wfn.org | Texas retiree's whirlwind lifestyle prepared her for manic pace of

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Note #6092 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Assembly
30-June-2000
GA00142

	Texas retiree's whirlwind lifestyle prepared her for manic pace of Assembly

	by John Filiatreau

LONG BEACH, June 30 - Seventy-year-old Peggy Walicek of Smithville, Texas, a
rural town of 4,000 people,  is like many other retired Presbyterians,
working harder than ever.

	Is she ever.

	She's secretary-treasurer of the Bluebonnet Trails Community Mental
Health-Mental Retardation Center, secretary-treasurer for the Lost Pines
Groundwater Conservation District, member of the Hospital Auxiliary, a
member of the Smithville Airport Advisory Board, chairman of the Bastrop
County Census 2000 Complete Count Committee, a member of the Smithville
Flying Club (although she sold her plane when she retired), a member of the
Smithville Radio-Controlled Aircraft Club, a member of the board of the
Smithville Independent School District, an elder and treasurer of the First
Presbyterian Church (in the past she also served as clerk of session for 18
years, Sunday school teacher, Sunday school superintendent,
camps-and-conferences committee member, and, with her late husband, Erwin, a
high school teacher and principal to whom she was married for more than 45
years, Youth Group sponsor), and finally, this year, commissioner to the
General Assembly.

	And of course she's always been very active in Scouts. (In May she was
honored by the 18-county Central Texas Girl Scouts of America as one of
eight women to receive its Women of Distinction Award.)

	Meanwhile, she also had a career. She was a clerk for two district courts
and one county court for about 20 years before her retirement in 1993. Just
a few months later, when her husband died of cancer, she found that she had
time on her hands, so she ran for Bastrop County Judge, an administrative,
rather than judicial, position, and won handily, with 76 percent of the
vote. She was 64 years old.

	"It was my job to meet with citizens all the time. They mostly complained
about their county commissioners and about their roads," she says. "In
addition to my daily duties, I represented the county on a lot of boards and
committees. I loved it. But I just did it for the four years. It was very
stressful, and I felt that, for my own good and the good of my health, I
ought to get out . ... And I do miss it."

	She seems to have had a ball at this year's Assembly.

	"Everybody had told me how busy I'd be, told me to bring comfortable
clothes and comfortable shoes," she says, "but I had no idea I'd be as busy
as I have been, or that we'd cover so much material.  I've just read and
learned so much! And the worship on Sunday was just awesome!"

	Walicek was appointed to the Mission Coordination and Budget committee,
where she says she felt "right at home" because of her experience as
treasurer of a zillion organizations.

	"This was my first time (at the Assembly), and yes, I do want to come
back," she says. "If the presbytery doesn't send me, I'll go as an observer.
I'd like to invite some of my grandchildren next year, if I can."

	Walicek describes herself as "pro-life, except in those occasions that
warrant it, like rape or to save the mother's or baby's life. She thinks
homosexuals ought to be welcomed into the church because "Christ loves us no
matter what," although "Biblically, I don't agree with it." She concedes
that she  is "not that much of a scholar."

	She has five children, 17 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, and
says she devotes much of her "spare" time enjoying "any activities"
involving the young people in the family, which she says includes "sports,
music, walking, flying, swimming, gardening, reading, dominoes, the
symphony, and going to NASCAR races."

	Walicek, who was raised as an American Synod Lutheran, joined the PC(USA)
in 1961, after she and her husband were refused communion in Smithville's
Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. "We just really resented that," she says,
"and we felt that the Presbyterian church was a lot warmer. The Presbyterian
Church is very warm."

	First Presbyterian in Smithville, she says, is her "extended family. The
people are all so warm and friendly," she says. "If you have a problem, you
can go to any member in that church, and they'll help you if they can.
They're just like God, they're all-caring. If you're sick, they're there. If
there's a joy in your family, they're there, too."

	Walicek says First Presbyterian Church of Smithville has a membership of
"under 100," and a stated-supply pastor, the Rev. Dave Gallagher.

	"We're attempting to build it up, and to build our moneys up, so we can
have a full-time pastor," she says. "We'd like to have a pastor who would
live in Smithville and be visible in the community."

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