Georganna Moon MacQuigg's Obituary
Georganna Moon MacQuigg peacefully joined the March of Souls on November 29, 2019 after a fulfilling life of public service and an exuberant exploration of this world’s many places and ideas.An authentic “Texas baby boomer” hailing from Longview, TX, on August 20, 1945, she was the daughter of Sergeant George Franklin Moon and Mozelle Gray, but was raised in East Texas and Louisiana by an aunt and uncle, Isa Hazel Gray and James Henry Wright, Jr., following the loss of her mother in an automobile accident After majoring in English and biology at Baylor University, she immediately commenced a 36 year career with the Dallas Independent School District, a career evenly divided between 18 years of building teaching and administration and 18 years of central-level administration. Parallel to her heavy work schedule, she pursued various advanced degrees and certifications. Her Master’s in English from North Texas produced a thesis on William Faulkner. Her Texas Superintendent’s Certification followed in 1982, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from North Texas was completed in 1986. Her doctoral research was later presented at a convention of the National Institute of Education.Having completed her Ph.D. while Principal at Robert T. Hill Jr. High, she then moved “downtown” as Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Following a short stint as interim Assistant Superintendent, she began in 1992 moving through executive level positions in Strategic Planning, the Urban Systemic Initiative, New Schools Planning, Business Services, and, finally, System-Wide Planning for the District. In these 36 years, she served 11 different superintendents and survived even more numerous theories of education and management!Her active personal schedule started with SCUBA diving and sailing; she was the first female skipper at the White Rock Sailing Club. In 1976, she published “The Dallas Woman: A Demographic Profile” which was incorporate into the 1976 Report of the Dallas Commission on the Status of Women. During this era, she also piloted a high-performance Jensen-Healey sports car convertible that featured a screaming two-liter Lotus engine but no air conditioning!Exotic cars then transitioned into exotic travel, ranging from India and Nepal to the Galapagos Islands and Egypt, and from Easter Island and Machu Picchu to Kenya and China. She even tolerated her husband’s interest in Civil War battlefields and U.S. National Parks. Georganna truly felt that education should not be confined to books.Georganna is survived by her husband of 45 years, Robert Abbott MacQuigg, her brother-in-law John Ellison MacQuigg of Albuquerque, NM, and her cousin David Westwood Wright of Shreveport, LA. She is also survived and remembered by both a clan of extended family and a circle of life-long friends. Georganna passed after an extended battle with multiple physical issues, including Type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s, and, finally, combined renal and congestive heart failure. Her family gratefully acknowledges the especially professional contributions of doctors Franklin L. Casey, Sumit Kumar, and Mark S. Denny for sustaining her quality of life over many years.Per her choice, there will be no public ceremony, and her ashes will reside at Restland Memorial Park of Dallas. Georganna would have appreciated your sharing her longtime love of birds and her support of abandoned pet parrots by donations to The Oasis Sanctuary [501(c3)] of Scottsdale, AZ [www.the-oasis.org].
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