David S. Irvin’s Positively Parker County
The Moorman Family
48
Thomas Moorman and his wife Melissa and their children Emma and Bennett have lived in Weatherford for 15 years,
but Melissa’s roots go much deeper in Parker County. Her maternal great-grandfather came to Aledo just after 1800
to start a threshing business in the small agricultural town.
Thomas Bennett was a success in that business and several more, passing along his entrepreneurial spirit to his
children, grandchildren and beyond. Melissa’s mother, Helen Bennett Dill, was the first baby born almost 80 years
ago in Parker County o n Jan. 5, the fact that it took five days for the fifth child to be born, shows how small our coun-
ty was at that time.
She and Melissa’s father Durwin owned Yesterday’s restaurant in Weatherford for more than a decade, and
members of her mother’s family continue to run Bennett’s Office Supply stores in several North Texas cities.
Melissa and Thomas met at Texas A&M where she earned a BBA in Marketing and he received his undergraduate
degree in psychology and a Masters in Educational Psychology. He went on to get his Doctorate in Higher Education
Administration, which he has used in his job as the Vice President of Student Affairs at UNT Health Science Center
in Fort Worth for the past 23 years. The family enjoys traveling and they’ve been to many places in the United States
and Europe.
Melissa and Thomas have lived in a series of older homes, including the one they are photographed in on Lee
Avenue in Weatherford. With their daughter Emma attending Texas A&M University as a visualization major this year,
they decided to downsize and try something new, so they are building a home in Walsh just east of Aledo. Melissa
is a former president of the Fort Worth Junior Woman’s Club, Parker County Heritage Society, a board member
of The Woman’s Club of Fort Worth, Rotary Club of Weatherford and a member of the first Weatherford Historic
Preservation Commission and Zonta Club.
Thomas is the former president of the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel
Administrators, a former board member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Region III,
member of the WISD Health Advisory Board, former chair of the Weatherford Parks and Recreation Board and a
member of the Weatherford Strategic Advisory Board.
About Irvin
David S. Irvin, The Portrait Photographers,
is a nationally recognized photographer.
Irvin has photographed six presidents and
a variety of celebrities, including Garth
Brooks and Nolan Ryan. He has also been
recognized by Kodak as one of the top 25
photographers in
the United States.
Irvin photographs
notable families
in the Fort Worth
area who have ties
to area businesses.
To see additional
photos by David S.
Irvin, visit
www.dsirvin.com