Civilian breaks workforce equality barriers with courage, determination

  • Published
  • By Jasmine Porterfield
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a famous 19th century suffragist, once said, “The best protection any woman can have… is courage.”

The sentiment was a consistent theme throughout the Women’s Equality Day luncheon held here Aug. 24.

The Aug. 26 observance not only marks the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote, but also calls attention to continuing efforts toward full equality for women.

Barbara DeNamur, Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services Eglin, was the guest speaker for the 96th Test Wing-hosted event.

DeNamur, an Athens, Greece native, detailed her life’s path to becoming a U.S. citizen and her turbulent journey to her eventual success as a woman in the workforce.

The supervisory property disposal specialist recollected her humble beginnings growing up with her parents who were affected by World War II. She recalled stories of extreme poverty from her father’s childhood where rations were scarce and food was hard to come by.

“All too early in life, my father learned the value of an education,” she said. “A large part of his survival was learning the languages of his enemies to be able to barter and trade for goods.”

DeNamur believed her father’s experiences during the war influenced his perspective on the power of an education – a value he instilled in his children.

“It was his hunger for a better life that kept him alive during the war, and ultimately, instilled in me the inspiration to do my best to achieve the impossible in my own life,” she said.

After the war, her father worked as a produce merchant. Her mother tended to their home, cooking, cleaning, and ensuring those skills were passed on to their daughters. Despite her family’s traditional structure, she knew there wasn’t an expectation that she live her life similarly.

“From as far back as I can remember, my father’s number one priority was that my sister and I get a good education to ensure we had more opportunities and freedoms in life.”

Early on, she and her sister kept busy with school, after-hours language classes and were expected to clean and cook throughout the week.

DeNamur landed her first job out of high school, working for a major aerospace company - something exciting and novel for her at the time.

“My father walked me to and from the bus stop every day, giving me tips and pointers on how to stand my ground in a male-dominated industry,” she said.

Being a working woman in a country where women were expected to stay home proved to be challenging for DeNamur.

“I was very naïve,” she said. “I was a pretty, sweet, young woman – I should get married and settle down… that’s what my boss told me then.”

Her boss even made a grand effort to arrange a marriage between her and his son. Fortunately for her, as she put it, negotiations with her father never made it far.

“He knew I wanted something different… something more,” said DeNamur.

That “something more” happened by accident.

Two Airmen, stationed at then-Hellenikon Air Base near DeNamur’s home, were in a fender bender after leaving a squadron softball practice. Already friends, they met over dinner to discuss damages and payment. It just so happen that one of them was married to her sister.

“[My sister] extended the invitation to me as well,” she said. “[That night] set in motion a sequence of events that would bring me to this great nation I now call home.”

Smitten by the Airman, DeNamur began a two-year courtship that led him to ask her father for her hand in marriage.

“My father was grateful for [America’s] role in the war,” she said. “He respected American service members so much, he welcomed two of them into his family.”

It was at her husband’s next assignment at Tucson, Ariz., where DeNamur became an American citizen.

“I took the oath that officially put a name to the freedoms I pushed for as a woman – I became an American,” she said. “Not only was I given the opportunity to have a voice and vote in a nation I admired, I was given an opportunity to be whoever I wanted to and I couldn’t be prouder.”

DeNamur chased career opportunities, amassing nearly 40 years of industry and Federal service experience, though for her, the path has not been easy.

She recalled several experiences where she faced harsh hurdles, to include being negatively called out for her foreign background. When she found the courage to speak up, those around her convinced her otherwise.

“I’ve been told to not ‘rock the boat’… that I had small children and a lot to lose – and I thought I did,” said DeNamur. “So I didn’t say anything and kept on going.”

It was when her daughters were old enough to understand what she experienced that DeNamur said she felt compelled to stand her ground.

“I want them to speak up for themselves. There’s no better way to lead than by example, as my parents did for me,” she said. “I’ve come a long way, and my journey continues, but I’m ready for what’s to come.”

DeNamur acknowledges great strides have been made toward women’s equality since she first entered the workforce.

“There’s a great quote about perspective I try to live my life by, and that’s not to see the world as it is, but as it could be,” she said. “I pray everyone, both women and men, continue to make strides toward full equality – we’ve made it this far… let’s keep on going.”