Anita Thigpen Perry

Anita Thigpen Perry (born May 5, 1952)^[1] is the current and longest-serving First Lady of Texas, and the wife of Governor Rick Perry. As First Lady of Texas, she has been an active advocate for nursing and other health care issues.^[2] The Anita Thigpen Perry Endowment at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio focuses on nutrition, cardiovascular disease, health education, and early childhood development.^[3] In 2008, the Anita Thigpen Perry School of Nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center was renamed in her honor.^[4]

Early life and education

Perry was born in Haskell, Texas. She is the daughter of family physician Joe Eltidge Thigpen and homemaker Beunis Ratliff Thigpen. She has three siblings: Joseph (an attorney), Peggy, and Emily. She is a graduate of Haskell High School. She spent her first year of college at Texas Tech University, but because Texas Tech did not have a nursing program at the time, she switched to West Texas State University, where she received a Bachelor's degree in nursing in 1974. She then obtained a Master of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.^[5] She has worked in the nursing profession for more than 17 years, working in surgery, pediatrics, intensive care, administration, and teaching^[4] and as a consultant.^[1] Although the Perry tax returns indicate Anita Perry worked as a nurse and took in less than $8,000 a year between 1987 and 1990, upon her husband's election as Agriculture Commissioner, she left nursing.^[6]

First Lady of Texas

She became First Lady of Texas in 2000 when Rick Perry became Governor of Texas following the resignation of President-elect George W. Bush. Rick Perry previously served as Lieutenant Governor.

In October 2000, she and her husband hosted the first Texas Conference for Women which became an annual event. The conference addresses such issues as professional development, health care, and personal growth. Texas Tech University renamed its nursing school in Mrs. Perry's honor in 2008, and two nursing endowments are also set up in her name: The Anita Thigpen Perry Nursing Excellence Scholarship at West Texas A&M University, and The Anita Thigpen Perry Endowment at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Anita Perry's priorites, as listed on the Office of the Governor of Texas website, include the Texas Conference for Women; travel, tourism, and economic development; immunizations (she is actively engaged with The March of Dimes); encouraging Texans to pursue careers in nursing to deal with a nursing shortage; historic preservation, and the reconstruction/remodeling of the Texas Governor's Mansion, which was devastated by arson in 2008.

2012 Presidential election

Her husband announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election on August 13, 2011, in Charleston, South Carolina.^[7]

Anita Perry accompanied her husband on many of his campaign stops. In October, when Governor Perry's poll numbers began to sink, Anita delivered an emotional speech at North Greenville University in South Carolina, in which she suggested that some of the attacks being leveled at her husband were rooted in anger towards his evangelical Christianity. "It’s been a rough month. We have been brutalized and beaten up and chewed up in the press to where I need this today. We are being brutalized by our opponents, and our own party. So much of that is, I think they look at him, because of his faith. He is the only true conservative – well, there are some true conservatives. And they’re there for good reasons. And they may feel like God called them too. But I truly feel like we are here for that purpose." On Good Morning America the next morning, Governor Perry stood by his wife's comments.

On January 19, 2012, with Anita Perry and their son Griffin at his side, Governor Perry announced he would suspend his campaign and return to Texas.^[8]

Personal life

Anita Perry met her husband from the nearby community of Paint Creek, when they were both children at an elementary school piano recital.^[9][10] They married in 1982.^[1] They have a son, Griffin (born 1983, married Meredith Lewis December 19, 2009), and a daughter, Sydney (born 1986).^[11] They are members of the Tarrytown United Methodist Church. In Austin, Perry and her husband belong to nondenominational Lake Hills Church.

See also

See more Wikipedia articles related to this topic.

References

External links

• "Texas First Lady Anita Perry". Office of the Governor. The State of Texas. http://www.governor.state.tx.us/firstlady/. 
• "Anita Perry, First Lady of Texas". Texans for Rick Perry. http://www.rickperry.org/about/anita. 
• "Texas First Lady Anita Perry". Texas Monthly Talks. http://www.klru.org/texasmonthlytalks/archive/perry_anita.php. , video interview at KLRU
• "Texas first lady uninjured after plane catches fire". Associated Press. WFAA-TV. March 26, 2011. http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Texas-first-lady-uninjured-in-incident--118717329.html. Retrieved March 27, 2011. 

Wikipedia topics related to Anita Thigpen Perry v t e Rick Perry Spouse Anita Thigpen Perry Offices Texas House of Representatives, District 64 · Texas Agricultural Commissioner · Lieutenant Governor of Texas · Governor of Texas (tenure) Elections Texas gubernatorial election, 2002 · Texas gubernatorial election, 2006 · Texas gubernatorial election, 2010 · United States presidential election, 2012 (campaign) Books On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts are Worth Fighting For · Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington Issues Trans-Texas Corridor · 2003 Texas redistricting · Texas Emerging Technology Fund · Texas Tax Reform Commission · Van Orden v. Perry · League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry · Texas Virtual Border Watch Related Paint Creek · Boy Scouts of America · Aggie Yell Leaders · Al Gore presidential campaign, 1988 · Man of the House · Republican Governors Association · Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign, 2008 · Tea Party movement · Texas Secession Movement · Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas v t e First Ladies and Gentlemen of Texas Republic of Texas Hannah Estey Burnet (1836–1836) Margaret Lea Houston (1841–1844) Mary Smith Jones (1844–1846) State of Texas Frances Cox Henderson (1846–1847) Martha Evans Gindrat Wood (1847–1849) Laura A. Hooker Henderson (1853–1853) Lucadia Christiana Niles Pease (1853–1857) Margaret Lea Houston (1859–1861) Martha Melissa Evans Clark (1861–1861) Adele Baron Lubbock (1861–1863) Sue Ellen Taylor Murrah (1863–1865) Mary Jane Bowen Hamilton (1865–1866) Ann Rattan Throckmorton (1866–1867) Lucadia Christiana Niles Pease (1867–1869) Anne Elizabeth Britton Davis (1870–1874) Mary Evans Horne Coke (1874–1876) Janie Roberts Hubbard (1876–1879) Francis Wycliffe Edwards Roberts (1879–1883) Anna Maria Penn Ireland (1883–1887) Elizabeth Dorothy Tinsley Ross (1887–1891) Sarah Ann Stinson Hogg (1891–1895) Sallie Harrison Culberson (1895–1899) Orline Walton Sayers (1899–1903) Sarah Beona Meng Lanham (1903–1907) Fannie Irene Bruner Campbell (1907–1911) Alice Murrell Colquitt (1911–1915) Miriam A. Ferguson (1915–1917) Willie Cooper Hobby (1917–1921) Myrtle Mainer Neff (1921–1925) James E. Ferguson (1925–1927) Mildred Paxton Moody (1927–1931) Maud Gage Sterling (1931–1933) James E. Ferguson (1933–1935) Joe Betsy Miller Allred (1935–1939) Merle Estella Butcher O'Daniel (1939–1941) Fay Wright Stevenson (1941–1942) her death Mable Buchanan Jester (1947–1949) Marialice Shary Shivers (1949–1957) Jean Houston Baldwin Daniel (1957–1963) Nellie Connally (1963–1969) Ima Mae Smith Smith (1969–1973) Janey Slaughter Briscoe (1973–1979) Rita Crocker Clements (1979–1983) Linda Gale White (1983–1987) Rita Crocker Clements (1987–1991) Laura Bush (1995–2000) Anita Thigpen Perry (2000–)