Thelma Clardy

Golden Honoree Thelma Clardy was initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, Alpha Psi Chapter at Tennessee State University where the immediate past International President, Glenda Baskin Glover was her chapter president. She joined 40 others who were called the “Foxy 41” in November 1973. While in college, Thelma served as an officer in the chapter. In pledging Alpha Psi, Thelma was following in the footsteps of her mother, Maurine Lee Sanders, who had also pledged Alpha Psi.

After graduating from Tennessee State University cum laude with a bachelor’s in Political Science, Ms. Clardy went on to enroll in law school at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University (which she affectionately refers to as the “other TSU”). Upon graduating from law school, Ms. Clardy began her legal career in the Dallas area serving with the federal government, a legal services organization, and two law firms. She subsequently opened her own law firm which she has operated for the past twenty-eight years with an emphasis on family and probate law.

Ms. Clardy also activated with another chapter in Dallas where she put her legal skills to work, helping that chapter with its efforts to locate housing for the chapter. She has been instrumental throughout the years organizing her chapter line’s reunions every five years and looks forward to the “Foxy 41” 50-year reunion in Fall 2023.

Over the years, Ms. Clardy has been actively involved in the legal, political and civic communities. Most notably, she co-founded the Dallas Association of Black Women Attorneys (now a part of the J.L. Turner Legal Association), served as the first African-American woman on the Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors, and was one of two African-American women on the State Bar of Texas’ Board of Directors. She served as the first African-American female member of the DeSoto City Council where she served as Mayor Pro Tem her last year of service.

Ms. Clardy was married to the late James Clardy, a former coach with the Dallas Independent School District, who served as the head basketball coach for Carter High School before his retirement. She has one daughter, Michelle Clardy, and two granddaughters, Marchelle and Destiny. She is a member of Friendship West Baptist Church under Senior Pastor Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III, where she serves as a member of the Social Action Committee.