Bill Text: TX HCR94 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: In memory of entrepreneur and philanthropist Red McCombs of San Antonio.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 6-2)
Status: (Passed) 2023-04-28 - Signed by the Governor [HCR94 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HCR94-Enrolled.html
H.C.R. No. 94 |
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WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost a business icon and | ||
renowned philanthropist with the passing of B. J. "Red" McCombs of | ||
San Antonio on February 19, 2023, at the age of 95; and | ||
WHEREAS, Billy Joe McCombs was born in the small West Texas | ||
town of Spur on October 19, 1927, and earned his nickname for his | ||
mop of red hair; a star athlete in high school, he earned a | ||
scholarship to play football at Southwestern University in | ||
Georgetown in 1945, but he put his studies on hold the following | ||
year to enlist in the United States Army; following his military | ||
service, he enrolled at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, where he | ||
met the love of his life, the former Charline Hamblin; the couple | ||
exchanged wedding vows in November 1950; and | ||
WHEREAS, Although Mr. McCombs studied law at The University | ||
of Texas at Austin for a time, he changed course and began working | ||
as a car salesman in Corpus Christi, a job that was a natural fit for | ||
his talents and personality; by 1953, he had opened his first used | ||
car dealership, and a year later, he added sports to his business | ||
interests when he joined a friend in purchasing the Corpus Christi | ||
Clippers minor league baseball team, the first of what would be many | ||
sports franchise ventures; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. McCombs's well-earned reputation for turning | ||
around struggling businesses was demonstrated early on with a car | ||
dealership in San Antonio, and his auto sales empire ultimately | ||
expanded to more than 60 locations; he became a prominent figure in | ||
the Alamo City, and his involvement was key to the staging of | ||
HemisFair '68, which helped raise the community's stature | ||
nationally and internationally; in 1973, he purchased the Dallas | ||
Chaparrals basketball team and renamed it the San Antonio Spurs, | ||
providing the city with its signature professional team, and he was | ||
later instrumental in the opening of SeaWorld and the construction | ||
of the Alamodome; and | ||
WHEREAS, Demonstrating his business acumen in a broad range | ||
of endeavors, Mr. McCombs co-founded the mass media corporation | ||
Clear Channel Communications, which became iHeartMedia, and | ||
invested in oil and gas, real estate, cattle, motion picture | ||
distribution, and other industries; moreover, his enthusiasm for | ||
sports ownership, which he cited as his favorite business, extended | ||
beyond the Spurs and led to the acquisition of the Denver Nuggets | ||
and the Minnesota Vikings, and to the building of the Circuit of the | ||
Americas racetrack outside Austin; and | ||
WHEREAS, A philanthropist of equally legendary stature, | ||
Mr. McCombs supported a wide array of causes and institutions; in | ||
2000, his gift of $50 million to The University of Texas at Austin | ||
business school resulted in it being renamed the McCombs School of | ||
Business, and his donation of $3 million toward women's athletics | ||
at UT in 1997 led to the development of a new softball complex, the | ||
Red and Charline McCombs Field; Mr. and Mrs. McCombs also | ||
established the McCombs Foundation, which has contributed over $118 | ||
million in gifts, both large and small, to charities and | ||
organizations based in San Antonio and other cities; in 2005, his | ||
donation of $30 million to MD Anderson Cancer Center resulted in the | ||
creation of another namesake facility, the Red and Charline McCombs | ||
Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer; and | ||
WHEREAS, This larger-than-life Texan was passionate about | ||
collecting historical items, particularly Old West artifacts, | ||
which included paintings, saddles, walking sticks, and antique | ||
firearms; he eventually amassed around 7,000 of these items and put | ||
much of his extensive collection on loan, with more than 1,000 | ||
pieces currently being housed at Southwestern University; and | ||
WHEREAS, Of all the decisions he made, Mr. McCombs considered | ||
marrying his wife, Charline, to be his best, and she was his partner | ||
in life as well as philanthropy until her passing in 2019; he took | ||
immense pride in his daughters, Lynda, Marsha, and Connie, and with | ||
the passing years, his family grew to include numerous | ||
grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and | ||
WHEREAS, Red McCombs left an indelible mark on the Lone Star | ||
State through his storied entrepreneurial success and his generous | ||
efforts to benefit communities, institutions, and worthwhile | ||
causes throughout Texas, and he will be fondly remembered and | ||
greatly missed by those who had the good fortune to know him; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby pay tribute to the life of B. J. "Red" McCombs and extend | ||
deepest sympathy to the members of his family: to his daughters, | ||
Lynda McCombs, Marsha Shields and her husband, John, and Connie | ||
McNab and her husband, Sandy; to his grandchildren and | ||
great-grandchildren; and to all who mourn his passing; 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 | ||
Red McCombs. | ||
Craddick | ||
Dorazio | ||
Allison | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.C.R. No. 94 was unanimously adopted by a | ||
rising vote of the House on April 5, 2023. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.C.R. No. 94 was unanimously adopted by a | ||
rising vote of the Senate on April 12, 2023. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |