Bill Text: TX HCR7 | 2013 | 83rd Legislature 2nd Special Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: In memory of William Douglas Jefferson of San Antonio.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-08-19 - Signed by the Governor [HCR7 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR7-Introduced.html
Bill Title: In memory of William Douglas Jefferson of San Antonio.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-08-19 - Signed by the Governor [HCR7 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR7-Introduced.html
83S20120 BPG-D | ||
By: Larson | H.C.R. No. 7 |
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WHEREAS, A life made rich through meaningful service drew to | ||
a close with the passing of William Douglas Jefferson of San Antonio | ||
on June 26, 2013, at the age of 81; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in Chicago on January 30, 1932, Bill Jefferson | ||
was the son of William and Johnnie Mae Jefferson; the hardships of | ||
the Great Depression prompted the family to move to Milwaukee | ||
during his childhood, and he later attended the University of | ||
Wisconsin, where he was a member of the football team; he left | ||
college to enlist in the United States Air Force during the Korean | ||
War, beginning a military career that ultimately spanned more than | ||
two decades; he was promoted to technical sergeant within four | ||
years and went on to join the officer ranks; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Jefferson met his future wife, Joyce Virginia | ||
Olivier, when he was a teenager, and he corresponded with her | ||
regularly from postings around the world; in July 1954, he used his | ||
leave to fly to Buffalo, New York, to see her, and they married two | ||
weeks later; the couple became the proud parents of six children, | ||
Roxanne, Darrell, Lamont, Celeste, Wallace, and Leah; and | ||
WHEREAS, During his years in uniform, Mr. Jefferson was | ||
stationed in England, Japan, and Guam as well as in Colorado, New | ||
Mexico, Nebraska, Massachusetts, California, and Washington; while | ||
excelling in his military duties, he found time to complete his | ||
bachelor's degree at the University of Puget Sound in 1962 and to | ||
earn his master's degree in political science from St. Mary's | ||
University eight years later; he retired at the rank of major in | ||
1972 and then became a certified life underwriter and chartered | ||
financial planner for Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company; he | ||
also taught political science as an adjunct professor at St. | ||
Philip's College and San Antonio College; and | ||
WHEREAS, This dynamic Texan advocated powerfully for the | ||
responsibilities of citizenship in a letter published in Time | ||
magazine in 1968, and he embraced those obligations wholeheartedly | ||
throughout his life; he volunteered with the Salvation Army for | ||
decades and served on the board of St. Peter-St. Joseph Children's | ||
Home, and he was a longtime member of the Friends of the San Antonio | ||
Public Library; a devout Catholic, he was a Eucharistic minister at | ||
Freedom Chapel at Lackland Air Force Base for more than 40 years; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, In his free time, Mr. Jefferson enjoyed pursuing | ||
genealogical studies; he discovered that one of his ancestors, | ||
Shedrick Willis, was enslaved to a state court judge in Waco in the | ||
1800s, and he marveled at the irony that one of his own sons, | ||
Wallace B. Jefferson, became chief justice of the Supreme Court of | ||
Texas; and | ||
WHEREAS, Bill Jefferson brought joy to innumerable people | ||
through his warm smile and gentle, caring ways; although he will be | ||
deeply missed, those who were privileged to know him will continue | ||
to find inspiration in their memories of his profound devotion to | ||
his family, his faith, and his country; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas, | ||
2nd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life of William | ||
Douglas Jefferson and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his | ||
family: to his wife, Joyce Jefferson; to his children, Roxanne | ||
Jones, Darrell Jefferson, Lamont Jefferson, Chief Justice Wallace | ||
Jefferson, and Leah Chapa; to his grandchildren and | ||
great-grandchildren; to his sister, Ollie Price; and to his other | ||
relatives and many friends; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives and Senate adjourn this day, they do so in memory of | ||
William Douglas Jefferson. |