Bill Text: TX HR248 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: In memory of Sylvia Rodriguez of San Antonio.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-01-29 - Reported enrolled [HR248 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR248-Introduced.html
Bill Title: In memory of Sylvia Rodriguez of San Antonio.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-01-29 - Reported enrolled [HR248 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR248-Introduced.html
83R6247 JWI-D | ||
By: Martinez Fischer | H.R. No. 248 |
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WHEREAS, The Lone Star State lost a passionate activist and | ||
esteemed civic leader with the death of Sylvia Rodriguez of San | ||
Antonio, who passed away on January 23, 2013, at the age of 71; and | ||
WHEREAS, Sylvia Rodriguez first discovered her enthusiasm | ||
for politics while working as an administrative assistant for Texas | ||
state senator Joe J. Bernal during the 1965 legislative session; | ||
soon after leaving the position in 1973, she became actively | ||
involved in the Democratic Party, running voter registration | ||
drives, organizing successful community events, orchestrating | ||
political fund-raising campaigns, and helping women candidates get | ||
elected to office; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1975, Mrs. Rodriguez became a charter member of | ||
the Mexican American Democrats of Texas, and by 1978 she was | ||
appointed to the Democratic National Committee; the first Hispanic | ||
woman from San Antonio named to the organization, she later became | ||
the founder and first chair of the party's Hispanic Caucus; in 1980, | ||
President Jimmy Carter invited Mrs. Rodriguez to lead the | ||
recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National | ||
Convention; and | ||
WHEREAS, While she shuttled between commitments in | ||
Washington, D.C., and Texas, Mrs. Rodriguez also served as director | ||
of the annual San Fernando Health and Safety Fair, where she | ||
organized and coordinated hundreds of volunteers to help provide | ||
health screenings and medical consultations to thousands of | ||
uninsured and undocumented people who did not have access to health | ||
care; and | ||
WHEREAS, A proud member of many local and national community | ||
organizations, Mrs. Rodriguez participated in Las Damas de San | ||
Fernando, the Political Divas of San Antonio, Parent/Child, Inc., | ||
the YWCA, the Inman Christian Center, and the Commission for | ||
Mexican American Affairs; in addition, she was a founding member | ||
and treasurer of the Hispanic Women's Network of Texas and she | ||
organized the first Hispanas Unidas Conference, which more than | ||
1,000 women attended; for her tireless efforts working in behalf of | ||
women, Hispanic Texans, and Americans, Mrs. Rodriguez was inducted | ||
into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame in 2011; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mrs. Rodriguez's faith sustained her and motivated | ||
her commitment to community service, and she was a Eucharistic | ||
minister and lector at her church; and | ||
WHEREAS, This beloved Texan was supported in all of her | ||
endeavors by her family, including her husband, Gene, who was her | ||
partner in activism and whom she affectionately called "sweet'ert"; | ||
the couple enjoyed 45 years of marriage and were blessed with a | ||
daughter, Clarissa; and | ||
WHEREAS, Sylvia Rodriguez was a national Hispanic political | ||
leader, a trailblazing role model for women, and a loving wife, | ||
mother, and friend; though she will be deeply missed, her legacy | ||
will extend well beyond her passing; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas | ||
Legislature hereby honor the life of Sylvia Rodriguez and offer | ||
sincere condolences to her family: to her husband, Eugene | ||
Rodriguez; to her daughter, Clarissa M. Rodriguez; and to her other | ||
relatives and many friends, including Dora Dilley, Jeannette and | ||
Telesforo Gutierrez, Yolanda and John Johnson, Roger Rodriguez, | ||
Nancy Rodriguez and Viviana Enrique, Carol and Larry Medellin, | ||
Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Anthony and Hilda Rodriguez; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Sylvia | ||
Rodriguez. |