I was born in Sweetwater, Tennessee, October 6, 1942. My family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where I graduated from high school.
My mother became a widow when I was a teenager. She married Edward Bahn when I was a senior in high school. Ed had been a Chiropractic patient since he was five months old. He introduced me to Chiropractic and to Dr. George Gossage. I was taken to Dr. Gossage for problems with my hands as I continued to lose the skin on my five fingers. After a year in college I enrolled in Texas Chiropractic College in San Antonio which moved to Pasadena two days later.
I have debated, discussed, and stood for the principles of Chiropractic locally and internationally. As a young military wife, I had all three of my children by natural birth in military hospitals. I did not practice Chiropractic for several years after finishing Chiropractic College. I married Mel Landavazo, who’s professional career was in the Air Force, so I followed him to Germany and all over the U.S. before he retired and I felt comfortable practicing back in Texas. At that time military personnel could be discharged from the service for seeing a Doctor of Chiropractic.
The enthusiasm for Chiropractic continued to grow in our family, when we returned to Texas and I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Fred Leon, a Chiropractic mentor to many. I was extremely pleased at the progress Texas had made in Chiropractic. I became politically active for Chiropractic locally and served on many committees in TCA. I have held many offices on the District and State level. I have served as State Director and had the opportunity to co-chair two state conventions and chair two other conventions in Corpus Christi. I am active both professionally and civic on many local, state, and national committees. I have worked on several public relations projects with TCA and spoken to groups locally, nationally, and internationally on Chiropractic.
Mel Landavazo and I have three children and three grandchildren. Eddie, our oldest son, is married living in Dallas and is in management with an auto dealership. Dee Dee, our oldest daughter, has a communications firm in Hawaii and is married to a civil engineer. Ronda our youngest daughter lives in South Carolina and is married to a mechanical engineer. We are proud of Mel, after retiring from his second career as a teacher he has been very active with the Auxiliary becoming the first male president and awarded the Chiropractic Auxiliary member of the year.
Having been a pioneer/mentor in every aspect of life in the last half of the 20th century, I will keep breaking new ground by continuing to look for ways to interact in the lives of young people by providing mentorship and education opportunities. I hope to continue to be a force for change, a paragon of excellence for Chiropractic and personal relationships and a model of good stewardship for the many blessing and leadership gifts I have received.
It is the many pioneers/mentors before that I “thank” for the opportunity to be here today. My thanks to the Keeler Plaque Committee for allowing me this honor.
The Keeler Plaque will always be a reminder of the many doctors and my family that made this award possible. I am humbly grateful.
