The former president and CEO died of natural causes on Nov. 27, according to a company announcement. The company will continue to support Burleson’s philanthropic efforts.
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Former Ebby Halliday Companies’ President and CEO Mary Frances Burleson died of natural causes on Nov. 27, according to a company announcement on Monday. Burleson was 87.
Mary Frances Burleson
“Mary Frances Burleson was an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to service on every level,” the company said in a passionate statement outlining her contributions to the industry. “That dedication touched the lives of thousands of people across the North Texas community, the nation and beyond.”
“We at the Ebby Halliday Companies are forever grateful for her vision, for her leadership, and for her friendship,” the company added. “She is and will be greatly missed.”
Burleson joined Ebby Halliday Companies in 1958 as a part-time secretary and receptionist while finishing her bachelor’s degree in history at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Burleson took the position as a temporary gig; however, two weeks into the job, Halliday offered to make Burleson a permanent part of the team with a starting pay of $2.50 per hour.
“My husband Rufus said that I had looked over the garden wall when I started working for Ebby Halliday and that I was never the same again,” Burleson said in past interviews recounting the start of her real estate career. “Ebby mentored and helped many, many people to find their career path, and I was one of the fortunate ones.”
Burleson’s secretarial tenure didn’t last long, as Halliday personally mentored her to become a brokerage leader. By the 1970s,…