Pauline Delaney

Pauline M Delaney
1920-2017
Pauline Mills Edwards Delaney, 96, died Friday, January 27th in Houston Texas. A memorial service will be held at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, 1900 Bering Drive, on Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 2:00 PM.
Pauline, known to many as Polly, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 17, 1920 to Mary Christine (Hanks) and Paul Roger Mills. Her father, an independent oil man, moved the family to Houston, Texas in the early 1930s.
Pauline had a lifelong love of poetry, journalism, politics, travel, fishing and, later in life, birdwatching. Her favorite works were her poetry and interviews with Ima Hogg and Ladybird Johnson.
Pauline attended Sidney Lanier Junior High where an essay she wrote for San Jacinto Day won a gold medal from the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1936. When Lamar High School opened, she became the first editor of the school paper, the Lamar Lancer.
Pauline graduated from Oklahoma A&M college (now OSU) in 1942 where she studied journalism. While in Stillwater she did free-lance work for The Daily Oklahoman of Oklahoma City, and was a feature editor of the college newspaper, the Daily O'Collegian.
On graduation day, she married William McBrittain (Mac) Edwards and they moved to Peoria, Illinois where she did a short stint as a reporter for the Peoria Star.
When WWII ended, they moved to Houston where Pauline worked as a reporter for the Houston Press and other local publications, including as editor of the First Unitarian Church newsletter.
In 1958 Mac fulfilled a lifelong dream by purchasing Cherry Springs Ranch in Spicewood Texas from Bertha and J Frank Dobie. They were not immediately able to take up residence there, as Mac's work with CAMCO Inc. took them to Belfast, Northern Ireland for six years first.
While in Spicewood, Pauline worked as a feature reporter for the The Highlander of Marble Falls. In the early 1970s she became involved with organizing against the ill-fated Project Sanguine. In 1977 she was invited to become the Bill Clerk for the Texas State Senate.
In 1980 Pauline enrolled in the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. After earning her Master's Degree, she married Andrew Delaney and returned to Houston. Over the past 30 years she published various poems and feature articles in the Houston Post, Houston Chronicle and the Texas Poetry Calendar among others. She traveled extensively and enjoyed participation in the Houston Writers Workshop. She also authored a family history titled Wearing Genes.
Pauline is survived by her daughter Beverly E Hanson (Bob) of Houston, son William M Edwards (Ann), stepdaughter Janet Delaney (Jack Morrison) both of Austin, five grandchildren and five great grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters Betty Rose of Asheville, NC and Ruth Hemphill of Kingsland.