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Davena Louise Rigel-Liepman was born in Wichita, Kansas, to David J. Rigel and Margaret Louise Weir. She was married to the late James Morres Liepman and has seven step-children, Jimmy (Virginia), Mark (Texas), Johnny (Texas), Barbara (Texas), Mary (Texas), Margaret (Kansas), and the late C.J.


Davena studied at Friends University and earned a Bachelor of Art Education from Wichita State University in 1966 She taught Art Education at Pleasant Valley Junior High School. She is a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in Carlsbad, CA. She was also Vice President and Treasurer of the Southwest Fine Jewelry Show, where she helped establish a scholarship program for the Lone Star GIAAA Alumni.

 

Society Memberships 

  • American Rosie the Riveter Association

  • Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars (Texas Society Historian)

  • Descendants of Colonial Mothers 1607 - July 4, 1776

  • Descendants of Early Postmasters 1607-1900

  • First Families of Ohio

  • Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia

  • National Society Children of the American Revolution

  • National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century 

  • National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century

  • National Society Daughters of the American Colonists

  • National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

  • National Society Daughters of the British Empire in the USA

  • National Society Daughters of the Union 1861-1865

  • National Society Descendants of American Farmers (Co-Founder and National Registrar)

  • National Society Descendants of American Railroad Workers 

  • National Society Descendants of Early Quakers

  • National Society Dames of the Court of Honor

  • National Society of the Descendants of Textile Workers of America, Inc.

  • National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 (Historian General)

  • National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims 

  • National Society Southern Dames of America

  • National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (Wyoming Society State Registrar; Texas Society Chaplain)

  • Order of the First Families of Maryland

  • Order of the Founders of North America 1492-1692

  • Order of the Steel Magnolias

  • Prairie Pioneers

  • Sons and Daughters of Kansas Pioneers

  • Sons and Daughters of Bench and Bar 1565-1861

  • Sons and Daughters of Virginia Founding Fathers

  • Sons and Daughters of World War II Veterans

  • Texas Genealogical College 

  • United Daughters of the Confederacy 

 

Awards

  • Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution Martha Washington Award (x 2)

  • TSSAR Silver Service Medal

  • Lady Liberty Award

  • U.S.D. 1812 Spirit of 1812 Award

  • Yellow Rose of Texas Award

 

Other Notes

Davena has a lifelong passion for history, one grounded in family and lineage. In 2019, she was inducted into the Texas Genealogical College Hall of Fame. She’s an accomplished speaker having presented programs for U.S.D. 1812 State Societies in Wyoming, Arkansas, and Nevada. As Co-Founder and National Registrar of the National Society Descendants of American Farmers, she has processed more than 1,765 membership applications in six years. After relocating to The Woodlands, Texas, she helped found the Woodlands Unity School of Christianity Church (UNITY). Davena Rigel-Liepman and her sister, Janisue, were members of Job’s daughters and then North Star Chapter Wichita, Kansas, Eastern Star. Their parents were both members of Eastern Star. Their father, David, was a member of Blue Lodge and was a 32nd degree mason and active in both Masonry and Shriners. Their mother, Margaret, was the wardrobe-seamstress for Wichita Masonic Consistory lodge for more than 25 years. She meticulously replicated and repaired the robes and made their hats. Her work was acknowledged in The Wichita Eagle newspaper. Both parents traveled to Washington, D.C., where Margaret was honored for her talents at the Washington Masonic Lodge.

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