HIGH PROFILE: Doris Washington

It was to be a fitting tribute.

Doris Washington and her husband, Oscar Washington Jr., wanted to honor Oscar’s father, Oscar Sr., who died at the age of 77 of heart complications. So Oscar Jr., vice president of customer service at Entergy Arkansas and a member of the Central Arkansas Board of the American Heart Association, and Doris, director of the USDA’s National Water Management Center in Little Rock, became co-chairmen of the American Heart Association of Arkansas’ 2018 Heart Ball.

Nobody expected Oscar, at the age of 49, to have a massive heart attack in the spring of 2017. He died April 18.

“Our Heart Association involvement started a few months before,” says Doris Washington. “His father passed of heart disease in December 2016, which ignited Oscar’s passion. He wanted to target awareness of hidden symptoms like his dad had.”

The Heart Ball, to be held March 10 in the Wally Allen Ballroom in Little Rock’s Statehouse Convention Center, is dedicated to Oscar Washington Jr.

“I want it to be successful, to share Oscar’s story,” said Doris who, along with her 19-year-old daughter, Stephanie (whose sister, Sydnie, is 12), Rick Riley (president and chief executive officer of Entergy Arkansas), and his wife, Alicia Riley, continue to serve as co-chairmen.

The evening will open with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 6 p.m., dinner and an Open Your Heart appeal at 8, followed at 8:45 with a live auction, dessert and dancing. For more information, call (501) 707-6591.

The Heart Ball, according to event director Tammy Quick, “is a celebration of raising funds and recognizing outstanding volunteers and the Sweethearts, a group of high school sophomores who, by participating in educational programs and social events, serve as ambassadors for the American Heart Association.”

It’s the Heart Association’s leading fundraiser, with a goal of $890,000. The money supports research and education, “from teaching small children about CPR to top neurologists and cardiologists collaborating at scientific sessions.” About 150 volunteers are dedicated to the Sweetheart program, and another 50 put time and energy into the Heart Ball itself, says Quick, who has been the event’s director since March 2010.

Dedication to the success of such an endeavor comes naturally to Washington. Ambitious, focused and determined, she found her way from a family farm in White Hall, six miles south of Harrisburg, to her current USDA position. En route, she became educated, got married, had two children, developed an extensive social and professional network, and grew adept at contributing to the welfare of those around her.

SEVEN SIBLINGS

“I went to school with others from different cultures, different backgrounds,” she says. The youngest of seven children, she says her siblings set good examples. “I was an honor student, in band, did track and cheerleading — things that African Americans may or may not do.” Most importantly? “I think it was the people skills, more than anything, the ability to get along with anybody. I have good friends that don’t look like me.”

After high school, thanks to a proactive counselor, she was awarded a minority scholarship to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. “But he also took a wider stance and nominated me for several military awards. I was offered a full scholarship to [U.S. Military Academy at West Point]. But my dad, a Marine veteran, was opposed to me being in the military, so I passed.”

“Oscar’s loss was tough on our girls. While we were doing a video for the Heart Ball, they finally heard what happened the day he died. The lesson they learned is to know as much as you can know; if you have a benchmark, you have a chance.”

She chose UA and began studying psychology. “At the end of my first year in college, my high school principal called to ask if I would be interested in doing a student internship at the local USDA office. I accepted.” It was a perfect match. “I moved my major to agronomy. Thirty-one years later, I’m still here.”

The military eventually figured in Doris’ future, and in a big way. “Oscar and I met in the Arkansas Army National Guard; I went into the military to pay back my school loans,” she says. “When I first met him, he was already an officer [thanks to ROTC]; I was enlisted. I went to Officer Candidate School at Camp Robinson and was able to get my officer commission.”

The couple, who had married in 1993, both resigned when the U.S. military began a bombing campaign in Iraq in 1998. “We had just had Stephanie; we went in for counseling and they told us we were ready to get activated. That’s not what we wanted, so we both resigned our commissions at that time,” she says.

The couple next did some moving around while pursuing careers, which led to a project that became a focus of their lives.

“We lived in a new house in West Monroe, La., for a couple of years, where Oscar was working for Entergy,” she recalled. “Then we were transferred back to Little Rock. Oscar was a CPA; he helped the builder that built our home in Little Rock keep his books.”

The builder eventually went under. “By then we had a partnership with him and were building several houses,” Doris says. “We had at least three houses going on at the time when the builder bowed out, so we took it on. We were learning the business, doing a lot of the work ourselves. We just kept going with it. “

A FAMILY BUSINESS

That’s what motivated Oscar to create ODS Enterprises in 2000. It stands for Oscar, Doris and Stephanie. Sydnie wasn’t born yet, but when she was, her parents made sure her name started with an S so she would be included. “ODS started out as a ministry for first-time home owners,” Doris says. “He really took that to heart. He wanted to see people succeed. The finished product is so amazing to see, along with the clients’ faces. It’s been a blessing.”

Along with aiding in developing ODS, Doris continued to progress in her career while furthering her education. After earning a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, she went on to become senior executive service-certified in 2012 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Virtual University and participated in the key executive leadership certificate program at American University School of Public Affairs in 2013.

Spinoffs from ODS, she says, include Gold Medal Flooring in Maumelle (a one-stop design center) and Genesis Construction Co. Just as her husband had been, Doris is very much involved in the businesses while working full time.

“We have a construction superintendent, but I remain hands-on with ODS; I handle a lot of paperwork and visit each housing site on a regular basis to see how it’s progressing and to ensure that the customer is getting the quality they deserve,” she says. “We’re in our sixth house, and are building No. 7 in Waterview Estates in Roland. We’re partners in Waterview Estates Development. Oscar and I started building our personal home there before he passed. It should be completed by the end of this year.

“I’m motivated because I want to see that be a testament to his legacy.”

Somehow she found the time and desire to teach a Sunday School master life class at Saint Mark Baptist Church, which is special to her. “Oscar and I did this together; it was a way to spend time together spiritually,” Doris says.

She became a member of the Junior League of Little Rock in 2005 — “it showed me how to be a volunteer” — and is co-director of the state’s largest Girl Scout Troop 6659 at Saint Mark Baptist Church. “My daughters are Girl Scouts; Sydnie earned the Bronze Award last year and is working on the second of three, the Silver Award. We’ve been the leading cookie-selling troop for at least two years,” she says with a flash of pride.

And although the Heart Ball is designed to be a fun and memorable way to unite community and philanthropic leaders, getting it together takes a lot of effort. “There’s a lot to organizing the Heart Ball; it’s a very sophisticated campaign,” Doris says. “Lots of rules and regulations. [Heart Ball director] Tammy Quick and others have done this for years, but there’s still so much to do.”

SWEETHEART

Quick’s first introduction to Doris and Oscar Washington was in 2015. That year their daughter Stephanie was a Heart Ball Sweetheart.

“Stephanie really embraced the program,” Quick remembered. “Her parents do everything very passionately,” and Stephanie did the same. Sydnie, already active in community service, is likely to continue the tradition.

“We try to have three years of chairs in place,” she says. “Oscar Washington was on the 2017 executive committee when he and Doris agreed to be chairs for 2018. Oscar had just been promoted at Entergy. We wanted him to chair 2017, but the timing wasn’t right.”

So focus shifted to the 2018 event. “Our theme is ‘Ignite Power,’ a play on Entergy, and also because Oscar had this low-key, quiet power. Doris does too, with her intelligence and poise.”

Career achievement, business acumen, good fortune and community involvement defined this motivated, high-achieving couple. They faced challenges and opportunities with confidence; it seemed like everything was going their way. Until last spring.

“Oscar had never been diagnosed with heart problems, just high blood pressure,” for which he was being treated, Doris says. “On April 5 he came in from working out, took a shower, and said maybe he was overheated. He lay down. I got the girls off to school. He was still struggling. So we got dressed and drove to Baptist ER.

“When they were checking him in, he was having a heart attack.”

Oscar immediately went into surgery. Afterward the surgeon, who looked exhausted, “told me that Oscar had what is known as a widowmaker heart attack [the complete closure of the left anterior descending coronary artery].”

He was stable and did well for the first week, Doris says. “The day he died, April 18, he was doing OK. I had to come into my office, so his mother stayed with him. An hour later the nurse called me.

“He just didn’t recover.”

Daric Washington of Little Rock, Oscar’s youngest brother who’s a certified critical care registered nurse at CHI St. Vincent, remembers that day. “I work in multiple facilities and was in Hot Springs,” he says. “My sister-in-law text-ed me that Oscar was having problems and she was taking him to Baptist Medical Center. That’s where he had a massive heart attack. I rushed back and was told they were going to do an emergency bypass.”

The national average, Daric says, is four hours for that type of surgery. “When we got to five hours, I knew something was wrong. When it was over, he wasn’t in the best shape, but I’ve seen patients worse. The next day he came off the ventilator. While he was in ICU he basically recovered to the point he could get out of bed and the drips [IVs] were off. I was like, OK, he’s going to be good. Then when they moved him upstairs and out of ICU, he started holding fluid. He took a step back.”

Oscar was in the hospital for about two weeks, Daric says. “I was able to be there to support and allow Doris to take breaks, to be there with her and Oscar and my mom [Alma Washington of Carlisle]. When he passed, I was in a meeting and got a call. They were doing CPR. Walking into the ICU, where I’d seen people die in that same room, hearing the code go off, I went [mentally] from the nursing side to the other side.”

It was a shocking ordeal, he says. “My brother has always defeated the odds on everything. He was always the smartest person in high school, a valedictorian. He was strong, successful, the most optimistic person you would ever meet. I knew how serious it was, and I think he did, too.

“You would have loved him,” Daric says. “He was a great role model; he set a good example for us — very involved in the community, a giver.”

HONORING OSCAR

Concerning Doris’ decision to stay on as co-chairman of the Heart Ball: “I wouldn’t expect anything different,” Daric says.

When Oscar died, “I wasn’t even going to approach her for a while,” Quick says. “It was Stephanie who told me they wanted to continue to work, to stay involved, and that she wanted to take the place of her dad.

“It was an extremely emotional time for all of us,” Quick continued. “Doris told me she wanted to see this through. Because they’re the people they are. And they’re surrounded by a fabulous support system, which is what is needed for Heart Ball.”

The couple’s daughters followed their mother’s lead. “Oscar’s loss was tough on our girls,” Doris says. “While we were doing a video for the Heart Ball, they finally heard what happened the day he died. The lesson they learned is to know as much as you can know; if you have a benchmark, you have a chance.”

Stephanie (a student at Clark Atlanta University) is excited about sharing her dad’s story, her mother says. “And Sydnie doesn’t want anybody else to lose a dad like she did.”