Friday, May 9, 2003 | 5:45 a.m.
Editor's note: Eight women were recently honored as Clark County Mothers of the Year by the Clark County Mother of the Year Awards Committee, a nonprofit group of community-minded people dedicated top honoring the "unsung heroes" -- mothers.
The honorees were nominated by friends, family members and colleagues, who noted their dedication and giving natures.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman presented the awards at the ceremony, which was dedicated to the memory of Fedora Bontempi Simpkin, who launched the annual honor.
Paula Francis emceed the ceremony, and comedian-magician Jeff Hobson provided the entertainment.
Twenty-five companies and individuals sponsored the awards through donations or service.
Volunteer Mother
MARY VAIL
Mary Vail has set a remarkable example in her ability to meld family and professional life and to unite her professional life with her humanitarian endeavors, according to her husband, David, who nominated her. She is quite a multi-tasker, he said.
"Her caring instincts are the key to her success with her children and charity work," David Vail wrote. "Her motherly ways have produced two exemplary children and accomplished wonderful things when extended to society. She is truly a 'mother' to all around her."
His nominating letter illustrated how Vail's career and child-rearing have put her in the background, while she achieves her humanitarian goals and pushes others to do so as well. In this way she achieves a double whammy for the causes she touches.
In her public relations business, Vail never accepts an account without gaining the client's agreement to reach out to the community.
In her relationship with her children, she has won their undying love -- but they also describe her as "cool."
Whenever Vail finds an article that exemplifies human kindness, she quietly sets it on the kitchen counter, and expects the children to read it promptly. "This has helped them to be less naive about people and life," David Vail said.
The children, Sean and Ashley, have become involved in their mom's charity efforts, answering hotlines, running errands and helping with collections. With their mom, they've collected hundreds of suitcases for foster children, thousands of holiday toys for homeless children and tens of thousands of dollars for fighting childhood diseases, in addition to helping raise awareness for all humanitarian missions.
Vail has helped more 35 charitites in the region, including The Shade Tree and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Motivational Mother
KATHY WELCH
This is the story of a woman who came full circle, through great emotional turmoil, to finally find satisfaction in family life, forsaking an enormously successful career, according to Melissa Olivas, the friend who nominated her.
Kathy Welch married young, bore two children, and then found herself alone and uneducated when her young marriage ended in divorce, her friend says.
She made the difficult choice to leave her children in the custody of her ex-husband, while she struggled to get an education while supporting herself. The decision caused an irrevocable break with her children, which she neither predicted nor could prevent.
As time went by, Welch's remarkable academic achievements led to great business success. She had a real knack at her chosen career with Sierra Pacific Resources, and then with Nevada Power Co., and was promoted time and time again over the years.
Unfortunately, Welch's personal life did not go well. Her children were not overjoyed when she took legal action to regain custody, and the next several years were a tug of war. A second marriage did not go well, and both children became estranged, choosing to return to live with their father and his new wife and stepchildren.
It was heartbreaking for Welch to fail to reunite with her children. More time went by, and she earned more success in business, and even more academic achievements. In time her daughter Melissa became pregnant with twins. They were born premature, and suddenly this woman felt a strong compulsion to give up her professional success and devote herself to family again, with a commitment she'd never had the chance to exhibit before.
Welch gave up her high-paying job, her gorgeous home and moved in with her daughter, son-in-law and their two preemies. She now provides full-time child care, so her daughter and son-in-law can spend more time with the kids at the evening. Olivas says, "The pay is low, the hours are long, but she is finally with her family for good."
Humanitarian Mother
JACKIE DOULDER
Jackie Doulder has had a hard time, raising four difficult children, and always putting their needs first, according to the children, who nominated her.
One of her children describes herself as "headstrong and stubborn," but she says her mother has continued to give gentle advice and never said "I told you so," even when this eldest daughter made a wrong decision and things went badly.
Doulder gave her daughter "unwavering support" through thick and thin, and when the daughter married, Doulder gave her one bit of advice: "Choose your battles wisely." The daughter said it took a while to take that advice to heart, but it has made all the difference.
Doulder supported her eldest child as she struggled for 10 years to earn a degree. She has helped her daughter when finance were thin. She even helps her daughter's students when their own basic needs are not being met.
When her own children were grown, Doulder adopted three young girls, only to have to give up two of them when the birth mother proved she was able to take them back. It broke her heart, but she felt it was the right thing for the girls.
Her first marriage was abusive, but she survived, and her second marriage is going strong after 19 years. She supported all of her children through their various activities, and made sure they made every soccer game. Although this woman has a bad back, you'll never hear her complain for herself.
She gets up at 5 a.m. and never goes to bed until 11 p.m. "She is always being a mom," her second daughter said.
Doulder's son writes, "My mother has never given up on me. Love seems to flow from her pores." Now that her own children are having children, she's a loving and devoted grandmother, the children say.
Supportive Mother
DARLA JOHNSON
Darla Johnson was widowed three years ago and is raising two young children on her own, but she refuses to compromise their future because of hardships in the present, according to Lindsey Kangas of Big Brothers Big Sisters, who nominated her.
She is not only a busy middle school teacher, she also conducts aerobics classes, and if that's not exhausting enough, she is attending graduate school to earn a master's degree.
Through it all, this single Mom takes her children to gymnastics and karate classes. She is always striving to improve her own life, as well as her children's, and that provides a wonderful example for her kids, her nominator says.
This woman is an exemplary role model on her own, but to make sure her children have a rounded upbringing, she has enrolled them in Big Brothers Big Sisters, so they can be exposed to other positive relationships. Now Big Brothers Big Sisters considers her a mom of the year.
Education Mother
JAN BIALECKI
Jan Bialecki has extended herself as role model for other parents in our community, as well as being a profound influence on her own daughter and grandchildren, according to Community College of Southern Nevada professor Cheryl Rowe and daughter Robin Follmer, who nominated her.
Bialecki's parenting philosophy is simple, "Treat your children how you would want to be treated -- with love and respect."
Bialecki has one daughter, an 11-year-old granddaughter, and just this spring, was blessed with twin granddaughters.
Her skill and caring have gone beyond her own home. She has been a member of the Early Childhood Education Joint Technical Skills Committee for many years.
She advises the Clark County School District and the Community College of Southern Nevada.
She was the director of the West Charleston Baptist Preschool, and she opened the Lit'l Scholar Academy in Summerlin.
She is part of the Clark County Parenting Project in conjunction with the Juvenile Court system, where she has taught classes on parenting, guidance, discipline, divorce and the typical development of a child.
Despite being retired Bialecki continues to help others become better parents.
Encouraging Mother
TERESA McDONALD
Teresa McDonald has faced near-death and thrived, according to friend Tracey Long, who nominated her. Now she is helping her husband face a similar struggle with health problems, and her strength is helping him through it.
McDonald has been on Life Flight Helicopter rides twice. The first time was for herself. Twelve years ago, as a newlywed, she was badly injured in a crash on a country road. Her family was told she might never come out of a coma and, if she did, she would be unlikely to walk again.
McDonald used all her considerable will to live and recovered fully. Her husband was her rock throughout a long rehabilitation and their marriage grew stronger as she bore and raised five beautiful children.
Then, near-tragedy struck again. A second time McDonald found herself on a Life Flight Helicopter emergency, but as a passenger. Her husband had been in a terrible motorcyle crash, and this time, she would be the one to lend him the strength and courage to go on.
These days, McDonald nurses her husband back to health, which means helping him upstairs to the home's only bathroom.
"She plays the role of nurse, teacher, chauffeur, physical therapist, psychologist, and wife, mother, and friend," Long wrote in her nomination letter. "With her husband a paraplegic, she must sometimes be both mother and father to the five kids, who range from a few months old to 10 years.
"Her courage and love are the backbone of the family," Long writes.
Inspirational Mother
BARI EARL
Bari Earl is accomplished, yet humble, according to her friend Nanette Hilton, who nominated her. Her kindness and mentoring have extended her mothering skills outside her immediate family, to many others in the community. But it is through her family that she will leave her legacy.
Earl, who holds a doctoral degree in chemistry, does not "walk with an air of sophistication or wear a business suit on a regular day," Hilton said. "She usually looks quite ordinary. But ordinary she is not."
Earl's seven daughters range in age from 19 to 30-something. While they strive to finish their advanced degrees and begin careers, Earl finds time in her own busy life to help them. She tends her grandchildren while her daughters attend classes. She makes sure her daughters stay fit, watching sleeping grandchildren so they can exercise.
She combines intellectual ability with a loving devotion. She gives advice when asked, and it is always "respectful and right on target," Hilton said.
Earl served on the PTA for her own daughters and also served as a mentor for other girls after hers grew up. Recently Hilton recruited Earl to help teach teen girls to sew. When one project ran into problems, Earl took it upon herself to get more fabric and help the girl begin again. She worked with the girl long after other teams had gone home. Remarkable as that was, Earl was also suffering a migraine, without mentioning it, through the whole experience.
Earl also helps her husband in his profession as a dentist, and on out- of-state business trips. Their marriage has been a lifelong friendship that began as teenagers.
Hilton describes Earl as "selfless," a mom who has created such a loving home that it's always filled with extended family and friends. Upon entering her home, one immediately feels it's a loving environment, Hilton says. Earl is so "talented at making everyone feel accepted and wanted, that her sons-in-law have chosen Las Vegas as their home," in what Hilton calls a "unique reversal of tradional mother-in-law behavior."
Earl also finds time for serving in her church and providing meals for two bereaved families one recent week. She also takes meals to the sick and disadvantaged, and visits the lonely.
Hilton says Earl is a "quiet model of the immense power women possess in doing good in the world."
Exemplary Mother
KERIN FITZGERALD
Her husband of 43 years describes Kerin Fitzgerald as "the wind beneath my wings." Al and Kerin Fitzgerald have raised five girls and four boys, then took in six foster children. Now the extended family includes 16 grandchildren.
Al Fitzgerald says Kerin provided inspiration and a firm hand to the children growing up. She set a good example and they clearly learned from it. She attends church every week, and remains involved. She also helps her husband through coaching Little League.
She waited until her children were older before she took on her next profession, managing a law firm. She remains active in sports, playing in the Sun City Senior Women's Softball Team. That has helped her be a good example of fitness.
Her community activities include political campaigns, breast cancer awareness and helping AIDS patients by participating in walkathons.
Her friend Jamie Williams calls her "one of the most outstanding women and most admired mother figures I know." She makes her home the center of a big, fun-loving family, Williams wrote in a nominating letter.
Fitzgerald taught her children to love God, family and friends, as well as to respect people of all races, religion, and culture.
A third nominating letter, from District Judge Kathy Hardcastle, called Fitzgerald "a bundle of energy with a smile," who has created a family that is an asset to the community. Hardcastle says she's one of the few mothers she knows whose grown children include her in lunches out with friends.
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