VALERIA ELIZABETH BENBOW SPEARMAN of Katy, Texas passed on December 29, 2009. She was born in DeLand, Florida on June 30, 1929, to Morris and Dinah Benbow. She was married to Leonard H.O. Spearman, Sr., U.S. Ambassador and former President of Texas Southern University. She was preceded in death by her brother Warren L. Benbow, and her parents. She is survived by her three children, daughter Lynn V. Dickerson (husband William Dickerson) of Baton Rouge, LA; son Leonard H.O. Spearman Jr. (wife Gloria A. Spearman) of Katy, TX; and son Charles M. Spearman (wife Nancy Burnett Spearman) of Alexandria, VA; seven grandchildren, Crystal Spearman, Christin Hamilton, Katherine Spearman, Leonard Spearman III, Alexandra Burnett-Greenstein, DeAndre Dickerson and William Dickerson; three sisters-in-law Carlesta Spearman of Virginia Beach, VA, Agenoria Paschal of Miami, FL and Olivia Parker and (husband Harrison Parker) of Washington, DC and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.Valeria was married to Leonard Spearman for 57 years. Together they traveled across the US and around the world working as a team to answer the call from state leaders and US Presidents to lead communities both local and international, working toward education and economic development. As a team, they raised a family, served as President and First Lady of Texas Southern University (TSU) and served the US through diplomacy in Rwanda and Lesotho. There were other notable appointments and many more humble ones. At each stage of their lives together, they demonstrated to their children and many admirers the value of exploring and exalting human dignity and potential through knowledge development and enormous generosity of spirit. Valeria attended Florida A & M College (now University) in Tallahassee, where she was a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 1948. While attending FAMU, she met Leonard, graduated in 1950 and married him that same year. During a 10-year passage of her life, while living in Washington, DC in the 1970s, she became very active in local and national politics, working diligently as a volunteer in several campaigns. During that time she also discovered a love and passion for the game of tennis. She shared that discovery with young people by persuading the mayor's office to build and repair tennis courts in Southwest Washington, DC for after- school team tennis and community recreation. When serving as First Lady at TSU, she applied the same energy by supporting the newly formed TSU tennis team among many other pursuits that won her acclaim from faculty, students and staff as a leader and inspiration, forming a lasting reputation that remains among the TSU community to this day. Later in her life, while in Rwanda, she organized tennis play between members of the opposing Hutu and Tutsi tribes, an accomplishment of which she was very proud. Applying the values instilled in her by her mother, a school teacher and graduate of Bethune Cookman College (1943) and father a business man and WWI Veteran, Valeria never forgot to reach out and help those less fortunate. She was a charter member of the Port City Chapter of The Links, Inc. The Greater Union First Baptist Church (DeLand) played an active and integral part of her beginnings. She was a member of the Calvary Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.The Spearman family wishes to thank the physicians and nursing staff at both Christus St. Catherine Hospital of Katy and Triumph Long Term Care Hospital of Houston, who cared so conscientiously for her during her illness, along with the care and attention provided by several doctors and nurses along with the services provided by the Wound Care Center, Alpha Home Health Services and Hearts at Home. The family also thanks caregivers Lydia Nunez Gotay, Gwyndolyn Seldon, Basilio Castilo and Ramona Bowden, and neighbors David and Monica Edwards for their continuing care and devotion since their parents moved to Katy. Service will be held on Friday, January 8, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. in the Rose Chapel of Marbrie Memorial Mortuary. Visitation will begin at 10:00 AM prior to service. The burial will take place in Washington, DC on Monday, January 11, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. at the Rock Creek Cemetery, Rock Creek Road and Webster Street NW. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Valeria's name may be made to TSU Athletic Fund (www.tsu.edu/giving), CurePSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) Foundation (www.psp.org), St.Jude (www.StJude.org) and Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) of Northern Virginia (www.scanva.org/). Hysong's Funeral Home, 2222 Wisconsin N. W. Avenue, Washington D.C. 20007
Published in Houston Chronicle on January 6, 2010