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July 3, 2007

Keeping a Legacy Afloat

Though stationed in Iraq, couple sponsors float as it did in years before deployment

Story by: Barbara Gelinas

The Shorthorn staff

The Shorthorn: Kyle Clothier

The university’s float for Arlington’s annual Fourth of July parade sits in the Arlington ISD bus barn. Alumna Jeannie Deakyne and her husband, William, have sponsored the float since 2001 and are currently stationed in Iraq.

Sponsoring the university’s float in Arlington’s Fourth of July parade takes on a different meaning this year for U.S. Army Capts. Jeannie and William Deakyne since they’ve been stationed in Iraq.

“We are so much more aware of the concept of freedom as something that is fought for, not just something that we were blessed enough to be born into,” Jeannie Deakyne said via

e-mail.

The 1998 alumna said the parade has always been a family tradition.

“Growing up, Independence Day was such an important day for us to recognize – the family tradition of picking up doughnuts from Shipley Donuts, watching the parade from the city court house,” she said.

Jeannie rode in parades with student organizations while attending the university, she said. Her brothers marched in the Junior ROTC color guard with Arlington High School.

The Deakynes have sponsored the float for the last six years, said Clyde Watts, Lone Star Parade Floats owner , who has built the float since the Deakynes began sponsoring it.

The Deakynes originally sponsored the float on their wedding day, July 4, 2001. They rode in the float that morning and were married later that afternoon, said Seth Ressl, Student Activities associate director.

In 2002, William and one of his groomsmen were sent to Afghanistan, Jeannie said.

Because the Army kept them so busy, the Deakynes offered to sponsor the float for the university, which handled the details of getting the float ready, Ressl said.

William and Ressl have designed the float the last six years. This year, Ressl designed it but kept the Deakynes updated by e-mail and fax, he said.

Before the Deakynes sponsored the float, it was built by students from Student Activities. Before that, the float was built by EX.C.E.L. Campus Activities, Ressl said.

About sponsoring the float from abroad, Jeannie said, “It has always been important to us to give back to Arlington, Texas, to feel a connection to home, whether we’re there to celebrate or here in Iraq.”

When asked if she had anything she’d like to tell university students and Arlington residents, Jeannie said, “Know that not only are there brave Americans fighting for a free Iraq and a safe America, but that so many of them come from your own backyard.”