By:  Hilderbran                                        H.R. No. 629
       73R9649 SDU-D
                                  R E S O L U T I O N
    1-1        WHEREAS, The family and many friends of Baxter Redditt Grier,
    1-2  a prominent citizen of Boerne, were deeply saddened by his passing
    1-3  on September 7, 1992, at the age of 73; and
    1-4        WHEREAS, A proud descendant of German pioneers who settled in
    1-5  Texas during the 1840s, this fine gentleman was born on May 30,
    1-6  1919, in Panama, where his father helped to build the Panama Canal
    1-7  and worked as the superintendent of its electrical division; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, Young Baxter Grier moved to Texas with his family
    1-9  when he was seven, but he returned to the Panama Canal 14 years
   1-10  later to work as a machinist; there, on the eve of World War II, he
   1-11  also met Mary Lou, the woman who was to become his wife; and
   1-12        WHEREAS, During the war, he served as an Army Air Force
   1-13  aircraft machinist, eventually becoming an aeronautical engineer,
   1-14  and made a number of important modifications to aircraft during
   1-15  this time, including a bomb fin that was combat-tested during the
   1-16  assault on Iwo Jima in 1945; and
   1-17        WHEREAS, After the war, he returned to Texas and began a long
   1-18  and successful career at Alamo Iron Works, where he was elected to
   1-19  the board of directors in 1959 and served on two different
   1-20  occasions as the company's president; and
   1-21        WHEREAS, Mr. Grier was a man of seemingly inexhaustible
   1-22  energy who kept an extensive journal dating back to his childhood,
   1-23  published personal anecdotes, served as a talk show host for a
   1-24  local radio station, painted, raised Koi in the ponds on his ranch,
    2-1  and particularly loved flying his own airplane; and
    2-2        WHEREAS, A dedicated civic leader as well, he belonged to the
    2-3  American Cancer Society, serving one year as its president,
    2-4  volunteered his time at the Therapy and Research Center of San
    2-5  Antonio, worked as a volunteer at the Boerne Public Library, and
    2-6  was an active member of the Boerne Shrine and Masonic Lodge, the
    2-7  Rotary Club, the Boerne Airport Advisory Board, and the board of
    2-8  trustees of Our Lady of the Lake University; and
    2-9        WHEREAS, Throughout his life, Mr. Grier contributed
   2-10  significantly to the betterment of the Boerne community and to its
   2-11  unique character in countless ways; although his intelligence and
   2-12  compassion will be greatly missed, his memory lives on in the
   2-13  hearts of all who were privileged to know him; now, therefore, be
   2-14  it
   2-15        RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 73rd Texas
   2-16  Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Baxter Redditt Grier
   2-17  and extend profound sympathy to the members of his family:  to his
   2-18  wife, Mary Lou Grier of Boerne; to his children, Bonnie Grier and
   2-19  Robert Grier, both of Boerne, and James Grier of Omaha, Nebraska;
   2-20  to his granddaughter, Jennifer Grier of Boerne; to his sister,
   2-21  Barbara Hughes of Fredericksburg; and to his nieces and nephews,
   2-22  Brian Phillips, Rhonda Corley, Ellen Smith, Judy Kothe, and Steve
   2-23  Hughes; and, be it further
   2-24        RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
   2-25  prepared for the members of his family and that when the Texas
   2-26  House of Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of
   2-27  Baxter Redditt Grier.