I would love for the First Methodist Mansfield family to join me in submitting the name of Charlene Brandt McKinzey for the naming of the new literacy center in the MISD.
Some may not have known Charlene personally, but if you have been blessed by our church family, I can attest to you that the impact of her life and faith has already touched your own.
To submit Charlene’s name, please visit this page on the Mansfield ISD website.
I’ve added here the brief summary I am submitting as a word of support for honoring Charlene Brandt McKinzey in this way.
Charlene McKinzey was a woman who had a heart at least twice as large as the rest of us. It was a heart that beat for educating the youth of our community, for inspiring them to pursue their dreams, and making our world a better place one life at a time.
Charlene had a deep and sincere belief in people. So many who were privileged to be blessed by Charlene’s presence in their life found themselves doing things they never thought was possible because of her contagious sense of optimism and possibility. If Charlene believed it something could happen, it suddenly became easier for you to believe it would happen as well. She dedicated her life to the conviction that education could be the catalyst for the realization of those dreams.
Our church family, the Wester community and the city of Mansfield lost a giant when Charlene’s life was cut short by pancreatic cancer. I will never forget what Charlene shared with several of her pastors when we came to pray for her when the full extent of her illness was made known. She said, “I don’t expect to be healed of this disease but I do want you to pray for that I would continue to be a witness of faith and strength for as many days as I have left.”
I can think of no educator more well deserving of having one of our MISD facilities named in her honor and memory. Charlene’s heart, her character and her dedication to serve others were second to none. Her life’s example is one we should hope and pray that all the students in our school district would follow as a result of the high quality education we offer in the Mansfield Independent School District.
I thought I recognized that wall. That is a copy of Charlene’s prayer that hung on Spencer’s wall for several years! She was and will always be an inspiration to us all! I will definitely submit her name. Thanks for sharing!