A school. A park. A municipal building. Everyday people speak the names of these locations, but never call into question who these spots are named after. Charm is proud to acknowledge three inspirational women who dedicated their extraordinary lives to our city in a series we?re calling Ladies of Longview.
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Doris McQueen stands outside the primary school named in her honor.
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Doris McQueen, 1995
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Miss Doris McQueen loyally served the Longview Independent School District for 46 years before she finally decided to retire in 1992. Along the way she has seen numerous changes and growth in the school system, but she never forgot her top priority — our children's education.
Doris' career began at age 17 when she worked as an office aide in the superintendent's office while attending classes at Longview High School. During her financial tenure with the school district, she wore multiple hats, from bookkeeper to financial secretary to eventually becoming the director of business services.
"I hope I opened the door for a lot of women. I was one of the first women business administrators in Texas," Doris said. "If you've even cracked the (glass) ceiling you've done a lot. Now, almost half of the same positions in Texas are women."
As head of the LISD financial department, Doris served as a financial consultant to the LISD Board of Education, forecasted revenues, provided leadership in investing funds, controlled expenditures, monitored audits from local, state and national levels, complied with financial regulations and worked on the ongoing budget planning.
Her achievements
Doris was also involved in multiple community organizations. She was a charter member of East Texas Credit Union Board of Directors and participated in Zonta Club, Greater Longview United Way, Tall Pines Chapter of American Business Women's Association and Texas Association of School Business Officials.
Her list of achievements is long and impressive. Among them are: "Business Woman of the Year" in 1963 by the American Business Women's Association, "Citizen of the Year" in 1986 by Longview Rotary Club, Zonta's "Woman of Achievement" for 1989, Who's Who Among American Women, Personality of the South, and she was selected a Headliner by Professional Journalists Inc. in 1980.
In her acceptance speech for Zonta's "Woman of Achievement," Doris said her priorities in life were "My God, my family and I think you know what the third is: the Longview school system."
Upon retirement
On retirement Doris admits, "It was emotional handing over the keys to my replacement. However, it was just never a good time to leave. There were always so many things happening, Longview began to grow and new schools were being built. It became very challenging, and I like a good challenge. It became my life, and I gave it my all, but I wanted to do something different after 46 years.
Now retired, she enjoys reflecting on her great accomplishments.
"I enjoyed a good 10 years of volunteer work, mostly with Gregg County Historical Museum, Aging Advisory Committee sponsored by East Texas Council of Government and Board of Directors of Greenwood Cemetery," she said. "Seven years of weekly Bible fellowship study and playing bridge with friends is wonderful. Just being able to wake up and choose my own agenda is nice."
An honor
Doris still participates in Zonta Club as an Honorary Emeritus member, though not as much as she would like these days.
In 1987, for her many years of loyal dedication, Longview's newest school at the time was named after her: Doris McQueen Primary School. Today, hundreds of Longview's youngest enter the halls of Doris McQueen daily, forever honoring the devotion she gave our community.
"Having a school named after you while you're still alive makes me very humble, especially to go and see your name on their little shirts. It puts a lump in my throat," Doris said. "A lot of people have contributed more than me, our classroom teachers being the biggest contributors. My aim was to give them the support they needed to teach. One day one of these kids will be president."
