The Joshua D. Brown Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas concluded its year with a celebratory luncheon at Riverhill Country Club on May 20, honoring scholarship recipients, inducting new members, installing officers and recognizing longtime members.
Two high school seniors were awarded $1,500 scholarships from the chapter.
Albert Vasquez, valedictorian of the Our Lady of the Hills High School Class of 2025, received the Joshua D. Brown Scholarship. He is the son of Albert and Teresalyn Vasquez of Kerrville and plans to attend Texas A&M University to study chemical engineering. Vasquez was active in athletics, Music Club, TAPPS academic competitions, Key Club, student council and the National Honor Society.
Jonathan Flores, a senior at Boerne Champion High School, received the Sarah Jane Goss Brown Scholarship. He is the son of Oscar and Bridget Flores of Fair Oaks Ranch and will attend Baylor University to study music performance and education.
Flores participated in the Champion High School Marching Band, serving as saxophone section leader and later as woodwind captain. He was also a member of the Jazz Band, Concert Band, Saxophone Ensemble, and the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio. He hopes to earn a doctorate and teach music at the collegiate level.
The chapter welcomed 14 new, transfer and associate members whose applications were recently approved by the Registrar General.
New members received certificates, a Texas flag, and a bluebonnet sprig from President Jan Engler and Registrar Judy McVay. The new members are: Amanda Adamkavicius, Joni Blanco, Bridgett Boeye, Starr Bowlin, Caitlyn Johnson, Cammie Morgan, Becky Palmieri, Megan Nicole Schmidt, Ruth Ann Stuhlman, Victoria Wilson, Kay Schmidt, Dana Stumpf, Sheila Pederson and Sheila Posey.
New officers for the 2025–26 term were also installed. Officers include:
• President – Missy Solbrig
• FirstVicePresident–Becky Palmieri
• Second Vice President – Sheila Posey
• Third Vice President – Judy Patrick
• Treasurer – Karen Clogston
• Registrar–SharonAcevedo • Historian – Betsy Drapela
• Chaplain – Janet Hooper
• Recording/Corresponding Secretary – Marcie Thompson
• Custodian – Rita Arket
• Parliamentarian – Nancy Wilson
• Past President – Jan Engler Four members — Sally Gunn, Wanda Halmon, Kathleen Skeen and GayNell Wells — received 25-year senior membership awards.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Yellow Rose of Texas Award to past chapter presidents Judy McVay and GayNell Wells.
The award, presented through the Governor’s Office, is the highest honor given to women in Texas and recognizes exceptional community service and contributions to the state’s history and future.
McVay, a seventh-generation Texan descended from Richard G. Golden, was born and raised in San Angelo. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio while supporting her husband’s 24-year Air Force career and raising three children.
She taught maternal-child health nursing for more than two decades, educating over 2,000 nurses. In retirement, McVay became active in genealogical research and local history. As registrar, she helped double the chapter’s membership and also served as chapter president, vice president, and State Member at Large Registrar.
Wells, a fifth-generation Texan and descendant of Isaac Tinsley Turner—one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred—was a paralegal for more than 35 years. She passed the first certification exam offered by the State Bar of Texas in family law paralegal work.
Wells has been a DRT member for more than 25 years and served continuously on the chapter board since 2002, including six years as president and three terms on the DRT State Board of Management. She is also active in the Military Order of the World Wars, the Kerrville Genealogical Society and the Texas Genealogical Research Committee.
The chapter will resume monthly meetings on the fourth Monday in September. Women interested in tracing their lineage to the Republic of Texas (1836– 1846) can contact Registrar Sharon Acevedo at 214-7733370 or email [email protected].
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