“My wife Rosalynn and I have been dedicated and avid readers of Baptists Today since its earliest publication, and have shared this blessing with other members of our church congregation. Not only does this fine publication keep us informed about events that are of interest and concern to all Baptists, but it provides inspirational news and articles of daily benefit to our lives. We are deeply grateful to those who have made Baptists Today available to us, and look forward to many more years of sharing its Good News.” —Letter from President Jimmy Carter, a longtime supporter of Baptists Today
6 | Feature
Editor John Pierce presents the Judson-Rice Award to Virginia Connally as her friend and fellow physician Drayton Sanders looks on.
Tribute to Virginia Connally Note: Baptists Today presented its annual Judson-Rice Award to 100-year-old physician and missions advocate Virginia Connally during the news journal’s 30-year celebration. These excerpts are from the tribute given by Executive Editor John Pierce.
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r. Virginia Connally is a person of deep conviction and great compassion. She was one of only three women in her medical school class at LSU. Then she spent her internship and residency years in New Orleans, where her compassion for the poor and suffering was strengthened by Catholic nuns. In 1940, Dr. Connally moved to Abilene, Texas, where she had graduated from college at Hardin-Simmons, and opened her medical practice specializing in eye, nose, ear and throat. She was the first female physician in that part of Texas. As Virginia once told me, that was not a big deal to her. And the timing was great, because many of the male doctors were being shipped off to war. One of my favorite Virginia Connally lines comes from her response to someone asking her: “Were there people back then who wouldn’t come see you because you were a woman?” Virginia shrugged and responded: “How would I know? I didn’t see them.” She continued that practice for 41 years. In addition, she traveled the world, befriending missionaries and serving one good cause after another. When her husband Ed died in 1975, she assumed the presidency of Connally Oil Co. while continuing as chief of staff at the local hospital. Dr. Connally’s love of God, her church,
missions near and far, and the causes of freedom that mark the Baptist movement are well known. She established a chair and missions center at her alma mater and purchased the home next to hers to serve as a missionary residence. She has been a generous supporter of many good causes that she holds dear. She is an avid reader, a deep thinker, and a kind and caring person who is easy to love — and one who makes others feel loved when around her. On Dec. 4, 1912, a baby girl was born in Temple, Texas, and given the good name Ada Virginia Hawkins. It was the beginning of a remarkable life that we celebrate a century later. Dr. Connally, this award has been given to some of the finest leaders within Baptist life. But none is more deserving than you. So on behalf of the Board of Directors of Baptists Today, the Judson-Rice Society, and all who have gathered to celebrate the 30th birthday of this publication, I present to you this award, which reads: “Paying tribute to influential Baptist leaders Adoniram Judson, Ann Hasseltine Judson and Luther Rice, this annual award is presented to Virginia Connally, M.D., in recognition of providing great influence as a Baptist leader while consistently demonstrating the highest Christian integrity.” Congratulations! BT June 2013