Environmental leader, teacher, mentor, artist, and political activist, Harriet Varnum Irby, to be remembered Saturday, March 17th in Fort Worth.
Longtime resident of Pantego and “agitator for a better society,” Harriet Varnum Irby died on February 23, 2018, in Georgetown, Texas, after a long illness. A memorial service celebrating her life and contributions will be held this Saturday, March 17th, at 1 p.m. at the Jefferson Unitarian Universalist Church, 1959 Sandy Lane, Fort Worth, TX 76112. A reception will follow at the church at 2:45 p.m. A memorial in Harriet’s honor, the Harriet Varnum Irby Fund, has been established with the Town of Pantego. Donations can be made by credit card by calling the town secretary at 817-617-3700, or by check made out to the Town of Pantego and designated to the Harriet Varnum Irby Fund mailed to 1614 S. Bowen Road, Pantego, TX 76013.
The family requests donations to the fund in lieu of flowers.
Harriet Varnum Irby was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on December 2, 1942, the fourth of five children of Edward Clark Varnum, college professor, engineer, and mathematician, and Kathleen Eloda Wilkinson, a classical pianist. She earned her bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate from Northern Illinois University and her master’s degree in political science and urban affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, and she researched water policy at the Urban Institute. She was especially interested in sustainable development and comparative political systems.
While teaching school in Illinois, Harriet married her first husband, Harinder Singh of Patiala, India, a Fulbright Scholar geophysics doctoral student she met at a Midwest Model United Nations Conference in St. Louis in 1964. Harinder and Harriet had two daughters: Sheila DeLeon Hyde of Round Rock, Texas, and Sheryl Singh, who preceded her mother in death. Harinder and Harriet’s second husband, Terry Irby, also preceded her in death.
A peace activist in the 1960s and a CODE PINK member in the George W. Bush years who often joined demonstrations outside the “summer White House” in Crawford, Harriet was a staunch feminist and an advocate for women’s right to choose and for Planned Parenthood. She fought for transparency in government, high quality public education, fair elections, and humanity to animals. Her love of the Arts, classical music, the Beatles, and the Ballet was also forever instilled in both of her daughters.
Harriet was tirelessly active in party politics. Elected Democratic Precinct Chair in Pantego in the 1970s, she won subsequent elections for over 40 years. Harriet also was a campaign staffer for Congressman Martin Frost and served as Democratic Committee Woman for Senate District Ten on the State Democratic Steering Committee. She was instrumental in enlarging the voter base of the local Democratic party by reaching out to non-voting communities and incorporating them into the party. In 2016 she was selected to be a Presidential Elector for Hillary Clinton from Texas to the Electoral College.
Parks and green spaces were dear to Harriet. She ran for Pantego Town Council twice. The first time she used her race to push to get a park in Pantego. She lost the election, but was instrumental in the town’s building Bicentennial Park and later named to the Park Board. The second time she ran, she used her campaign to fight to get the town’s municipal well water tested by a certified lab. Harriet lost the election, but the town’s water was eventually tested.
In 2007 Harriet joined the DFW Regional Concerned Citizens, a think tank and citizen’s watchdog group that monitored public policy in the counties of the North Central Texas Council of Governments Region. DFWRCC used the knowledge they gained and shared to formulate messaging and citizens’ action alerts before public hearings on public-private partnership toll roads, NCTCOG and TXDOT Transportation Plans, and EPA and TCEQ public hearings. Harriet frequently testified at these hearings and in Austin before legislative committee hearings. She was well known in Austin by both legislators and staff over many years.
Environmental policy was a special interest of Harriet’s. As a child, she had suffered from polio and rheumatic fever, but until a natural gas compression station was built a few blocks south of her home, she did not have to use additional oxygen or make trips to the ER because of breathing difficulties. Within a short time after construction of that facility and the permitting of natural gas pad sites nearby, she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and was forced to use oxygen 24/7. Several Democratic and environmental leaders attribute their expertise to Harriet’s mentoring.
Harriet is survived by her daughter Sheila DeLeon Hyde and son-in-law David Hyde of Round Rock, Texas; brother David Varnum of San Francisco, CA; sister Phyllis Carlson of Tempe, AZ; aunt Marilyn Walker of Arlington, Texas; grandsons Brandon, Nolan and Preston DeLeon of Round Rock, Texas; and several nieces and nephews, great-grandchildren and step grandchildren. The woman who loved life and taught her children the importance of community service and education is now in heaven and dancing with her husband and youngest daughter. She will be missed as a mother, friend, grandmother, and forever be in our hearts.