Bill Text: TX HR764 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Honoring Dallas Realtor Ebby Halliday on the occasion of her 100th birthday.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-03-15 - Reported enrolled [HR764 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HR764-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 764 |
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WHEREAS, Trailblazing real estate magnate and irrepressible | ||
entrepreneur Ebby Halliday of Dallas is commemorating a remarkable | ||
milestone in her life with the observance of her 100th birthday on | ||
March 9, 2011; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born Vera Lucille Koch in 1911, she later adopted | ||
the name Ebby Halliday to better reflect her distinctive | ||
personality; she was raised on a farm in Kansas, receiving her | ||
education in a one-room schoolhouse and dreaming of becoming a | ||
horseback rider in a circus; after graduating from high school in | ||
Abilene, Kansas, she took a job selling hats with the Consolidated | ||
Millinery Company in Kansas City, Missouri, and was quickly | ||
promoted; her abilities soon led her to take on greater | ||
responsibilities at stores in Omaha and then in Dallas, where she | ||
arrived in 1938; and | ||
WHEREAS, A manager for retailer W. A. Green for seven years, | ||
Ms. Halliday saved money all the while, and before long had enough | ||
to invest and subsequently to open her own hat shop; after a patron | ||
complained of his difficulty in finding buyers for his innovative | ||
insulated cement houses in a new development, she soon discovered | ||
that her sales instincts made her a natural in the real estate | ||
business; by dressing up the houses with attractive curtains, rugs, | ||
and furniture, she sold all 52 of them in nine months and founded | ||
Ebby Halliday Realtors in 1945; and | ||
WHEREAS, Today, Ms. Halliday's company is a renowned | ||
operation with more than 1,600 agents who work out of 30 offices and | ||
two luxury boutiques; the business is the largest independently | ||
owned real estate brokerage company in Texas and one of the largest | ||
in the country, and also handles leasing, property management, and | ||
mortgage and personal insurance; consistently emphasizing service | ||
to the client, the community, and the industry itself, the company | ||
celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2010; and | ||
WHEREAS, Ms. Halliday has shared her time and talents over | ||
the years as president of the Women's Council of the National | ||
Association of Realtors in 1956 and as the first woman president of | ||
the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce in 1968; inducted into the | ||
Texas Business Hall of Fame, the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, and the | ||
Dallas Business Hall of Fame, she has received numerous awards and | ||
recognitions, including the Ernst and Young Regional Entrepreneur | ||
of the Year award and the Dallas Linz Award, and she was the first | ||
recipient of the Ebby Halliday Executive Excellence Award given by | ||
Executive Women International; and | ||
WHEREAS, Her biography, Ebby Halliday: The First Lady of Real | ||
Estate, was published in 2009, and a yellow rose was cultivated and | ||
named in her honor to commemorate her company's 60th anniversary | ||
and her 94th birthday; an unofficial ambassador of goodwill for | ||
Dallas during a period of extensive growth, she continues to be | ||
committed to her goal of building a thriving sales force and | ||
offering career opportunities to bright and motivated women; and | ||
WHEREAS, Still active in her business, Ms. Halliday also | ||
dedicates a great deal of her time to philanthropy and her | ||
community; she is a strong supporter of the Foundation Fighting | ||
Blindness, which she serves as a national trustee, and the Horatio | ||
Alger Association, which awards scholarships to deserving young | ||
people and is the beneficiary of the proceeds from her 100th | ||
birthday gala; and | ||
WHEREAS, Ms. Halliday married Maurice Acers in 1965, and the | ||
couple enjoyed 28 years of fulfilling partnership until his passing | ||
in 1993; she credits her extraordinary longevity to her mantra, | ||
"Don't drink, don't smoke, don't retire," and she remains devoted to | ||
her faith, to the Dallas Mavericks and Cowboys, and to her mission | ||
to help countless Americans achieve their dream of homeownership; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, The epitome of Dallas style, savvy, and can-do | ||
spirit, Ebby Halliday has combined hard work, optimism, and | ||
generosity to build a business and a life of outsize proportions, | ||
and she has earned the lasting admiration of all who know her; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas | ||
Legislature hereby honor the grande dame of Dallas real estate, | ||
Ebby Halliday, on the occasion of her 100th birthday and extend to | ||
her sincere best wishes for continued happiness; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for Ms. Halliday as an expression of high regard by the | ||
Texas House of Representatives. | ||
Sheets | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 764 was adopted by the House on March | ||
10, 2011, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||