[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1326-E1327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE LIFE OF CHARLENE LEONARD

                                 ______
                                 

                            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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