H.R. No. 442
R E S O L U T I O N
1-1 WHEREAS, GTE Telephone Operations currently serves nearly 17
1-2 million access lines domestically, in addition to lines in Canada
1-3 and Latin America and, in 1989, moved its national headquarters to
1-4 Texas, becoming a valued member of our state's economy; and
1-5 WHEREAS, Two outstanding men, John Francis O'Connell and
1-6 Sigurd Lauritz Odegard, are recognized as the founders of this
1-7 outstanding company and as the innovators of enduring management
1-8 practices that remain an integral part of today's
1-9 telecommunications industry; and
1-10 WHEREAS, Natives of Wisconsin, both men graduated in the
1-11 early 1900s from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where each
1-12 compiled noteworthy achievements; Mr. Odegard was student body
1-13 president and active in literary organizations while Mr. O'Connell
1-14 established a national scholastic track record for the 880-yard
1-15 event that stood for a remarkable 11 years; and
1-16 WHEREAS, After college, both men joined the Wisconsin
1-17 Railroad Commission, where they learned the fundamentals of
1-18 telephony and formed a lasting friendship that would lead to a
1-19 highly successful business partnership; and
1-20 WHEREAS, Envisioning a unified communications system that
1-21 would bring telephone service to rural areas, the two men began to
1-22 acquire small telephone companies, starting with the purchase in
1-23 1918 of the struggling Richland Center Telephone Company that
1-24 served as the cornerstone for the evolution of GTE; confident that
2-1 their enterprise would be a success, Mr. O'Connell offered the
2-2 equity in his Madison home as venture capital for the Richland
2-3 Center purchase; and
2-4 WHEREAS, Under the aggressive and innovative leadership of
2-5 Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Odegard, the enterprise went on to acquire
2-6 companies in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and California,
2-7 becoming the Commonwealth Telephone Company, and eventually
2-8 Associated Telephone Utilities--a telephone operations network with
2-9 subsidiaries in 25 states; and
2-10 WHEREAS, As their business grew, Mr. O'Connell and
2-11 Mr. Odegard lent their individual strengths to regional expansion
2-12 efforts; Mr. O'Connell served as president of both Commonwealth
2-13 Telephone Company and the Associated Telephone Utilities Central
2-14 Group from 1928 until his retirement in 1945 and as vice-president
2-15 and a director of the Associated Utilities National Corporation;
2-16 and
2-17 WHEREAS, Throughout the same period, Mr. Odegard was engaged
2-18 in expanding operations in the West and was elected president of
2-19 Associated Telephone Company, Ltd., in California in 1929 while
2-20 also serving as president of Associated Telephone Utilities Western
2-21 Group; at the time of his death in 1934, he was the executive
2-22 vice-president and senior telephone operations executive of
2-23 Associated Telephone Utilities; and
2-24 WHEREAS, During the Great Depression, Mr. Odegard travelled
2-25 extensively to sustain business and it was during one of his
2-26 frequent sojourns that he contracted pneumonia and died while still
2-27 in his forties; in 1983, Mr. Odegard, along with Mr. O'Connell, who
3-1 died in 1945, received posthumous induction into the Wisconsin
3-2 State Telephone Association Hall of Fame; and
3-3 WHEREAS, Mr. O'Connell continued to provide steady and
3-4 inspirational leadership after Mr. Odegard's death and his motto
3-5 "All We Have To Sell Is Service" became a corporate beacon by which
3-6 the company successfully navigated the turbulent seas of the Great
3-7 Depression, eventually emerging as today's GTE Telephone
3-8 Operations; and
3-9 WHEREAS, A president of the United States Independent
3-10 Telephone Association, Mr. O'Connell shared his considerable
3-11 communications expertise with the federal government during World
3-12 War II; in the midst of his accomplished career, Mr. O'Connell,
3-13 like Mr. Odegard, passed away while still in his forties; and
3-14 WHEREAS, In addition to their substantial contributions to
3-15 the field of telecommunications, both men were devoted to their
3-16 wives and children and were pillars of their communities;
3-17 Mr. O'Connell was active in numerous civic organizations and
3-18 Mr. Odegard established a college scholarship and was active in his
3-19 church; and
3-20 WHEREAS, The hard work, skill, and imagination of these two
3-21 communications pioneers laid the foundation for GTE Telephone
3-22 Operations and helped to shape America in the twentieth century
3-23 through the establishment of the modern telephone system we enjoy
3-24 today; their accomplishments in this regard indeed merit the
3-25 lasting recognition that their induction into the Independent
3-26 Telephone Pioneer Association Hall of Fame would bestow; now,
3-27 therefore, be it
4-1 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 73rd Texas
4-2 Legislature hereby endorse the nomination of Sigurd Lauritz Odegard
4-3 and John Francis O'Connell for inclusion in the Independent
4-4 Telephone Pioneer Association Hall of Fame; and, be it further
4-5 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
4-6 forwarded to the Independent Telephone Pioneer Association Hall of
4-7 Fame as a formal expression of sentiment by the Texas House of
4-8 Representatives.
4-9 forwarded to the Independent Telephone Pioneer Association Hall of
4-10 Fame as a formal expression of sentiment by the Texas House of
4-11 Representatives.
4-12 Carter
4-13 H.R. No. 442
4-14 _______________________________
4-15 Speaker of the House
4-16 I certify that H.R. No. 442 was adopted by the House on March
4-17 22, 1993, by a non-record vote.
4-18 _______________________________
4-19 Chief Clerk of the House