Georgia Masterson will ask a simple question at a ceremony Monday to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
“What would MLK do?”
Masterson has been tapped to provide the address at Monday’s event in the Venue at Feuerborn Family Funeral Chapel, 1883 U.S. 54 in Iola.
Masterson knows a thing or 10 about public service.
She started her career as a middle school science teacher, then became a stay-at-home mother after her daughter with special needs was born.
Seven years later, Masterson re-entered the workforce with the organization now known as the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), which delivers social services to families in need.
That tenure lasted 30 years until her retirement, although her retirement didn’t last long.
Masterson went to work in 2013 as a poverty programs director at Thrive Allen County.
Three years later, Masterson took her second swing at retirement.
Again, it didn’t last long.
Nowadays, she volunteers extensively for Humanity House — often clocking 30 or more hours a week — and serves as the organization’s treasurer.
In between, she was a 20-year member of the Iola-USD 257 Board of Education and the ANW Special Education Cooperative Board. She also has served on Hope Unlimited’s Board of Directors and on the hospital ethics board at Allen County Regional Hospital “plus some other things I can’t think of,” she joked.
Masterson’s career of service to others led Thrive naming her in November as the organization’s 2022 Donna Talkington Award recipient, which lauds Allen Countians who promote civic engagement.
Masterson is the wife of John Masterson, who retired last year as president of Allen Community College.
Monday’s ceremony starts at 6 p.m.
Special music will be provided by local musical artists Patricia Pulley, Rebecca and Elizabeth Cunningham and their father Glen, and Moran’s Lloyd Houk.
