Bill Text: TX HR894 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: In memory of Mary Lou Maas Grier of Boerne.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-18 - Referred to Rules & Resolutions [HR894 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR894-Introduced.html
| 83R11439 BPG-D | ||
| By: Miller of Comal | H.R. No. 894 | |
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| WHEREAS, A full and productive life drew to a close with the | ||
| passing of esteemed civic leader Mary Lou Maas Grier of Boerne on | ||
| February 15, 2013, at the age of 87; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The daughter of Tona Oliver Maas and Louise Emily | ||
| Maas, the former Mary Lou Maas was born on April 4, 1925, in the | ||
| Panama Canal Zone, where her father was involved in the | ||
| construction and management of the Panama Canal Project; she | ||
| graduated from Balboa High School in Panama before going on to study | ||
| journalism at the University of Missouri, and she continued her | ||
| education at San Antonio College; and | ||
| WHEREAS, She met Baxter Redditt Grier in the Panama Canal | ||
| Zone, and the couple were joined in matrimony in San Antonio; on the | ||
| eve of World War II, Mrs. Grier joined her husband in Honolulu, | ||
| where she worked at the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor; | ||
| after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she accepted a position on the | ||
| editorial staff of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Mrs. Grier became the proud mother of three | ||
| children, Bonnie, Bob, and Jim; while devoting herself to her home | ||
| and family, she was extremely active in her community and civic | ||
| life, and she played a key role in building the Republican Party in | ||
| Texas; in 1968, she helped found the Kendall County Republican | ||
| Women, and she worked tirelessly as a member of the Texas Federation | ||
| of Republican Women and the National Federation of Republican | ||
| Women; she was an officer, board member, and delegate to the | ||
| organization's state and national federation conventions, and she | ||
| regularly served as a delegate to county, state, and national | ||
| Republican Party conventions; during the 1960s, she was vice chair | ||
| of the Bexar County Republican Party and editor and publisher of the | ||
| Bexar County Trumpeter, and she represented the 26th Senatorial | ||
| District on the state Republican executive committee; she was named | ||
| Outstanding Republican Woman of Texas in 1971 by the TFRW, and three | ||
| years later, she became the party's first female nominee for | ||
| statewide office when she ran for state land commissioner; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Under the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford | ||
| and Ronald Reagan, Mrs. Grier was appointed to a number of positions | ||
| in Washington, D.C.; she served the Small Business Administration | ||
| as deputy advocate for advisory councils and was later deputy | ||
| director and then acting director of the Bureau of Outdoor | ||
| Recreation in the U.S. Department of the Interior; subsequently, | ||
| she served as deputy director and acting director of the National | ||
| Park Service; and | ||
| WHEREAS, This dynamic Texan gave generously of her time and | ||
| talents as a member of the Texas Women's Alliance; she traveled | ||
| extensively on nonpartisan missions to promote international | ||
| trade, participating in a number of initiatives of the alliance and | ||
| the U.S. Department of Commerce, among them trade missions to | ||
| Spain, Switzerland, Prague, and Budapest; moreover, she took part | ||
| in the Japan-Texas Association Annual Meeting-Trade Mission; and | ||
| WHEREAS, A true pillar of the community, Mrs. Grier was | ||
| president of the board of the Boerne Independent School District | ||
| and vice chair of the World Affairs Council of San Antonio; she was | ||
| a founding member of St. Mark Presbyterian Church and served the | ||
| congregation in a variety of capacities, including ruling elder, | ||
| trustee, and clerk of session; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Mary Lou Maas Grier made a positive difference in | ||
| the world around her through her many significant contributions, | ||
| and although her death has brought great sorrow to her loved ones, | ||
| memories of her kindness, leadership, and commitment to excellence | ||
| will remain a source of inspiration to all who were privileged to | ||
| know her; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Mary Lou Maas Grier | ||
| and extend sincere sympathy to the members of her family: to her | ||
| daughter, Bonnie Lyons; to her sons, Bob and Jim Grier; to her | ||
| son-in-law, Steve Lyons; to her daughters-in-law, Linda and | ||
| Margaret; to her grandchildren, Jennifer and Jonathan; to her | ||
| great-grandchildren, Emma, Sawyer, and James; and to her other | ||
| relatives and many friends; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for the members of her family and that when the Texas House | ||
| of Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Mary Lou | ||
| Maas Grier. | ||
