Retired Bexar County Heritage & Parks Department director Betty Bueché has been elected president of the Conservation Society of San Antonio.
Bueché succeeds Lewis Vetter, whose two one-year terms in office corresponded with the organization’s battle to prevent demolition of the UT San Antonio Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC), a remnant of the 1968 world’s fair. The university demolished the structure last year.
The organization also announced it has hired Angelica Docog to serve as executive director starting in July. Docog is the former executive director of the ITC.
“She’s got great strengths in all the different areas [of preservation] that we’re looking to do,” Vetter said.
Founded in 1924, the Conservation Society is one of the first community preservation groups in the nation.
The 13-member group got its start with a meeting in the Lucy Maverick house and first worked to preserve the city’s Spanish Colonial missions. Since then, it has saved many of the historic attractions that draw visitors to the city.
Its most recent project involved the restoration of the 1878 Hertzberg Clock, a landmark at the corner of Houston and North St. Mary’s streets.
Next up for the Conservation Society is continuing to be an advocate in the face of what Vetter called a changing landscape for historic preservation on the city, state and even national level.
As for the ITC demolition, “a lot of that was out of the control of most anybody, because of the university’s having their privileges to do what they wish,” Vetter said. “That’s sort of an old story, but it keeps us rallying nonetheless.”
In 2024, the Conservation Society marked its 100th anniversary with a series of events for its 1,000-person membership, which Vetter said has grown under his leadership. The organization is funded through proceeds from A Night in Old San Antonio, an annual Fiesta event.
Bueché is a longtime member and officer of the Conservation Society, and had been with the county for more than 17 years when she retired in late 2021.
As director, she oversaw the maintenance and improvements in county parks and spearheaded projects celebrating Bexar County’s history, such as the Bexar Heritage Center.
She was instrumental in efforts to attain the UNESCO World Heritage designation in 2015 for the Spanish colonial missions that included the Alamo.
Bueché studied biology and art at the University of the Incarnate Word. In 1975, she became the first female park superintendent with Texas Parks and Wildlife, overseeing Casa Navarro.
The Conservation Society has been recruiting for a new executive director ever since Vince Michael’s departure from the role last year. Michael now leads the historic Villa Final Museum and Gardens in King William as executive director.
Convervation Society members also elected a slate of new officers that include Patty Zaointz, first vice president; Mark Kusey, second vice president; Lewis Vetter’s spouse Elaine Vetter, third vice president; Julie Terrill, fourth vice president; Ron Stinson, fifth vice president (budget); Wayne Hartmann, treasurer, and Judith Hartmann, secretary.
Proposed by the group’s nominating committee, Sue Ann Pemberton will serve in the former president’s position on the board. She previously served as president from 2013 to 2015.
“We’d really like to see us go full strength into our next 100 years,” Pemberton said.
