Terri Flow was working in Washington, D.C., five years ago when she relocated to Fort Worth to be close to family again. Having spent years volunteering for causes supporting the military, she checked into that possibility when she moved back to North Texas.
Her contacts presented 14 choices, Flow said. She picked the USS Fort Worth Support Committee, a nonprofit promoting achievements and recognizing crew members of the city’s eponymous ship, commissioned in 2012.
Supporting her hometown was important, Flow said. And she’d also been drawn to the beauty of San Diego, the USS Fort Worth’s home port.
Flow made quick work of helping the support committee, taking crew members to dinner and showing them around the city during their Fort Worth visits. Flow gave “time, treasure and talent” to the cause, said JR Labbe, the support committee’s president. More recently, Flow has stepped up to help lead the Fort Worth’s decommissioning ceremony July 29 in California.
“Her superpower is working with various governmental offices to garner recognition for the sailors who served on our city’s namesake ship,” Labbe said.
Flow’s work on the support committee earned her recognition in 52 Faces of Community, Fort Worth Report’s weekly series highlighting unsung heroes.
“The decommissioning ceremony is going to be memorable for the active duty sailors who served on the Fort Worth thanks to Terri’s efforts,” Labbe said.
“The decommissioning ceremony is going to be memorable for the active duty sailors who served on the Fort Worth thanks to Terri’s efforts.”
JR Labbe, USS Fort Worth Support Committee, nominator
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Flow, a former Washington federal executive who now runs a consulting practice, was born in Austin and moved to Arlington with her family when she was 5.
Flow traces her passion for the military to her grandfather, who served in the Army Air Corps.
“My grandfather served and, all throughout the whole time when he was overseas, my grandmother supported him,” Flow said. “My grandmother had that passion, and she instilled that in me.”
Her grandmother posted the colors daily at home, Flow said, and family members would say the Pledge of Allegiance. Her grandmother and mother also volunteered all the time.
“I got that volunteer spirit from them,” Flow said.
Flow said she views her work on the decommissioning as having a straight-forward purpose: “We’re helping to say thank you.”
To secure the decommissioning recognition, she contacted Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, state Rep. Charlie Geren and Fort Worth City Council member Michael Crain. Crain will present recognitions to each of the ship’s 35 remaining active duty sailors during the sendoff in San Diego.
The support committee hosts the Fort Worth’s sailors of the year and quarter at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Helping to show off the city to crew is important, because most of its members over the years haven’t been from Fort Worth, Flow said. She has taken sailors to dinner at restaurants like Joe T. Garcia’s and Billy Bob’s Texas.
Terri Flow wears boots that every sailor is given on the ship. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
The committee also fits the sailors for cowboy hats and boots.
“We’ve allowed them to come and truly understand what the city of Fort Worth is like, and that’s what they really enjoy — truly being able to be immersed in the city,” Flow said.
She has also visited the ship in San Diego each year since she joined the committee, Flow said.
The support committee has regularly sent care packages and fulfilled other needs for the crew.
But “I think they need to see our faces,” Flow said.“The USS Fort Worth Support Committee is known around the Navy for how much we actually support them. If they need something, they’re most likely going to get it from us.”
None of the Fort Worth’s active duty sailors live on the ship today, because the Navy no longer has a kitchen crew assigned to it, Flow said.
The decommissioning will include a prayer breakfast aboard the ship, with presentation of the morning colors and tours on July 28. A dinner will follow, with Lockheed Martin underwriting the meal for the ship’s active duty sailors.
Terri Flow holds a replica of the ship. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
The decommissioning will be at the Naval Base San Diego. Later that evening, the support committee organized a “wake” for the ship at the I Bar Coronado on San Diego’s Coronado Island.
Flow also serves as an honorary commander for the 301st Fighter Wing’s Mission Support Group and is a director of the Fort Worth Airpower Council, which supports service members, their families and veterans.
“It’s one of the nice things that I’ve seen in all of the work I’ve done; they are really amazing men and women who serve our country,” said Flow, who’s also active in Women Steering Business, a nonprofit that buys champion steers from young women who exhibit them at the Stock Show.
“I know it’s hard sometimes to get people out to volunteer, but I think I do it because it’s a passion that I’m able to show love to other people because of my volunteer work,” Flow said. “And I’ve been blessed to be able to serve our military by doing it, which is what my grandmother did.”
Scott Nishimura is senior editor for local government accountability and a Fort Worth City Hall reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org. News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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