Family Gave Me My Faith and Foundation

FAMILY LEGACY MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY

I was very, very lucky in my family history.  Two parents who loved and encouraged me, and a brother who I always got along with, grandparents on my mother’s side (my dad’s folks died before I was old enough to really know them), aunts, uncles, and cousins.  All brilliant in their own rights and ways. 

My father, Pete Lawless, was one of eight children from Birmingham, AL.  After military service, he found himself in Texas going to college to obtain a Bachelor of Science in World History and Masters in Education.   A High School Coach (Varsity Baseball and JV Football) and Teacher (World History) for over 33 years, “Bulldog” as he was affectionately called by his players, is the only Dallas Public Schools High School Baseball Coach to win a State Championship (1965).  We currently host an annual Coach Pete “Bulldog” Lawless Golf Classic in his honor to raise funds for our ICREA, Inc. 501(c)(3) education non-profit. Even though you retired in 1984 and went to heaven in 2001, I still can’t go anywhere without someone saying “Lawless, are you related to Coach Lawless?”  Dad, you touched so many kids’ lives and they were better for it as was I. 

So I get my love of learning, education, teaching, and history from my dad although I am more interested in Texas and American history — the Wild West Diversity kind that is.  

My mother, Shirley Gustus Lawless lived all over the south and midwest on the train cars, in tents, and occasionally a small frame house during her young years. It taught her to never meet a stranger which she said helped her later in life. My grandfather was a bridge builder (and inventor) and ran a crew of men who built bridges for Union Pacific; my grandmother basically fed and mothered that crew of 25-30 young men during their 40 years with the railroad before retiring to be closer to us.  When my mother reached her tweens she moved to Fort Gibson, OK to live with my great-grandmother to finish high school where she became self-sufficient. My mother began her career as a bank teller in Muskogee, OK and when a friend got a job in Dallas, TX she packed her few things, got on the bus, and came with her friend to create a new life for herself.  They lived at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) who in the early years accepted borders.  She quickly got a job at a local bank and a great lover of telling and hearing stories would spend her afternoons after work at the Majestic Movie Theater in downtown Dallas to see the latest Hollywood movies.  She moved up to secretarial work with the sales office of International Paper Company and met my father through friends who socialized together at a local piano bar. Once my brother and I were born and went to school she went back to work as a secretary but that only lasted a few years before she was called to do something else.  When everyone told her she should open her store in a more prosperous part of town my mother kindly accepted their advice and did what God had put on her heart, a Christian Bookstore in her community in Southeast Dallas, that had 50 Churches or more but no bookstore (you had to drive downtown).  Mom you touched as many lives in your 37-year ministry as Dad did in his.

You probably can guess that my ability to take risks many others will not take comes from my mother.  I started my Creative Services Business in 1988 when it was called small business owners and there were few women and minorities participating.  I could not even get a line of credit for the first five years because the banks did not loan money to women.  In the sixth year, an African American Small Business Banker took a chance on me.  Years later, the word entrepreneur came into my Lexicon, and now is a word that everyone knows whether they are a part of the industry or not.  Although I never wanted to be in the retail bookstore business the hours were too long (ha!) it seems I did in the end find myself back in the book biz.  I am sure my mother is smiling as I did not get into publishing books full-time until she had gone to be with her Lord Jesus Christ.

So to all my family thank you, but a special thanks and heart full of love to dad for my love of learning and teaching; and mom for my Christian faith, love of books, and business ownership. You always encouraged me to follow my heart and I am grateful.  I hope I can carry on your legacy of sharing Jesus, encouragement, love, and touching lives.

Thank you for letting me share my heritage with you.