Board Member Don Reece and his service to Liberty
Liberty Life is conducting a series of interviews with each current board member so that Liberty families can get to know each member better. We at Liberty want to thank our board members for all of their valuable service they voluntarily give to Liberty.
Board member Don Reece heard about Liberty more than 13 years ago at a Christmas party from a Liberty parent and board member, David Vierling. He remembers Vierling saying, “Your kids need to be at Liberty.” Reece had no interest at all, but his wife, Jena, did. Reece said he fought the idea but agreed to visit the school with Jena. After meeting with Dr. Haire, he was so impressed that his children enrolled at Liberty the following week.
Looking back, Reece said it was the best decision his family ever made. “Liberty has partnered with us in raising our children. We loved our children at home, and they were loved by teachers at Liberty.
“All three of my children have tender, loving hearts, and I know that has to do with them being students at Liberty.”
Reece remembers in that first visit walking around the campus and seeing no locks on the lockers. Coming from a different environment where everything had to padlocked, he couldn’t believe that students were safe to leave their belongings out in the open.
Reece’s daughter, Caitlin, is now a senior at Texas A&M, and Reece said he credits Liberty with his daughter being grounded in her beliefs in college.
“At Liberty, she was taught determination and hard work in academics and athletics,” Reece said. “She saw that it was OK to be a good kid, and she took that outlook to college with her.”
In his early years at Liberty, Reece said that Dr. Haire needed a board member with children in Lower School, and Reece fit the profile.
Reece, along with his brother, Jim, who is also a Liberty parent, own and operate Pierce Pump Company, a business that originated in Dallas in 1897.
On the board, Reece said that the members’ goal is to do what is best for all of the families at Liberty.
“By looking at trends and the future, the board wants to make good sound business decisions and keep Liberty financially healthy,” he said. “As board members, we prayerfully consider the impact on every family before decisions are made. When money is being spent, all of us remember that it is not our money, and we are accountable to every parent, student, and employee of Liberty. We truly seek to be visionaries as we look forward to meet the needs of the future.”
His vision for Liberty is to keep the core values the same while helping the school continue to grow.
“We challenge ourselves to keep striving for improvement,” he said. “We are never too good that we will stop trying to improve.
“We’re in a good place, but we also have to keep moving forward.”
Reece was a part of the move the school made in 2005 from the Denton campus to the current one in Argyle. The Denton campus was sold to the University of North Texas before the board knew where the school would relocate.
“I thank God for Jack and Debra Furst who gave this land in Argyle for Liberty Christian,” Reece said. “They loved this school, and because of their faithfulness, we have this beautiful campus today.
“Liberty had a charm about it at the old campus. When the school moved here in Argyle, there were different dynamics and a different location, but as a board, we hoped we wouldn’t lose the important things of the school that needed to stay the same.”
Thankfully, the loving and supportive environment, and the spiritual maturity seen in Liberty students came to the new campus. Reece said it has always been the Liberty way.
“In this economy we haven’t lost enrollment, which tells me that there are people who are committed through sacrifice to send their children to a private Christian school,” he said.
“Therefore, all of us need to do our part to make sure we provide a quality Christian education that lives up the standards parents expect.”
Reece explained that this standard includes students going to college, being successful, and becoming good parents someday.
Reece wants Liberty to be a school for everyone, where students can do it all and excel in academics, fine arts, and athletics.
“I like that more attention is being given to academics and fine arts,” he said. “Athletics is important, but it is not the most important part of the school.”
Over the years, Reece said he has gained leadership skills by being on the board.
“I’ve learned that I have to ‘get above the clouds’ to be able to lead and direct,” he said. “When I go into a board meeting, I put my own opinions aside and put the school first.”
Reece has two children still at Liberty, sons Alexander, a senior, and Hunter, a junior. Looking back, he said he would have loved to have gone to a school like Liberty, just like his three children.
In thinking about his legacy, Reece said, “I just want to leave this place better than I found it.
“God definitely has His hand on this school. I had no idea when I came here the friendships and bonds I would have with other parents. When I leave here, I will leave with lifelong friends and be so much better off personally than I was when I first showed up.”
And he added a word to current families, “If you get involved, Liberty will change your life if you let it.”
Bregg Smith, senior director of Development, said, “Don Reece has been a strong servant leader for Liberty Christian School for many years. At football games you will always see him selling programs for the Warrior Club, donning a nail apron to keep his coins and bills in, and doling out (mostly) friendly barbs to his favorite targets. He has contributed in so many ways and has always been a person who cares deeply for people and the school.”
Dr. Haire, president and founder, said, “Don Reece is the real deal. In the years I have served with him, I have observed that Don expresses his honest opinion about any issue pertaining to the school. He is not afraid to take a stand that differs from his friends (including me), and his honesty is so very valuable to the school. The families at Liberty have no way of really knowing what a treasure we all have in the heart and mind of Don Reece.”
Liberty thanks Don Reece for his many years of faithful service to Liberty Christian School. When he does leave, he will have assuredly accomplished his goal, to leave Liberty better and stronger than when he found it.