By:  Place                                             H.R. No. 411
       73R4833 LBD-D
                                  R E S O L U T I O N
    1-1        WHEREAS, Flora Antoinette Jones will celebrate the momentous
    1-2  occasion of her 100th birthday on March 21, 1993; and
    1-3        WHEREAS, The oldest daughter of 10 children, Mrs. Jones was
    1-4  born in the small farming community of Purmela in Coryell County;
    1-5  weighing only two pounds, eight ounces at birth, she miraculously
    1-6  survived her first few months of life, and her strength and vigor
    1-7  have continued to fuel her dynamic spirit to this day; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, This remarkable woman comes by her exceptional
    1-9  longevity naturally; with an ancestry traceable to
   1-10  pre-Revolutionary War immigrants, her family history abounds with
   1-11  forebears of hardy stock who overcame hardship and obstacles to
   1-12  carve out a full and rewarding life on the Texas frontier; and
   1-13        WHEREAS, Her mother, the former Cynthia Eva Risinger, moved
   1-14  to the Purmela community with her parents at the age of six when
   1-15  her father, Michael Webster Risinger, purchased 1,300 acres of land
   1-16  on which he earned a comfortable living for his family as a sheep
   1-17  rancher; and
   1-18        WHEREAS, Mrs. Jones's father, Walter Alexander Smith, was
   1-19  born in Palo Pinto County in 1867; after leaving home at age 14 to
   1-20  live and work in West Texas as a cowboy, he moved to Coryell County
   1-21  when he was 26, bought several hundred acres of land, and ranched
   1-22  and farmed it until his death in 1947; and
   1-23        WHEREAS, Mrs. Jones attended Gatesville High School, Baylor
   1-24  University, and North Texas State Normal in Denton; following her
    2-1  schooling, she returned home and enjoyed a fulfilling career as a
    2-2  teacher at Coryell Church, Spring Hill, and Purmela; and
    2-3        WHEREAS, Mrs. Jones eventually married Jimmy B. Jones, a
    2-4  local farmer and rancher; together, this fine couple raised three
    2-5  children, James Bruce, Joe Walter, and Eva Frances, and instilled
    2-6  in them important family values, setting an outstanding example by
    2-7  volunteering extensively within their church and community,
    2-8  teaching, visiting the sick, and helping to provide for the pastor
    2-9  and his family; and
   2-10        WHEREAS, In 1960, two years after the death of her husband,
   2-11  Mrs. Jones moved to the town of Gatesville where she remained
   2-12  active in religious and civic affairs; currently a resident at
   2-13  Hillside Manor,    she continues to encourage and bring cheer to
   2-14  the lives of those around her, entertaining with fond recollections
   2-15  of the tremendous events of change she has witnessed over the past
   2-16  century; and
   2-17        WHEREAS, The world has undergone dramatic transformations in
   2-18  the past 100 years, and through it all, this gracious woman has
   2-19  touched the lives of many, bringing great happiness to those
   2-20  privileged to know her; a much-loved member of the community, she
   2-21  is indeed deserving of formal recognition on the occasion of her
   2-22  100th birthday; now, therefore, be it
   2-23        RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 73rd Texas
   2-24  Legislature hereby congratulate Flora Antoinette Jones on the
   2-25  occasion of her 100th birthday and extend warm wishes to this
   2-26  lovely lady for her continued happiness and success; and, be it
   2-27  further
    3-1        RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
    3-2  prepared for Mrs. Jones as an expression of high regard by the
    3-3  Texas House of Representatives.