Dr. Nina Scales Leifeste

Dr. Nina Scales Leifeste, a 1979 Bridge City High School graduate, exemplifies someone with a lot of courage in the face of adversity, but she has also always found ways to live out her ‘life scripture’ Luke 12:48 “To whom much is given of him much is required.” 

After earning her bachelor’s degree in biology from Lamar University Beaumont, Dr. Leifeste graduated with honors from the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston with her Doctor of Dental Surgery. She then completed a General Practice Residency through Hermann Hospital. After dental college, Dr. Leifeste and her husband, Sam, settled in Bridge City and set up their dental practice in Orange and Beaumont. Sam’s untimely death in 2003 left her to pick up the pieces as a single mother of two young children.  She is a breast cancer survivor. Dr. Leifeste lost her home in Hurricane Ike in 2008. All the while, she managed to keep her practice running while setting up free dental mission clinics in India and Honduras for the neediest of people. 

Dr. Leifeste served on the Bridge City ISD school board for several years. Today, she continues her practice and serves as an Adjunct Professor for the University of Texas Dental School, where, once a week, senior dental students come to Orange to train with her in a mobile clinic that offers free service to low-income people in Orange.

She teaches and shows what it means to give back. Something those students won’t get in a normal classroom. According to her brother, Frank Scales, “Nina is a behind-the-scenes giver. She has helped countless people and countless causes.”  Dr. Leifeste likes to hunt, fish, and spend time with her family, including her daughter Samantha and son Tyler and his wife. Her grandparents are Ausbon and Katy Scales, pioneers of early Orangefield, Prairie View-Bridge City, and her parents, Franklin, Sr. and Sarah Scales. 

The Bridge City High School Alumni Association chose two alumni as Distinguished Alumni for 2023, including Danny Jaynes, who graduated in 1971, along with Dr. Nina Scales Leifeste, a 1979 BCHS graduate. They were honored during ceremonies prior to the homecoming game on Friday, September 22, 2023, and again at The Classic Cardinal Reunion on Saturday, September 23.