Ellen Terry, R.I.P

Dallas has lost another icon of real estate — Ellen Terry.

The tiny, energy-packed powerhouse real estate agent and broker had a life story that inspired hundreds of agents as she showed them the way to sell homes and make a living. Her name was found on many a high-profile contract in the 1980s and ’90s. And she gave back to her community in innumerable ways. As her obituary says, Ellen was “a mother, a grandmother, a real estate legend, a mentor, a pioneer for women in business, an advocate for community involvement, and an absolute baller of a human.”

Ellen Coleman Terry, known to many as ET, was born on June 11, 1939, in Paris, Texas. She passed away peacefully on June 12, 2024, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

“She was the true queen of Dallas real estate, but so much more,” said Robbie Briggs, founder of Briggs-Freeman Sotheby’s Real Estate, which was Ellen’s last broker home. “She may have been a tiny physical package, but she was bigger than life.”

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Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s created an annual award in Ellen’s honor for the agent who mentored selflessly and inspired other agents to do their best.

“We created that award while she was with us,” Briggs said. “Executive Vice President of Mentoring and Coaching. We still give that award out every year. We were so honored for Ellen to finish her career at our firm. She was a formidable competitor, but we truly loved each other.”

Ellen Terry’s Legacy

Briggs says Terry was positive every day, a woman in a little tiny package with a big big heart. He recalls that every year she hosted a sit-down, catered luncheon for all the employees of Briggs at her home to thank them for their hard work.

She was very good friends with Ebby Halliday, who acquired her boutique firm in 1995, and the two remained close even after Ellen moved to Briggs.

“The three of us would often go to dinner together,” says Briggs. “But her best strength was mentoring brand new agents. She took them under her wing and gave them a hand up. She was very big on dressing for success, even more so than me.”

I recall the late Carolyn Shamis telling me that she interviewed with Ellen Terry, who wouldn’t hire Carolyn because she didn’t like the way she dressed for her interview: too much leopard print and cleavage. Ellen was old school when it came to stockings, too.

“She was a great negotiator, ” recalls Briggs. “Tough. Sometimes you had to call her bluff and she’d giggle a little, ‘Well, yes, maybe they can pay a LITTLE more.’ But she was a very good reader of people. Very much a driven individual.”

The former Hockaday coach began selling real estate in 1976 with Coldwell Banker. Three years later, she opened a firm with Bettie Abio and Lynda Adleta, where she hired a young man fresh out of Washington & Lee: Dave Perry-Miller. Two years later, she formed her own company, Ellen Terry Realtors, and grew her firm to more than 50 employees before joining forces in 1995 with Ebby Halliday.

“The best of the big join with the best of the boutique,” is how Ebby Halliday, then still owned by Ebby herself, billed the merger. Ellen said she relished the chance to sell once again, rather than manage a business.

Carolyn Rosson, president and CEO of Ebby Halliday Companies, said Friday that Ellen Terry would be deeply missed.

“Ellen was a true trailblazer in our industry, opening doors to rewarding careers for countless agents,” Rosson said. “Her remarkable contributions and extraordinary spirit have left an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of knowing her.”

Ellen’s personal life story remained an inspiration of hope for young agents across North Texas, still echoed by some today. Real estate is, after all, a tough, bring-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps sales business. You eat what you kill. You are your own boss. There is no MBA required, and opportunities can be outstanding for the agent who works fingers to the bone.

That was Ellen Terry.

My Introduction to Ellen Terry

I met Ellen in the mid-1980s, interviewing her for a book I was ghostwriting for a psychologist. She told me her famous story: She was hosting a meeting for the Junior League of Dallas in her Highland Park home when her doorbell rang. A tow truck driver was ringing to repossess her Mercedes.

Ellen was in total shock. She had no idea that her family was in financial straits. Like many women in that era, her husband handled the finances and she raised the children. Terry smoothly finished the Junior League meeting and smiled. As soon as the last guest left, she confronted her husband at the time and realized they had to sell the family home and move into a modest home. They had no money.

Ultimately, she discovered things were so bad that she sent her two children to live with their grandparents for a period. The former gym teacher realized she was the sole breadwinner and needed a job.

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Ellen worked for a travel agency for a year, but the salary was not enough to make ends meet. So she tried selling homes. Her first commission check came from a former Hockaday student, who she saw at a stoplight in a 500 SL Mercedes. Ellen was driving a 12-year-old car by then, but she ended up selling the former student, Jan Cox, her first home on Lakeside Drive for $400,000. Next she snagged the sellers and sold them a home, popping $25,000 in her bank account. That happened less than 30 days after Ellen got her license.

She sold more than $5.5 billion in her 42-plus years in the industry. Some of her biggest clients include Dick and Jinger Heath of BeautiControl fame (4707 Park Lane), Ronald Unkefer, Angie Barrett, millionaires, and sports figures. Her last real estate transaction at Briggs Freeman was representing the CEO of Toyota, selling a home in Vaquero upon Toyota’s move to North Texas.

Communication, Communication, Communication

Her last real estate brokerage was at Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s, where her son, Todd, an actor, is also an agent. He told me it was natural for his mom to show homes on Easter Sunday or Mother’s Day when he was growing up.

“Ellen has always been an outstanding leader, mentor, and incredibly hard worker,” Todd said. “In addition to a strong work ethic, one of the most important things I have learned from my mom is that there is something more important than ‘Location, Location, Location’ in real estate and that is ‘Communication, Communication, Communication.’ In other words, don’t get so involved in the day-to-day details of work that you forget to talk regularly to the clients for which you are working.”

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Ellen received the Southern Methodist University Distinguished Alumni Award, the Pi Beta Phi Service Award, The Girls, Inc. ‘She Knows Where She Is Going Award,’ the Texas Women’s Foundation Maura Award, and the Pi Beta Phi Carolyn Helman Lichtenberg Crest Award.

Her philanthropic work was extensive. She created the Awareness Hour to help educate parents, teachers, and teenagers on alcohol and drug addiction. She founded the Ellen Terry Realtors Ladies Golf Classic benefitting The Genesis Women’s Shelter. And after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she and her family became involved with AWARE Dallas, which is dedicated to fighting Alzheimer’s disease by providing funding and support to programs, projects, and research organizations that actively help individuals affected by Alzheimer’s in Dallas and the greater North Texas area.

Ellen is survived by her children, James Todd Terry and Amy Terry Kriegel; grandchildren, Olivia Kriegel, Austin Terry, Sophia Kriegel, Ella Kriegel, Conner Terry, and Hudson Kriegel; and great-grandchild, Harrison Kriegel. A memorial service is planned at 3 p.m. Monday, June 24, at Highland Park United Methodist Sanctuary.