Rita Radley recently celebrated her 100th birthday. As an active community leader in El Campo for decades, Radley gave her time and energy to serve the needs of her friends and neighbors.
“I have been blessed with good health and able to still serve for close to 100 years,” she said.
Radley was born and raised in El Campo and attended El Campo High School. After graduation, she attended the University of Texas, where she met her future husband, Robert (Bob) Radley.
The Radleys met and married in 1943, and shortly afterward Bob joined the United States Army Air Forces where he served as a first lieutenant and pilot.
Rita and Bob were blessed with three children (Jessica, Gary and Craig) and now have many wonderful grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
After the war, the Radleys lived in East Texas where Bob was an independent oil operator before moving to El Campo in 1951 where they became rice farmers and ranchers.
During their busy lives, Rita served the community.
To that end, Radley became a dedicated trailblazer for women and was the first woman to serve as president of the El Campo Chamber of Commerce, Citizen of the Year, a deacon in the First Presbyterian Church of El Campo, and Chair of the Lower Colorado River Authority.
She was a founding member of the Beautify El Campo Extension Services or BEES that care for the downtown decorative planters to help beautify the city.
As the Chamber’s first female president, she said, “Thank you for the opportunity to serve (as the first female president), and I sincerely hope that I won’t be the last.”
Close to 15 years ago, Radley founded one of her favorite projects, The El Campo Heritage Center for senior citizens.
She wrote grants and raised funds to turn the abandoned Northside School cafeteria into an inviting place for seniors to socialize and focus on their mental well-being and physical fitness using age-appropriate fitness equipment, exercise classes, and health seminars.
The center continues to thrive thanks to her vision and determination.
With a smile and a twinkle in her eyes, Radley’s advice for a meaningful life, is simply to, “Keep reading, and you will learn something new. And, keep stubbornly focused until you accomplish your dreams.”
