When I was in middle school, the priest at our church agreed to allow girls on the altar as servers, or altar boys, during Mass. I was thrilled I might have the chance to be the first girl to serve in our home parish.

My dad, however, said the altar was no place for women, and I was crestfallen as I watched other girls serve. My dad thought his girls could accomplish anything they wanted; however, there were limits to what women should be allowed to do.

In my lifetime, I’ve watched women hammer away at that glass ceiling, and we lost one of the best, Sally Ride, to pancreatic cancer this week. Most Americans know why she’s in the history books – she was the first American woman to fly in space.

But Sally Ride was more than a notation on the history timeline. After the space program, she started her own company, Sally Ride Science, where middle-school girls were introduced to the excitement science offers.

She made sure chemistry, physics and science were presented in a fun and educational way to girls across the country. The positive impact she made on young women is just as important as the historic Ride made in that space shuttle.

Despite the gains my gender has made since women gained the right to vote in 1920, it’s sad that many women fail to appreciate the females like Ride who cracked open the glass ceiling for them.

Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony fought long and hard for women’s rights in the early 1920s and went to their graves without ever stepping into a voting booth.

Love or hate their politics, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug were activists in the 1960s and 1970s who railed against the myths and stigmas associated with being a female.

Here in our own community, there are countless women who’ve pushed for positive changes. In the late 1800’s, Polly Ryon was instrumental in expanding her father’s lands, turning the George Ranch into a successful business.

In our lifetime, Viola Randle and Frances Smith both served as mayor for the city of Fulshear back in the 1970s when many women felt they had to wear pantsuits and imitation ties to be taken seriously.

Some of our public schools are named after local outstanding female educators like Antoinette Reading and Cora Thomas. Jane Long Elementary and Susana Dickinson Elementary honor women who hold a place in Texas history.

Numerous female judges, attorneys, doctors, dentists and teachers hailing from different races and cultures leave their positive mark on this community through their civic efforts.

But let’s not forget the trailblazing women who quietly work behind the scenes. They might not be orbiting the earth in a spaceship, but these women are running our food and clothing banks, personally reaching out to others in need.

They might not be heads of major corporations, but they are standing up for abused children in the Fort Bend County judicial system.

These women might not have an office in Washington D.C., but they’re helping battered and physically abused women get back on their feet.

There are men performing the same courageous acts, and we owe them our gratitude. Women, however, owe the females who came before them and chipped away at society’s prejudices.

Thanks, Ms. Ride, for your contribution to NASA but especially for encouraging young girls to reach for the stars. Because of some brave female pioneers, they really are there for the taking.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.