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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A full and generous life drew to a close with the |
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passing of Chalys Diane Baker of Amarillo on May 22, 2021, at the |
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age of 88; and |
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WHEREAS, The former Diane Gross was born on September 30, |
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1932, in Evanston, Illinois, to Dorothy and Peter Gross; she |
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graduated from Santa Fe High School in New Mexico, before enrolling |
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at New Mexico State University, where she met her future husband, |
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Richard Allen Mayfield; during his career in the U.S. Air Force, the |
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couple lived in locations around the world and together raised |
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three daughters, Cheri, Pamela, and Karen; after their marriage |
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ended, she wed Jerry Baker; and |
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WHEREAS, While living in Santa Fe, Ms. Baker served as |
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director of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Fe |
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Convention and Visitors Bureau; she played an integral role in |
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elevating the city's status as a tourism destination, and she was |
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also appointed as the marketing director for the State of New |
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Mexico; her contributions to the city and state were widely |
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appreciated, and her honors included the official proclamation of |
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Diane Baker Day by the mayor of Santa Fe; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Baker went on to establish the Convention and |
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Visitors Bureau for Huntington Beach, California, and in that role, |
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she coined the community's well-known moniker of "Surf City USA"; |
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in the course of her outstanding career, she also developed the |
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Orange County Tourism Council, worked closely with executives and |
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staff from Disneyland, and became the first woman to hold a seat on |
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the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and |
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WHEREAS, Later in life, Ms. Baker moved to Amarillo to be |
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closer to her grandchildren, whom she cherished deeply; after |
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settling into her life as a Texan, she put her expertise to work as a |
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member of the Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau board, and |
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she was a congregant and elder at the First Presbyterian Church of |
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Amarillo; and |
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WHEREAS, Drawing on her exceptional energy and talents, Diane |
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Baker was a respected professional who tremendously benefited the |
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communities in which she lived, and she will forever be remembered |
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with admiration and affection by those she leaves behind; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
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Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the memory |
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of Chalys Diane Baker and extend deepest sympathy to the members of |
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her family: to her daughters, Cheri Lynn Kofakis and her husband, |
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Jim Kofakis, Pamela Ann Mayfield and her husband, Charley Runkle, |
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and Karen Diane Price and her husband, Four Price; to her |
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grandchildren, Brooke Diane Reynolds and her husband, Fisher, Cody |
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Allen Barnhill and his fiancée, Madison Varney, Abigail Kathryn |
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Price, and Thomas Curry Price; and to her other relatives and |
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friends; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Diane |
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Baker. |