Margaret Formby, 73; Pushed for National Cowgirl Hall of Fame

Margaret Formby, 73, a longtime civic leader in Texas and the impetus behind the creation of the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, died April 10 of head injuries sustained in a fall in her home in Hereford, Texas.

Formby spent nearly two decades developing the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, which she established in 1975 in Hereford, where it remained until directors decided in 1994 to move it to Fort Worth for greater prominence.

She was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1994. Three years later, she received the Citation of Merit from the Texas Historical Foundation in recognition of her efforts in establishing and developing the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

Formby was one of two women in the state named to a special commission to investigate child pornography and served on a committee researching teen pregnancy.

Born in Van Horn, Texas, she graduated from Texas Tech University and taught high school in Texas. She was inducted into the Texas Tech Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1993, the first woman to receive the honor.