Remembering Ebby Halliday

She came to Dallas in 1938, when she was 27 years old, to sell women’s hats. Soon, Ebby Halliday was selling cinder-block houses, a one-woman operation that she built into the 1,700-person real estate company it is today. Ebby made her own rules, whether she was parking her gold Cadillac at a red light to pick up litter or opening the gates of the business world for hundreds of women. Mary Frances Burleson started out as Ebby’s secretary and is now her successor at Ebby Halliday Realtors. At Ebby’s memorial service in September, Burleson said, “My husband once commented that I never recognized the glass ceiling. That was because of Ebby. She always let us know there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do.” Ebby’s monumental presence in Dallas can also be felt in the countless charities she supported. Her motto was simple: do something for someone every day. As the many who benefited from her generosity can attest, Ebby, in her 104 years, did that and more.