth Report November 18, 2025
If you celebrate into the wee hours of the new year, you might want to check where you parked or 2026 could begin with an expensive surprise.
The last free night and weekend garage parking in downtown Fort Worth disappears as the ball drops on Dec. 31, at least if you don’t have a proper receipt.
The downtown Fort Worth tax district that provided free night and weekend parking at two downtown garages is ending the program.
Some credited free parking at the City Center Garage, 400 Jones St., and the 777 Main parking garage, 601 Commerce St., with revitalizing the area. Many now worry about how ending it will impact businesses.
Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., the partnership that administers the tax district, said the group plans to work with businesses to develop a validation program that helps patrons — particularly those visiting restaurants, venues for the arts and retailers — with parking.
The 2,562 on-street parking spaces will remain free on weekends and after 6 p.m. on weekdays, Taft said.
Reata Restaurant president Mike Micallef worries that the end of the parking program could have a negative impact on downtown. Micallef notes, however, that his business and others at The Tower offer validation in that building’s garage, so it won’t be a big issue for them.
“But I hate to see it for downtown because, for shoppers or visitors, there are other developments that have well-designed parking plans that are free and just easier to navigate,” he said. “They can easily go somewhere else besides downtown.”
The downtown tax district has provided some form of free evening and weekend parking since 1999. Before that, Sundance Square offered a similar program to attract visitors to the then-fledgling 35-block area of downtown.
Those efforts helped downtown become a destination for locals and visitors alike.
“I feel like it was a big part of making this area what it is,” he said. “I hate to see anything that makes it more difficult for people to find us.”
If you go …
To find a parking spot downtown or at other areas of town, check out the aptly named Fort Worth Parking site.
Patrons of restaurants and retailers in Sundance Square can receive free 2.5-hour parking with validation at their garages at 345 W. 3rd St. and 201 W. 6th St.
Owners of the garages leaving the program did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
When Sundance Square left the free weekend and night parking program in June 2024, officials there cited increased demand for parking in their garages by Sundance tenants, employees and guests. Sundance Square went to a validation system for patrons of businesses there.
Officials with Fort Worth’s economic development department, which administers the tax districts, said they had no comment at this time.
According to the city of Fort Worth, the downtown taxing district paid $143,000 for space in the City Center garage and $327,500 for the 777 Main garage in fiscal year 2024. Other funds related to the program were $5,000 for marketing and $40,000 for parking garage insurance.
The tax district funds come from incremental tax dollars paid over a base year’s collections. The district then uses those funds to provide improvements and amenities, such as the free parking, tourism and convention business support, and assistance with public infrastructure projects in the downtown area.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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