At the reception before the recent 2023 Robert S. Folsom Leadership Award Dinner at the Hilton Anatole, Bishop Edward J. Burns of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas was surrounded by friends and well-wishers when someone asked him about the evening’s honorees, Mary and Richard K. “Rich” Templeton. “They are such a blessing to the community at large, and, philanthropically, so generous in their outreach,” Burns said.
Suddenly the bishop’s friend Jim Keyes appeared and said of Burns, “This man has brought transformational leadership to Dallas.” The bishop smiled and said, “I approve this message!” As his friends roared with laughter, Burns quickly crossed himself and added, “That was prideful, and I shouldn’t have said it.”
Humor like that was a hallmark of the Folsom Award fundraiser, held Friday, April 14, to benefit the Methodist Health System Foundation. Lighthearted joshing marked the reception (Keyes and his old pal Frank Mihalopoulus were spotted yukking it up), the dinner itself (emcee Tom Leppert told the crowd of nearly 700 that, of the married Templetons, “Not many people know that Mary is the real brains of the operation”), and even the event’s patron party, which was held the week before at the Dallas Petroleum Club in the Hunt Consolidated building fronting Woodall Rodgers Freeway, with a perfect view of Klyde Warren Park and Uptown Dallas.
At that patron party on Wednesday, April 5, where the guests had included Nancy Ann and Ray Hunt and Joan and Alan Walne, a champagne cork had popped loudly while Methodist Health System Foundation President Jim Johnston was delivering his welcoming remarks. “All right,” Jim quipped, “the party’s on!” (The only patron partiers not in such a jocular mood, it seemed, were those who’d been expecting valet parking, as the printed invitation had promised; upon their arrival, alas, the building’s entrance was blocked with parking cones and there was no valet service, owing to what was described as “a little confusion” between the party planners and building management.)
As explained at the Anatole dinner nine days later, the Methodist foundation established the Folsom award — named after former Dallas Mayor Robert S. Folsom — to honor individuals with a commitment to community leadership. The Templetons, who were preceded as Folsom honorees by such local luminaries as state Sen. Royce West, Trevor Rees-Jones and First Lady Laura Bush, chose to designate proceeds from the 2023 event to benefit expansion of the Labor and Delivery Unit at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in southern Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood. The modernization will nearly double the number of babies that can be delivered there, from the current 1,900.
The event’s co-chairs — Anne and Bernie DiFiore, Lottye and Bobby Lyle, Carolyn and David Miller, Lydia and Dan Novakov, Mary and Mike Terry, Gail and R. Gerald Turner and Nancy Ann and Ray — knew what they were doing when they picked the Templetons as this year’s recipients. Rich is the chairman of Dallas-based Texas Instruments and recently retired as its longtime CEO, while Mary is a dynamic community volunteer who’s served on boards for groups including the United Way Foundation of Metropolitan Dallas, Ursuline Academy and the Dallas Arboretum.
As guests including Allie Beth Allman, Mike Boone, Linda and Bill Custard, Dale Petroskey, Carol Seay, (Mayor Folsom’s son) Steve Folsom, Monica and Brent Christopher and Alina and Reuben Esquivel filed into the ballroom for the award dinner, they were greeted by an R&B-sounding band playing songs onstage like “Shine On Me.” Turns out, the group — called Prophets and Outlaws — was fronted by lead singer Matt Boggs, who just happens to be Mary and Rich’s son-in-law and the husband of their daughter, Stephanie Boggs.
Once the band stopped, Leppert took the stage and ticked off a list of the Templetons’ many accomplishments. “They truly are a team,” he said.
Following the invocation by Senior Pastor Richie Butler of St. Luke Community Methodist Church, Jim Johnston spoke briefly (“We hope you leave here with a little Methodist in your heart”) before giving way to Methodist Health System CEO Jim Scoggin Jr. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Scoggin thanked the system’s board of directors, adding with a smile, “Believe me, if you have an Aggie CEO, you better have a good leadership team.”
Next Tom came back onstage to promise the group that “this is no rubber chicken tonight,” and he was right, as guests discovered tucking into their delicious meal of spring green salad, braised short rib and oven-roasted halibut, and “trio petit” dessert. Then came more praise — and a few humorous barbs — for the evening’s honorees. As color photos were shown on huge screens, Tom said, “Rich takes his golf seriously. So seriously, he built a course in his backyard.” (Well, a few holes, anyway.) Added Tom: “He’s a deadly putter. … He plays well until the 16th hole, and then the double bogeys start.”
Lydia Novakov took the mic next, calling Mary “quick and direct … a woman of action and a force for good.”
Catholic Cardinal Kevin Farrell said via video that he considered the Templetons to be “co-workers with me” when he was bishop of the Dallas Diocese (from 2007 to 2016), adding about Mary, “She was never afraid to say what she thought — and what we should do!”
Texas Instruments CFO Rafael Lizardi, speaking on behalf of the company’s 30,000 employees, thanked the Templetons for their leadership and philanthropy.
In a slickly produced tribute video, Ray Hunt said Mary and Rich are both “extraordinary leaders,” and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas President/CEO Jennifer Sampson called Rich disciplined, driven, intellectual, and humble.
Accepting their Folsom award at last, Mary spoke first and said, “This must be what it feels like to win an Oscar.” Then she proclaimed: “The winner of the Best Actor in a leading role: Rich!” The TI leader ended the evening talking about how special Dallas is, before adding: “I wouldn’t want to imagine healthcare in South Dallas without Methodist.”
It was a message even Bishop Burns would approve — no qualms necessary.
* Photo credit: Kristina Bowman