[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 79 (Thursday, June 6, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REMEMBERING COUNCILWOMAN CHARLYE HEGGINS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2013

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of my friend 
Councilwoman Charlye Heggins. After a long battle with cancer, Mrs. 
Heggins passed away last week at the age of 80. She served in the 
Denton City Council for six years, representing District 1.
   As a child, Mrs. Heggins played piano for church services, learning 
to play in any key and accompanying people after they sang just a few 
bars. She volunteered to play in other churches and also filled in 
sometimes for funeral services. Mrs. Heggins graduated in 1952 from 
Phillips Business College in Dallas, and the next year attended Prairie 
View A&M College. In 1972, after marrying the late Rev. Edell Heggins, 
who became the pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Mrs. Heggins 
moved to Denton. She served alongside her husband singing and playing 
piano for many years in Denton and Oklahoma churches.
   As a member of city council, from 2005 to 2011, Mrs. Heggins served 
on many committees including the Audit Committee, Ethics Committee, 
Property Maintenance Code Committee, and Council Appointee Performance 
Review Committee. Additionally, she served on the Community Justice 
Council and the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau. Although Mrs. 
Heggins usually voted with the rest of the council, she was not afraid 
to stand up for issues that were important to her. She cast the only 
vote against a plan to build a city water tank in a wooded area south 
of Denia Park, as well as one against the controversial natural gas 
well site at Rayzor Ranch. Mrs. Heggins was a key voice in establishing 
Black History Month in Denton and Kwanzaa celebrations. She served as 
Denton County chapter's secretary for the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People as well as the chairwoman of the 
Juneteenth Committee Gospel Extravaganza. Mrs. Heggins was on the Fred 
Moore High School advisory board and on the Greater Denton Arts 
Council. She supported Keep Denton Beautiful and was a member of the 
League of United Latin American Citizens, the BIONIC ministry of Morse 
Street Baptist Church, and the Sickle Cell Advisory group.
   Mrs. Heggins was actively involved in service to the Denton 
community, volunteering for the Rocking Reader program at The Gonzalez 
School for Young Children. She participated in pageants in Denton as 
well, winning Ms. Mature Denton, Ms. Texas Senior, and Ms. 
Congeniality.
   In her last term, Mrs. Heggins helped name various Denton landmarks, 
such as the Southeast Denton park being named for another former 
District 1 council member, the late Carl Gene Young Sr., and the Civic 
Center Park being renamed Quakertown, the black community forced to 
leave the land to create the park. She also advocated tirelessly for 
the naming of the new Loop 288 pedestrian bridge for Martin Luther King 
Jr., which will be formally dedicated on June 14, beginning the city's 
Juneteenth annual celebration.
   A breast cancer survivor, Mrs. Heggins was diagnosed in 2009 with 
renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer. She formed a cancer 
patient support group that still meets at the Martin Luther King Jr. 
Recreation Center on the first Thursday of each month.
   I am proud to honor the life of Councilwoman Charlye Heggins for her 
years of service to the Denton community and her friendship. I would 
like to extend my sincerest condolences to Mrs. Heggins' family and 
friends.

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