Keep Midland Beautiful director to retire after 18 years

MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) - Doreen Womack is retiring after 18 years at Keep Midland Beautiful.

She joined the nonprofit in 2002 and has helped it grow since. Womack’s efforts to keep Midland beautiful are constant.

“She has the only job, that I have ever known of, that the second the wind blows, everything that she’s done has been blown away and she has to start fresh,” said Dedi Rountree-Hunt, a friend and colleague of nearly 30 years.

But even if litter always reappears, Womack approaches each day with a go-getter attitude.

“That speaks volumes about Doreen Womack,” Rountree-Hunt said.

When she moved to Midland from Montana in 1988, she was startled by the litter issue in the Permian Basin.

“I knew that it was something I wanted to be involved in,” Womack said. “I didn’t know I would actually lead it and work in it.”

Womack says she’s most proud of the nonprofit’s environmental education programming, tree planting and its pivot from landscaping projects to art.

“Doing something that beautified the community that you didn’t have to water was a really good idea,” Womack said. “And I did nothing by myself. I want that to be perfectly clear. It was all done with volunteers and help from staff.”

Rountree-Hunt also credits Womack’s connections with the community.

“She’s really given Keep Midland Beautiful a voice, a louder presence in the community,” Rountree-Hunt said.

Womack’s parting words?

“I want everybody to quit littering,” she said with a laugh.

Womack plans to keep volunteering in Midland in her retirement, which officially begins July 31.

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