By Marcial Guajardo

Managing Editor

Longtime Pflugerville civic leader Nadine Whiteley, who helped with the initial growth and establishment of the city library, died Aug. 28 at her home.

Whiteley passed away after a long battle with lung cancer, relatives said.

A Pflugerville resident for more than 40 years, she was remembered for her work with the library and with 4-H.

“She would study an issue and she was outspoken,” said Pflugerville ISD Board Trustee Vernagene Mott. “She was, I guess, a playmaker. She was certainly not afraid of anything. If she saw something needed to be done, she would go ahead and do it.”

Whiteley grew up in rural Green Mountain, N.C. but she met her husband, James, when both were working in Washington D.C. They moved to Austin in 1968 and to Pflugerville 10 years later.

Whiteley became a driving force in the expansion of the Pflugerville Community Library, as it initially occupied rooms inside a building to construction of its current facility. She was among those who raised funds for the purchase of the land the library currently sits on.

She and another person organized garage sales as fundraisers for the land. According to the Friends of the Pflugerville Community Library, Whiteley reportedly borrowed a truck and collected donated items from local companies for the garage sales.

The Friends of the Library Thrift Shop was established shortly afterward, with Whiteley operating the thrift store from 1988 to 1996. Money raised through the thrift store went toward purchasing the land for the library and toward funding ongoing operations.

She also led local 4-H efforts, including fundraising for Travis County 4-H scholarships. Long ago, local farmers would often do double-takes when seeing Whiteley doing farm work, as she was one of the few area women operating a tractor, Mott said.

Some of the work was done when her daughters, Shana and Nishi, were involved in 4-H.

“She taught her children about generosity, honesty, self-sufficiency and personal responsibility,” family members wrote in a tribute to Whiteley. “Her love for them was evident in the active role she played in their lives and the pride she showed when she spoke of them.”

Whiteley was an avid gardener and loved to travel.

She is survived by her husband of 43 years, James Whiteley; her daughters, Nishi and Shana; grandson Wesley; sister Cathleen Cox; brothers Bill and Bob Whitson; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings Louise Ressler and O.C. Whitson.

A memorial service for Whiteley will take place Sept. 4 at 10 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Pflugerville.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Travis County 4-H Scholarship Fund, c/o Violet Alexander (treasurer), 7411 Albert Road, Austin, TX, 78745. A college scholarship will be given to a local 4-H student in her honor in 2011, family members said.