This series of small grey granite DAR monuments have been added over several years by the James Greer Chapter, NSDAR, as the fundraising allowed. The project started when the DAR ladies realized that there was no WWI Memorials anywhere in North Texas*, a monumental omission they decided to correct.
This WWI monument was installed in Jan 2019. In Nov 2029, three more memorials were added, honoring WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans. Three more memorials are planned, but as of Nov 2023 have not been placed.
From the Texas Society DAR Newsletter: (
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"McKinney Monument Honors WWI
Historic Preservation, Patriotism
The ladies of three North Texas chapters of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution have the perfect recipe to get things done: a bit of research, a pinch of girl power, a dash of tenacity and a heaping spoonful of passion.
When six women – Brenda Moeller, Pat Pitts Thibodeau, Dorinda Lovell, Linda Dillard, Linda “Chick” Sullivan and Lucretia Hardin – all DAR members who comprise the WWI committee, discovered North Texas had no World War I memorials, they got to work right away to honor all who served in the war. The granite monument, which was installed Friday morning, stands on the Collin County Courthouse grounds next to the stone tablets bearing the Declaration of Independence. It was crafted by Arlington-based Memorial Monuments.
On Saturday, the members gathered alongside Collin County Commissioners to celebrate the memorial’s placement, to be followed in November by a community wide dedication ceremony. The event is planned for 11:11 a.m. Nov. 11, marking Armistice Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.
During the DAR’s Texas Fall Forum in September, Thibodeau started asking around to see if the group could fill the need for a memorial in the area and was told she could get moving.
“I found Brenda and Linda and Linda Sullivan, Lucretia and Mindy Lovell, and I said, ‘Just the people I need,’” she said. “I said, ‘What do you think?’ Well, within 45 days we had the funding. We already had the design, we already had it ordered, we already decided everything we needed.”
The quick funding was made possible by contributions from the Dallas Area Regents Council. Dillard, who serves as regent of the John F. Greer Chapter in Anna, presented the project to the Collin County Commissioners Court in November for approval. The proposal was unanimously approved.
The smooth process has prompted the members to work toward the new goal of a World War II monument in the space next to the WWI marker and eventually memorials to service people from the Vietnam and Korean Wars.
This article was written by Liz McGathey, and originally appeared in the McKinney Courier-Gazette."
In the intervening years, more memorials have been added at Constitution Plaza.
From the McKinney Courier Gazette: (
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"By Liz McGathey
May 20, 2019
Just one day after Americans honored their fallen defenders, the ladies of the John F. Greer Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) gathered Tuesday for the installation of two more war monuments in Constitution Plaza on the grounds of the Collin County Courthouse in north McKinney.
Last January, the chapter celebrated its first granite monument, a tribute to those who served in World War I. The members have been working tirelessly since then to raise funds for the newest additions. This time around, the DAR members honored the servicemen and women from both World War II and the Korean War.
Before the earliest monument installation, the WWI committee – Linda Dillard, Brenda Moeller, Pat Thibodeau, Dorinda Lovell, Linda Sullivan and Lucretia Hardin – had found that there were no existing WWI memorials in North Texas and quickly began their efforts to kick off the project. With the help of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) and former Collin County Judge Keith Self, it took on a life of its own.
In November 2017 the Collin County Commissioners overwhelmingly approved Dillard’s request to set the WWI memorial monument on the courthouse property. Officials on location at the time the WWI Monument was set asked if more monuments would be placed, Dillard said.
“We believe it’s important to recognize all who served,” chapter regent Dillard said. “These monuments will be a lasting memorial to all.”
The monument project has since won several accolades including first place with the Texas State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, first place in the South Central Division of NSDAR and, most recently, third place nationally with the NSDAR for Best Lasting WWI Memorial. The chapter will be recognized later this month at NSDAR’s Continental Congress in Washington D.C.
All three granite monuments were crafted by Arlington-based Memorial Monuments, allowing for consistent style and size for each.
“I’m really proud to have consistent size … because one war doesn’t deserve any more recognition than the other,” Dillard said.
While the members are planning an upcoming dedication ceremony, they’re already looking ahead to the next installation. Dillard said next they’ll honor service people from the Vietnam War and eventually Desert Storm and the War on Terror.
The chapter will hold the formal dedication and commemorative event to honor the 75th Anniversary of D-Day – June 6, 1944 – at 3 p.m. June 9 in Constitution Plaza at the Collin County Courthouse, 2100 Bloomdale Road in McKinney. The public is invited."
*It is important to note that the statement in the articles that North Texas lacked any WWI memorials is not accurate. Many NTX cities and counties have WWI memorials in places of honor. BMB have visited these memorials all over North Texas, but specifically in Garland, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Weatherford, Granbury, Grand Prairie, Plano, and Denton. Each of those monuments predates the installation at the Collin County Courthouse, most erected in the 1920s. Blasterz have no idea how that sentence got into the articles.